How Progressive Flatfoot Can Mean Pain on the Job

Plenty of things can make a job difficult. Conflicts between co-workers, broken tools or equipment, more work than you can handle—all of these are just a few situations that can make your job (and your life) harder. One problem on the job that people don’t talk much about, however, is foot pain from progressive flatfoot. If you’re working on your feet, the strain from flatfoot problems related to posterior tibial tendon dysfunction could make it much more difficult to do your job well, if at all.

Progressive flatfoot is a problem with your arch slowly collapsing inward and flattening out. Many different foot structures are designed to help your arch stay stable, support weight, and absorb shock. One of the most important of these structures, the posterior tibial tendon, starts in your calf and travels behind the inside of your ankle before running under your arch and attaching to a bone in the middle of your foot.

Unfortunately, injury to this tendon—whether through overuse or trauma—can damage it and make it unable to support your midfoot. This allows your arch to slowly collapse inward. Why is this a problem? Well, as it collapses, your arch isn’t able to effectively absorb shock or efficiently support weight. This flattening changes your foot’s alignment, too, which can put strain on your joints and other parts of your lower limbs as they try to compensate.

Obviously this pain and instability can make working your feet uncomfortable. You’re continually using and putting pressure on your arch. Progressive flatfoot leaves you with a midfoot that can’t handle this well. Instead you’re left with swelling on the inside of the ankle, pain, tenderness in your arch, and even foot weakness. Trying to walk around a factory floor, wait tables, manage a retail outlet, or do any other job that requires standing suddenly becomes that much harder.