Does Overpronation Cause Running Injuries

Overpronation occurs when your foot rolls inwards as you run, and we need to ask ourselves, does overpronation cause running injuries? We will answer this by looking at various leg injuries below.

Wikipedia describes overpronation as follows. Those who overpronate tend to push off almost completely from the big toe and second toe. As a result, the shock from the foot’s impact doesn’t spread evenly throughout the foot, and the ankle has trouble stabilizing the rest of the body. An unnatural angle forms between the foot and ankle, and the foot splays out abnormally. It is common even for people who pronate normally to have some angle between the foot and the ankle but not to the extent seen in those who overpronate. In normal pronation, the weight distributes evenly throughout the foot.

Does Overpronation Cause Running Injuries?

1. Yes, I believe overpronation contributes to many injuries that runners suffer from when running. Various injuries occur in various parts of the leg due to the way our foot rolls as we hit the ground. The primary injuries caused or partly caused by overpronation are.
   1. • plantar fasciitis
      • shin splints
      • Achilles tendonitis
      • bunions
      • lower back pain
      • IT band syndrome
      • heel pain
      • stress fractures in the lower leg or foot.
      • arch pain
      • Knee pain

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common causes of pain in the bottom of the heel. Approximately 2 million patients are treated for this condition every year. Plantar fasciitis occurs when the plantar fascia, a strong band of tissue that supports the arch of your foot, becomes irritated and inflamed.

Overpronation can contribute to plantar fasciitis because your arch flattens too much, stressing your plantar fascia and basic arch structure.

Shin Splints

Shin splints refer to the pain along the shin bone (tibia) — the large bone in the front of your lower leg. They are more common in runners and dancers.

Overpronation is a common cause of shin splints, which is why runners with flat feet are particularly prone to developing shin splints. This results in inflammation of the tissues and muscles that attach to the tibia as the tibia is not in the correct position due to overpronation.

Achilles Tendonitis

Achilles Tendonitis is when the tendon that connects the back of your leg to your heel becomes swollen and painful near the bottom of the foot.

Overpronation causes Achilles Tendonitis as overpronation places extra demands on the tendon when walking or running if we don’t wear proper supporting shoes or running shoes.

Bunions

A bunion is a painful bony bump that develops on the side of the foot at the big toe joint. Overpronation results in flat feet, which causes the forefoot to widen and the arch to collapse, resulting in bunions forming in time.

Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain can be very debilitating, and there are many reasons why we suffer from lower back pain.

Overpronation can be one of the causes of lower back pain as it causes knock-on effects up through the leg, resulting in femur rotating, causing hip pain and inflammation of the sacroiliac joint leading to back pain.

IT Band Syndrome

Iliotibial band syndrome is where a tendon called the iliotibial band gets irritated or swollen from rubbing against your hip or knee bones. The tendon is on the outside of your leg and goes from the top of your pelvic bone down to your knee.

Overpronation can cause IT Band Syndrome as it increases the tension outside the thigh as the leg rotates inwards, causing the IT band to stretch and tighten.

Heel Pain

Heel pain from running can be due to many conditions.

When overpronating, the foot turns outward when the ankle moves, which results in you walking along the inner portion of the foot resulting in heel pain.

Stress Fractures

Stress fractures are tiny cracks in the bones. Over time with overpronation due to an unbalanced stance, the bones in the foot become weak, resulting in stress fractures in the foot. These are most common in the second and third metatarsals.

Arch Pain

When suffering from overpronation over some time may lead to damage to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments and cause problems that lead to arch pain.

Knee Pain

Knee pain can be caused by overpronation, as many runners overpronate for years resulting in pressure on the knee joint, which may become misaligned, causing pain.

Patellofemoral pain syndrome is a type of knee pain usually caused by overpronation resulting in the knees rotating internally, which results in knocking knees. This causes the knee cap to pull in the wrong direction resulting in pain.

Final Thoughts

I hope you now understand that overpronation is a major cause of running injuries.

Overpronation causes the following running injuries.

• plantar fasciitis
• shin splints
• Achilles tendonitis
• bunions
• lower back pain
• IT band syndrome
• heel pain
• stress fractures in the lower leg or foot.
• arch pain
• Knee pain

We have explained why these injuries are caused by overpronation.