I have flat feet. Pregnancy symptom 824. Though my RLP has subsided significantly, running hurts and has, for the home stretch, been shelved, along with 98% of my wardrobe. Even my bi-weekly weight training sessions leave me aching. Main complaint now? Foot pain. My shoes are as loose as they could possible be yet my arches ache. My shins hurt too.
Enter internet research trip 568,477.
Results?
It might have to do with the 23 pounds I’ve packed on. “To support this extra weight, most women adjust their walk by tilting their pelvis forward and curving their lower spine. Because this stance changes the amount of pressure on your feet, you may experience overpronation, a condition also called 'flat feet' in which your arch flattens and your feet roll inward when you are walking.”
It probably doesn’t help that my body has ten times more of the hormone relaxin, “Relaxin is good in the sense that its function — as you might guess from the name — is to relax the joints in the pelvis so the baby has room to pass through the birth canal. Unfortunately, relaxin also causes abnormal motion in many other joints of the body, causing inflammation and pain.”
Solution?
Orthopedic inserts for my shoes, more elliptical and less speed walking, frequent foot rubs (thanks, Will!) and saying goodbye to my four-day-a-week heel policy. Fingers crossed I get some relief.
