• Kaye Cheong

Is your foot pain caused by your weight?by Physio Zakieah Zakaria

Obesity or overweight is define as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that present a risk to health. An article written by Mohamud et al. (2011) showed 1 out of 3 Malaysians is overweight and around 1 out of 5 Malaysians is obese.

How does obesity affect your feet?

I'm sure we are all aware of the negative impact obesity has on our health but many of us forget how badly it affects our feet. The most obvious effect is that it causes immediate physical stress on the skin and bones in our feet and also physically alters them over time. Fallen arches (flat feet) are a common side-effect of obesity, and can lead to long term pain in your leg and lower back.

If the condition is left untreated, fallen arches and pronation of the feet will lead to other complications. Swelling at the ankle ligament that connects the heel to the toes is the most common side effect of obesity on feet, resulting in sharp pain throughout your foot. This, as well as the extra weight associated with obesity will cause more problems extending up to the leg.

Sudden and rapid weight gain can also cause symptoms mentioned above and should not be taken lightly.

How can Physiotherapy help overcome this problem?

1. Manual therapy releases muscle and joint tension around ankle, calf, knee and hip.

2. Ultrasound therapy help reduce any presenting inflammation that causes pain and if left alone, causes irreversible damage to structures around it.

3. TENS helps with pain relief by reducing pain signals traveling to brain.

4. Shockwave therapy helps by inducing microtrauma to injured area to trigger healing response by the body.

5. Rehab helps strengthen structures around ankle, foot and leg for pain relief, movement restoration and prevention of re-injury.

How to prevent further complications?

Apart from the obvious solution that is to lose weight which can be time consuming, wearing custom insoles or orthotics can help alleviate pain and prevent further injury for the time being.

Axign flip flop sold in our center can help with heel, arch and toe pain associated with overweight or obesity.

If you have not seen a chiropractor or a physiotherapist for your foot pain, this is the time to get it checked out before the condition worsens. Give us a call or send us a message today to find out how we can help. We look forward to seeing you soon.

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