How Foot Arch Height Leads To Running Injuries
If you are a runner, what I am about to talk about should interest you greatly. Did you know that the structure of your foot plays a HUGE impact in your ability to run and avoid injury? People who have feet as flat as the wall like myself and high arched people are at greater risk of getting an injury while running. I recently read an interesting article from D. S. Williams III et al. called Arch structure and injury patterns in runners. This article talks all about how people with flat and high arched feet are at greater risk of getting injured while running and how their injuries differ due to the structure of their feet.
Why flat feet cause running issues
One of the topics the article I read talks about is how flat footed people have a more mobile foot. Due to this increased mobility seen in people with flat feet, the tendons and ligaments need to work harder to control the foot during movements like running. I have DEFINITELY noticed this in myself when I got tendonitis in both of my feet. My feet are extremely flat and that caused the muscle that holds up the arch of my foot, the posterior tibialis, to work excessively hard and feel like it was on fire whenever I took a step.
Why high arched feet cause running issues
The article also addressed how individuals with high arched feet have a more rigid foot. Because high arched people have less ability to move their foot and it is stuck in a more rigid position, the shock from activities like running on the feet is not absorbed as well and can travel up the body towards the knees. This can lead to injuries of the bone over time from the repeated impact of running coupled with the decreased shock absorption of the foot.
Most common injuries in high and low arched feet
Common injuries to runners with low arched feet
According to the study, the most common injuries in low arched runners were pain at the medial knee and patellar tendonitis. This was due to increased malalignment at the kneecap while running and also due to increased knee bending while running. Because the knees in people with a low arch foot tend to bend more while running, their quads have to work harder to prevent the knee from bending further. This leads to increased pressure at the knee joint and contributes to injury.
In low arched runners, posterior tibialis injuries were also seen because since the flat foot is more mobile, this muscle must work harder to control the foot, contributing to tendonitis of that muscle. Plantar fasciitis of the foot was also seen, which is inflammation of the plantar fascia of the feet.
Common injuries to runners with high arched feet
The research article with regards to high arched runners said that the most common injuries were lateral ankle sprains, plantar fasciitis and Iliotibial band friction syndrome. Patellar tendinitis as well as bony injuries such as fifth metatarsal stress fractures in the foot were found.
In Conclusion: Knee injuries were twice as common in low arch runners than high arch runners. Lateral ankle sprains and injuries to the bone such as stress fractures were more common in high arch runners than low arch runners. In low arch runners, soft tissue injuries such as patellar tendonitis were more common.
Reference:
D. S. Williams III et al. Arch structure and injury patterns in runners. Clinical Biomechanics. 2001; 16: 341-347.