You have flat feet. It is not the end of the world. In fact, most people can live their entire lives with flat feet with no problems at all. Flat feet is not a disease nor is it a pathological diagnosis. Flat feet is only a problem if they hurt. If your flat feet do not hurt, then do not worry about it. If your flat feet do not hurt or cause you problems, you do not need orthotics or surgery, or anything. Just go on living your life. Also, flat feet will no longer keep you out of the army as well. If your flat feet do hurt, there are many treatments for them. Below I have listed what I believe to be the best treatments for flat feet.
Best Treatments for flat feet:
The best treatment for flat feet is orthotics or arch supports. There are two kinds of orthotics. There are over the counter orthotics that you can purchase at CVS or WalMart and there are custom made orthotics. Custom made orthotics should be tried after you have used over the counter orthotics with no success. Over the counter orthotics can run anywhere from $13 to $60 depending on brands. Below is an article on the Best Orthotics for Flatfeet that is a good read on the best over the counter orthotics for flat feet.
https://podiatryadvice.com/best-orthotics-or-arch-supports-for-flatfeet/
Now, if the over the counter orthotics fail it is time to move on to the custom orthotics. Custom orthotics are expensive. They run on average about $400 and you can have them made by a Podiatrist. The Podiatrist will either take a cast of your feet, do an impression in a foam box or have you walk on a piece of equipment called a gait scan to get an impression of your feet. From this they will send your impression to an orthotic lab that will then send back an orthotic specifically designed for your feet. Occasionally, this process is covered by insurance. If not it does run about $500. You can do the foam box impression by yourself if you want to try for only $90 and send it away. That can be done here:
Now, you need to give your orthotics about a good six months to attempt to work at a minimum. If the orthotics fail, then you can try physical therapy and stretching. However the results from physical therapy will doubtfully be enough to satisfy your pain. The next step would be to progress on to flat foot surgery.
There are tons of different flat foot surgeries that can be performed. One is they put an implant in your foot to help make you an arch. That surgery does not work; there is no proof it works. The other surgeries there are literature behind, the surgery’s have to be tailored to your individual feet since there are multiple different kinds of flat feet. Flat foot surgery is extensive and can require as long as three months on crutches.
Their is no guarantee to success with flat foot surgery. It is anywhere from 70-80% successful. There are no silver bullets in flat foot surgery. I hope this article covered the best treatment options available for flat foot surgery.