Many people ignore foot pain, but overpronation can affect your daily comfort more than you realise. Overpronation happens when your feet roll too far inward as you walk or run, putting extra strain on your ankles, knees and arches.
Knowing how pronation impacts movement helps you spot signs early, keeping small problems from turning worse.
At Kent Chiro-Med Wellness Clinic in Ottawa, we often see patients dealing with symptoms of overpronation such as heel pain and flat feet. Our physiotherapist, Ghaith Dhaidan—trained at the University of Toronto and experienced in sports injuries—leads our care approach to provide effective solutions for lasting relief.
Read further to learn easy ways we assess this issue and guide you step-by-step towards better foot health.
Pronation is a natural movement of the foot, where it rolls inward slightly as we walk or run. This action helps to absorb shock and keep balance when your heel hits the ground. Overpronation occurs when your foot rolls too far inward during this motion, placing excess stress on the arch of the foot, ankles, knees and legs.
Over time, overpronating can lead to injuries like tendon strain or pain in areas such as your big toe joint and shin bone (tibia). People with flat feet or fallen arches often show signs of overpronation due to their low arch support levels.
Proper gait analysis at Kent Chiro-Med Wellness Clinic helps us spot whether neutral pronation shifts into excessive pronation or towards underpronation—also known as supination—and provide correct treatment options like custom orthotics insoles.
Common symptoms of overpronation include arch pain, heel discomfort, and strain in the ankles or calves. Overpronators often notice their feet roll inward more than usual during walking or running.
Knee pain, shin splints, plantar fasciitis and bunions often result from this extra stress on our foot and leg muscles.
Other key signs we may experience are uneven shoe wear patterns—especially heavy wear along the outer edge near the big toe—and increased swelling around the ankles after physical activity. People with flat feet often notice their foot rolls outward before excessive rolling of the foot inward.
We might also feel muscle fatigue in our legs quicker than normal, making everyday tasks like standing for long periods uncomfortable. Paying attention to these clear signals helps us recognise overpronation early.
Causes of overpronation include flat feet, weak muscles in the legs and feet, excess body weight like obesity, and worn-out or poorly fitted shoes. Your foot rolls too far inward if you have loose ligaments or fallen arches—issues often inherited from our parents. Improper running style without adequate stability shoes or supportive shoes can worsen these conditions.
Risk factors leading to strain and injury range from standing for long hours at work to regular running or walking on hard surfaces without proper sneakers or orthotic inserts. High-heeled shoes also put stress on the ball of the foot, causing unnatural pronation movement over time.
Overpronation affects daily movements like walking, running, and standing. It causes uneven stress on feet and ankles, increasing your risk for injuries such as foot strain, shin splints, knee pain, and back discomfort.
Simple tasks such as climbing stairs or long walks become painful due to extra wear and tear on joints. Shoes also wear down faster—check the inside edge of the soles; rapid wearing there is a clear sign of overpronation.
With this in mind, let’s explain how we at Kent Chiro-Med Wellness Clinic assess overpronation for better care outcomes.
We start each assessment by checking how your foot hits the ground when you walk. First, we look closely at your gait—the way your feet move—in our clinic using slow-motion video.
Next, our experts examine your arches and heels to spot signs like inward roll or swollen feet. This helps us see if you pronate normally or overpronate while walking or running.
After the visual check, we test how strong and flexible your foot and ankle are through simple exercises. Our physiotherapists also assess areas such as knees, pelvis, hips, and gluteus maximus muscles since they affect foot motion too.
Once finished with all tests, we clearly explain results then recommend the best steps to correct overpronation—leading right into suitable treatment options for you.
At Kent Chiro-Med Wellness Clinic, we provide careful evaluation and treatments for overpronation—read on to learn how we can help improve your foot health.
Custom orthotics give support to the arch of your foot and help prevent overpronation. These orthotic insoles are inserts made to match the shape of each person’s foot, providing specific support where the foot lands. For those with flat feet, our solutions offer extra arch support to address the way overpronation means your foot rolls excessively. They fit inside stability shoes, running shoes, or everyday footwear.
Orthotics correct how your foot lands, stopping it from rolling inward too much as you move. By supporting the inside of your heel and ball of the foot, custom orthotics lessen strain injuries and pain caused by poor pronation.
We assess each patient’s gait—the way your feet strike the ground—and use this data to create precise insoles that improve comfort for walking or sports activities.
