Over-pronation on only one foot?

Triathlon Forum
1

A few weeks ago when my daughter was getting fitted for running shoes at RunTex (one of the country’s premier running stores in Austin), the runner/salesperson said that she over-pronated only slightly on her left foot. He said it was neither uncommon nor a concern, especially since it was so slight. He had me run for him and I apparently had the same thing.

Today while she was running I looked and sure enough she slightly over-pronates on her left foot and her right foot pronates normally.

Does anyone else have that… one foot landing (over-pronating, pronating, supinating) differently than the other?

2

Ditto here – left arch tends to flatten more than the right.

3

Yep, I over-pronate a fair amount in my right foot and the left one is pretty much neutral. Not sure it is a big deal - I address the right and not the left. Numerous marathons and IM #3 is coming up so I don’t think it is a big deal.

4

Yep, I pronate slightly with me left foot, and I supinate a fair amount with my right foot. Have no idea why, When I played tennis in college I would always wear out the lateral part of my right shoes, but never my left. Soccer may have somehow impacted it too. Not a big deal though.

5

I think we both have a tiny leg-length discrepancy… left side a tiny bit shorter… maybe that has something to do with it, or it’s just normal human biomechanics… I’ve never had ankle, knee or hip pains or injuries and I’m 45 so it was really just out of curiosity.

6

I’d guess that some of her lower leg muscles are chronically tight, which is causing her to pronate. I know for me, this is often true. My footstrike is mostly dependent on what’s going on with my lower leg muscle. If you think about it, it makes sense.

7

Pronation is normal, but she over-pronates on her left leg and has normal pronation on her right. I think we both tend to have tight calves so you might have a point… but why only one leg over-pronating then?

8

I only pronate on my left foot and after having my running form inspected by my physiotherapist did I learn that I run lopsided as well. I wear running shoes for mild pronation, Mizuno Wave Elixr, they help the pronation for my left foot but are mild enough that they dont cause problems for my right, and normal pronating foot.

9

I do the same thing. It comes and goes in severity. I’m telling you - tight muscles.

10

Gotcha… but why affect only one leg then? Tight muscles only in one leg? That would seem counter-intuitive.

11

Can you define over-pronation?

12

Pronation describes a slight inward rolling motion the foot makes during a normal walking or running stride. The foot (and ankle) roles slightly inward to accommodate movement. Some people, however, over-pronate and roll more than normal. With over-pronation, the arch of the foot flattens and causes excessive stress and pressure on the soft tissues of the foot. This causes the joint surfaces to function at unnatural angles to each other. When this happens, joints that should be stable now become very loose and flexible.
Over pronation may cause fatigue, strain on the muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the foot and lower leg can cause permanent problems if not corrected.

You can probably get a more detailed definition, though, by searching rroof’s posts here on the subject.

13

I don’t think it has to be a huge difference between the two legs to show up in the foot. I mean, why does one knee hurt and not the other? or why does one side of your back hurt and not the other? Even though we think we use the body symmetrically, we really don’t.

14

I know what pronation is…my question is OVER-pronation. What defines over-pronation. What is the boundary between pronation and over-pronation. How do you know if it is too much? And more importantly, how do you determine what amount of pronation is bad?

15

That’s why I ask… maybe I’m unusual, but thinking back to 38 years of running and sports I have never had asymmetrical pain on my body (other than from pitching or tennis or something that uses only one limb).

16

I know what pronation is…my question is OVER-pronation. What defines over-pronation. What is the boundary between pronation and over-pronation. How do you know if it is too much? And more importantly, how do you determine what amount of pronation is bad?

I never said that her over-pronation was “bad” or “too much”… but to answer your question, I’ve been a competitive runner for 38 years so it’s like asking “what is porn?”… it’s hard to define but you know it when you see it.

However, since you want a more technical answer, from rroof:

Lets get technical! - pronation is a NORMAL motion we all need. At heel strike (yes I said heel strike), the heel is inverted, but starts to evert. The talus starts to abduct on top of the talus (bringing the medial arch down). This “unlocks” the forefoot which starts to abduct. You foot is now a nice, adapted appendage that can step on a rock, in soft sand or on concrete. A fraction of a second later, the foot re-supinates to become a rigid lever for propulsion/toe-off. A few more things are going on, but lets just leave it at that. Most of us need 4-6 degrees of pronation (obscure measurement that rougly equals heel eversion).

Overpronation is basically more than 4-6 degrees. Vague, but … The problem with the triplanar motions of pronation is that it is like a cog phenomenon. You go 4 degrees - good, go 7 then BAM - all the way (say 20). Hard to have, say 9. This is virtually impossible to “watch” as someone runs, even to the very trained eye. We use slow mo cameras with reflective dots on points and a computer to help. When the shoe stores video tape from behind, you do get a nice, general idea about the stabilty of the rearfoot, but this does not mean someone “overpronates”. And, even if they do, this doesn’t necessarily correlate to an injury either.

If you are put into a shoe that tries to eliminate pronation, a normal motion, you can end up with problems as well since your now have eliminated your natural shock absorbing/torque convertor. Now, it gets more complicated still as the newer stability shoes are mostly trying to decelerate the rate of pronation, rather than totally eliminate it (a good thing).

That probably muddied the waters more than it helped - but some of you can probably glean some info from my rant … I don’t feel like reading this or proofing it :slight_smile:

17

Aah… I see your tagline “San Diego Running Institute”… so since that’s apparently a rhetorical question, why don’t you just tell me what over-pronation is, what the boundary is between pronation and over-pronation, what’s too much, and how one determines what amount of pronation is bad?

Not that my original post had anything to do with those issues you raised :wink:

18

I overpronate a LOT on my right and not at all on my left. I have an old broken toe on the right. It doesn’t make it easy to find a shoe!

:slight_smile:

Jodi

19

totally normal, kinda like how you have a dominant hand, usually it seems that your opposite foot is “dominant” whatever that means, for jumping, stuff like that, the leg forward that you’re when you’re in a lunge your more stable, stuff like that. That foot usually has a bit lower arch, therefor a bit larger size and possibly a bit of extra pronation going on. If she’s light, like he said you usually don’t have to worry much the pronation.

20

I strike normally with my left and underpronate with my right. For me it is a case of VERY slight scoliosis (never detected until I started running and noticed my strike was different with each foot) that causes my right hip to be tilted up a couple mm on the right side.

Hasn’t caused me any problems, although the little aches and pains that come and go all tend to be on my left side.