Most conditions for the foot/ankle are categorized as repetitive overuse injuries. These injuries are usually due to a combination of underlying factors that have developed over months or years and, thus, have become chronic conditions. Some of these factors include abnormal gait, imbalanced/poor biomechanics, flat feet, over pronation, muscle weakness, joint restrictions, overuse activities such as long distance running, bad habits, and bad shoes. Most people are not aware of these causes until they are symptomatic. It is very important to find the underlying cause of the symptoms rather than just treating them so that the recurrence of the symptoms can be avoided. It should also be noted that many of the conditions listed above are not in the feet but can be related to the feet. This is because problems in the feet are transferred along the kinetic chain into other joint systems in the body such as the knees, hips, pelvis.
