What Are the Causes of Plantar Flexion Weakness?

Plantar flexion is a simple foot movement that is part of your normal range of motion. Weakness or inflexibility of this movement can be caused by a number of factors.

Identification

• Plantar flexion is the downward movement you make with your foot when you point your toes away from your body, toward your sole. Doing plantar flexion exercises, such as standing on your tip toes, strengthens your ankle and calf muscles. (See Resources)

Dorsiflexion

• The opposite of plantar flexion is dorsiflexion, it occurs when you flex your foot in an upward direction.

Causes

• Several factors can contribute to weak plantar flexion and include abnormal foot structure (flat feet), obesity, tendinitis, injury, improper footwear and old age.

Significance

• If your plantar flexors are weak, then your ankle will dorsiflex too rapidly when walking. This will cause your knee to flex midstance because your lower extremity is positioned in a closed chain. This will then threaten your stability.

Orthotic Inserts

• If you have a weak plantar flexion, you should consider wearing orthotics to substitute for the force that the plantar flexors ordinarily provide. Orthotics will help support and correct this imbalance.

Effect

• Plantar flexion weakness can affect one or two feet, depending on its cause. If you have a foot structural imbalance such as flat feet, then both are likely to suffer due to the lack of arches on your feet. If it is caused by an injury or muscle fatigue, it tends to affect the foot that takes in more impact and strain based on your own stance and walking or running gait.