Is There Anything Wrong With Having Flat Feet?

Not really. Despite the clumsy flat-footer, the estimated 15 to 20 percent of people with flat fee may be the lucky ones after all. Studies indicate that feet with low arches – most feet we call flat actually have a bit, of an arch – may be less prone to injury than the high-arched variety.
Army volunteers monitored in 1989, those with the flattest feet experienced the fewest foot and leg injuries during two months of basic training.

The reason may have less to do with the actual height of the foot’s arch than with its flexibility. Flat feet tend to be more supple than arched feet because the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that create the arch are more relaxed. An extremely high arch can mean a stiffer foot – one that doesn’t flatten enough and absorb shock evenly when you run or jump.

Flat feet may have gotten a bad name because the terms is also used to described a foot that over pronates – rolls too much and for too long to the inside of the foot. This prolonged pronation can lead to injury of the instep or a twisted knee.

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