50 DAY BLOG - Day 7: Pronation is NOT a bad thing!

In similar style to DAY 1's blog, I want to make something clear:

Foot pronation is not a bad thing!

Our feet are made to pronate. It's a completely natural part of our walking and running gait. Pronation is when the foot rolls inwards and the arch flattens in order to act as a shock absorber for the forces that are being applied to the foot. The foot then pushes off the ground through the big toe (hopefully!) using the energy stored up in the foot from the relaxation phase of pronation.

Yet I often hear people saying that they are 'a pronator', the implication being that it is a bad thing. They may then tell me that they have orthotics, or they are using a particular type of support in their shoe or that they have supportive shoes (running or otherwise) to 'stop them pronating'. 

1: excessive pronation

What they've really been told, or should have been told, is that they over-pronate, meaning that they excessively pronate and don't have 'good enough' control over the pronation part of the gait, and as a result this is causing them some kind of issue(s). It looks like the picture in diagram 1. 

The difference may just be in the language, but the effect is actually quite far reaching. What I am witness to through my work is people being told they 'pronate' and then stopping themselves from rolling at all onto the inside arch of their foot, because they believe that they are not supposed to do that, because they have been told that it is a 'bad thing' and that it is causing, or could lead to, injuries. Their resulting compensation patterns then tends to have them standing and walking over onto the outside of their foot, and so bringing on a whole new, and often worse alignment pattern that relies on the lateral lines of their body (those furthest away from the centre core) to stabilise and control motion. 



Even with the term overpronation being used I do feel that we need to be careful that we do not use it as a label. When it comes to making statements to people about their physical structure we have to be respectful that we may not understand where they have come from, what they are potentially working on themselves and how sensitive they are to the critique of others. Just something to think about really...... 

So, coming now to some discussion on overpronation.... What causes it? Is it really an issue? And if so, then what can be done about it...? Well, that is one heck of a complex issue! But that, folks, is something that I intend to begin to tackle as the subject of tomorrow's blog..... Phew, I'd better get a good restful sleep tonight!  


So til tomorrow then....! 



CT xx