We provide chiropractic care to treat overpronation and relieve foot strain. Our chiropractors adjust misaligned joints in your leg to improve how your foot hits the ground. This reduces pain in the arches, inner heels, and outer edges of your feet.
Our methods include spinal adjustments, joint mobilisation, and exercises to help correct pronated feet. By treating inward rolling of feet early with chiropractic care, we can prevent long-term problems like repetitive strain injuries or lasting muscle pain.
Our physiotherapy approach focuses on treating overpronation with clear and simple methods. First, we assess your gait—how your foot strikes the ground—as well as the arches of the foot to pinpoint issues like strain or repetitive strain injuries.
Next, our health professionals guide you through targeted physical therapy exercises to strengthen key muscles in your lower legs and feet. Treatments may also include taping techniques, stretching routines, manual therapies, and advice about motion control shoes or best insoles for overpronation.
Through sessions with skilled therapists at Kent Chiro-Med Wellness Clinic, physiotherapy helps correct how your foot rolls inward onto the inside of the heel.
In Ottawa, local weather and outdoor activities can affect your foot health in special ways. Our foot care specialists understand how Ottawa’s varied terrain impacts your pronation patterns and tendon stress. At Kent Chiro-Med Wellness Clinic, we support patients from neighbourhoods across Ottawa with treatment for flat feet and solutions for both overpronation and underpronation.
Ottawa’s diverse weather greatly affects how pronation of the foot impacts our daily lives. Our city sees icy winters and wet springs, which make walking conditions slippery and uneven.
This increases the chance of strain injuries or overuse injuries for those with overpronation issues. Outdoor activities—such as skating on the Rideau Canal, hiking in Gatineau Park, or jogging along Ottawa River pathways—may put extra stress on a pronated foot if not properly managed through suitable footwear like supportive socks or shoes by Asics that provide good arch support.
Weather can directly change gait patterns; we notice people tend to shorten their strides or tense up muscles in slippery conditions, increasing discomfort linked to abnormal rolling of the foot.
Because climate shapes activity choices here in Ottawa, paying attention to our feet becomes key during seasonal shifts—from snow-clearing duties at home to summertime walks around Parliament Hill—with proper treatment for flat feet often helping reduce symptoms related to overpronation and underpronation alike.
To fully meet your specific needs across Ottawa neighbourhoods year-round, read how Kent Chiro-Med Wellness Clinic delivers focused care below under “Servicing Various Ottawa Neighborhoods”.
Local weather and activities can affect your foot health, so we assist patients across Ottawa neighbourhoods. We provide physiotherapy, chiropractic care, custom orthotics assessments, and solutions for overpronation in areas like Centretown, Sandy Hill, Glebe, Westboro, Kanata, Nepean and Orleans.
Our skilled professionals offer detailed medical diagnoses of gait issues such as normal pronation or cases when your foot rolls outward or inward. Wherever you live in Ottawa—from urban communities to suburban zones—our clinic ensures convenient access to quality foot care services that help relieve strain injuries on the human leg and arch of the foot.
Pronation refers to the way your foot rolls inward, from the outside of your foot towards the ball, as you walk or run.
Pronation means that your foot naturally rolls inward when it hits the ground; supination is when weight stays more on the outside of the foot—both affect how you move.
Overpronation occurs when the foot rolls too far inward during movement, causing strain (injury) and pain in ankles, knees or hips.
A podiatrist specialises in diagnosing issues with anatomical terms of motion like pronation and offers guidance based on peer review research or referrals for orthopedic surgery if needed.
If ignored, ongoing stress from overpronation means increased risk of chronic strain injuries affecting joints and muscles—early treatment helps avoid these problems later on.
Look for excessive wear on the inner side of your shoes, especially near the big toe and heel areas—this is a common sign of overpronation.
Custom orthotics are precisely made for your foot’s unique shape and pronation pattern, while over-the-counter insoles provide general support but don’t address your specific needs.
While the structural flatness may not completely change, proper treatment with orthotics, exercises, and physiotherapy can significantly improve function and eliminate pain from flat feet.
Quality running shoes with stability features help control excessive foot rolling inward, providing arch support and motion control where your foot strikes the ground.
Both professionals can help—a podiatrist specializes in foot conditions specifically, while our physiotherapists offer comprehensive treatment addressing how overpronation affects your entire body.
Don’t let overpronation dictate your daily comfort—take the first step toward pain‑free movement today. Our expert team at Kent Chiro‑Med is standing by to realign your feet, ease strain on your joints, and restore your stride.
