Where Knee Pain Comes From—and How Shoe Inserts Can Help
The foot movements that damage knees, and how custom insoles can help.
“You’re only as young as you feel,” people say. But when that feeling starts changing—when we start getting aches and pains—it often starts in the joints, such as the knees.
Great news, though! There’s a counter-intuitive way to help our knees. It can not only relieve pain but actually help knees get better. The solution involves custom insoles in your shoes.
Why Foot Issues Hurt the Knees
A hidden issue with your feet could be hurting your knees. This condition is called hyperpronation. What is it?
Let’s look at a couple of terms that 99% of people don’t know about:
- Pronation: A natural movement of the foot during each step. Your arch flattens as the body’s weight is placed on it.
- Hyperpronation: The foot’s arch flattens more than normal, causing the foot to roll inward too far.
Hyperpronation throws off the alignment of the foot and ankles. And that puts a lot of stress on the muscles and ligaments that support the arch.
From there, it also changes the alignment of the foot, heel, ankle, knee, and hip—all up and down the leg.
Here’s the point. This poor alignment makes you vulnerable to joint injuries and ongoing breakdown of joints, such as your knees.
Effects of Hyperpronation
Remember, this is all leading somewhere: We can help stop hyperpronation with a custom insole, which you can now order from home. But first, here are a few more effects of hyperpronation, and how it hurts the:
- Foot: As your arch flattens during each step, it pulls on the shock-absorbing tissues in the sole of the foot (the plantar fascia), which can damage it and cause chronic issues.
- Ankle: Your feet don’t absorb the shock of walking and running as they should, instead putting strain on the ankles, leading to pain and/or injuries.
- Knee: The legs are put in a knock-kneed position, putting strain on the cartilage on the outer edge of the knee, wearing it down. Plus, the knee cap can be damaged as the knee twists inward too much.
- Hips: Inward leg rotation puts stress on the hips and hip muscles, causing hip pain and conditions.
We said we’d focus on the knees, but hyperpronation causes ripple effects all through the feet, ankles, knees, and hips. It’s important to understand.
If you have knee pain, it’s worth checking if you have flat feet or if your feet hyperpronate during each step. This can lead to pain from runner’s knee or another chronic condition.
How Shoe Inserts Can Help Your Knees
Surestep’s 3D printers create semi-flexible shoe insoles for patients. These foot orthotics support the arch of the foot, preventing hyperpronation. They are both rigid and flexible enough to give your feet natural motion—a balancing act we’ve learned after 20+ years in the business.
Imagine a small hill holding up the arch of your foot, stopping it from flattening too much, helping hold the ankle and knee in healthy alignment. With every step, insoles take strain off of your ankles.
They keep your knees facing forward, relieving stress on the cartilage and keeping the knee cap in the right position. The support in the foot is like a wave of relief sweeping up the whole leg.
Order Knee Relief From Home
Of course, you’d need qualified physicians to fully diagnose issues such as runner’s knee. That process takes weeks or months to get an appointment, get a diagnosis, and receive treatment.
But you can also order custom insoles for knee pain from home and receive them in the mail. Sole Dynamix ships them within two weeks of receiving your final scans or impressions. Plus, your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed for 90 days.
Start your custom order, or find out more about the new, easier way to get custom insoles from home.
