How to Correct Foot Pronation

Pronation of the foot occurs when the arch under your foot becomes flat, stressing the stabilizing muscles around your ankle. Some toddlers and small children have pronated feet, but grow out of the condition as their bone structure develops more fully. Other people suffer pronated feet as a result of long-distance running, abnormal bone fusion or genetic traits. Adult-onset pronated feet are often rigid and uncomfortable, causing pain in the surrounding tendons and ligaments. You can correct pronated feet using a variety of methods, from therapeutic to surgical, depending on the severity of the condition.

Things You'll Need

• Orthotics

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Instructions

• 1

  Insert orthotics into your shoes. The supportive pads of orthotics provide arch relief and help correct minor strains on ligaments and tendons in your ankle. Some running stores even sell orthotic shoes, saving you the trouble of finding the additional inserts. For more severely pronanted feet, ask your podiatrist about custom orthotics, molded directly from your own foot.

• 2

  Wear ankle braces. As your foot continues pronating, the tendons stretch to accommodate the irregularity. Wearing braces helps secure ligaments and heal tendons in a small number of patients with adult-acquired flatfoot.

• 3

  Get surgery. Surgically correcting flatfeet is a last, but often necessary, option for adults with severely pronated feet. Possible surgical approaches include tendon debridement, cutting and repositioning the bone and joint fusions. The recovery time for most of these procedures is between six and eight weeks.