The architecture of the foot is held together at the joints by ligaments.  Ligaments consist of bands of flexible, fibrous tissue which connect the bones of the foot.  Being incredibly strong, these ligaments permit only slight movement of each joint while providing ample motion of the foot in general.  The arches of the foot owe their shape largely to the help of these fibrous structures.

When ligaments become strained or stretched and lose their tone, they allow specific bones of the foot to drop from their “neutral” position and can cause flat feet or pronation.

Pronation is an instability of the ankle and is one of the most common causes of foot, knee and hip pain. Pronation is when your ankles “roll in” or approach the ground.   Pronation is often confused with flat-feet (pes planus) because under pronation, the arch may flatten upon weight bearing.  But flat feet and pronation are different foot conditions.

Most of our clients who tell us that their feet or knees hurt also think their feet are flat.  Their feet actually have functional and/or very high arches; their ankles simply pronate. At Goodhart Shoes and Foot Care we adjust your integrated orthotic while your ankle is in it’s most neutral (non-pronated) position.  You may be surprised at just how high and functional your arch really is!

More about this problem and our treatment...
Pronation, left untreated, will get worse in the long-term.  Since we use our feet daily, these ligaments, when not supported, continue to stretch and pronation escalates.  The problem is that ligaments stretch out much faster than they build or repair. With our Goodhart shoes, we block your pronation and keep it from getting worse.  The result is more functional, problem-free feet.

When the ankle pronates, the knee is out of alignment as well and the wear and tear on the knee can be extreme.  Many people come to us to resolve their knee problem and we have saved many clients from unnecessary knee surgury. Managing your pronation is one of our primary goals and is essential to problem free feet and knees.