Overpronate has been some sort of buzz word in the running community for a long time, but is generally a meaningless term. It is widely used to erroneously prescribe a specific type of running shoe (motion control) to stop the overpronation. The term overpronate is used to generally refer to a foot the rolls inwards at the ankle joint, bulges medially in the midfoot and the arch collapses. The problem with the term is that it is a way oversimplification of what is actually happening to the foot and the use of the term seems to have made experts in it by running shoe retailers, coaches and runners who have no sort of medical or related qualification. The blogosphere is also full of non-experts pontificating on myths of overpronation with no real understanding of biomechanics and foot function.
Overpronation is claimed to cause a whole range of foot problems ranging from plantar fasciitis to patellofemoral pain syndrome, from medial tibial stress syndrome to bunions. If you look at the vast majority of studies on risk factors for running injuries hardly any have identified overpronation as being a risk factor!
It is unclear why so many in the running community consider it such a problem when it is not supported by the evidence. The reason is probably related to the success of foot orthotics to treat overpronation and the overuse injuries that are widely believed to be caused by it. Every single outcome study has shown that foot orthotics work. Not one outcome study has shown that they do not work. This is somewhat of a paradox. It has become clear more recently that the foot orthotics work for reasons other than corrected the alleged overpronation.
There are many reasons that feet overpronate and this ranges from bony alignment, to muscle weakness, and to muscle tightness. Depending on what is causing the overpronation as to what is the best treatment. There are many ‘gurus’ (without medical qualifications) who advocate specific or sets of muscles strengthening exercises to treat overpronation. This will only ever work if the muscle weakness is actually causing the overpronation in the first place and this is an uncommon cause of overpronation. The overpronation is obviously best treated by addressing what is actually causing the problem and there are many causes.
What is really the problem in feet that overpronate is not the overpronation it elf. This is just a motion or a position. What is a problem is the forces that cause the overpronation. If those forces are high, then a high force is needed to stop it. It is those high forces that are probably responsible for causing the injuries. Plenty of people overpronate and never have problems. That is probably a reflection of the lower magnitude of the forces. They will not need treating and generally never have a problem.
If you have overpronation, do yourself a favour and see someone who actually understands what it is, rather than listen to the unscientific pontifications of gurus who have a blog.
