I'm 25 yrs old. I've had flat feet all my life and an accessory navicular bone in my left foot. I wear custom orthotics daily. When exercising I avoid running or any high impact sports mainly because it would hurt my feet. This past weekend I hiked a mountain. Going up was fine, but on the way down both knees were in great pain. It was very bad and very elderly people were passing me on the way down. I'm not overweight. Is this pain in my knees caused by my flat feet? What can I do now to prevent it from getting worse as I age? If I keep going at this rate I will need knee replacement surgery at 30! I have no family history of bad knees or flat feet.

I had issues with my knees when I was a teenager, related to mal-alignment, and had them fixed. Fast forward 14 years and I have issues with my feet and had surgery on the one last May and likely will have to have the other fixed as well. My PT said that I probably never would have had to have knee surgery had they dealt with my feet at the time. I wasn't having problems with my feet, though they probably were a bit flat. So, all of that can be interconnected. Have you had your orthotics checked out lately? Maybe they could be adjusted given the new pain in your knees. It might not be a bad idea to have your knees checked out too. Problems with the body always start somewhere...so you may not have any family history, but you know what you're experiencing.

Hi, I do not have flat feet but high arch ones. I don't have to walk long before my knees hurt and I can never go far without needing to rest for a while. You should go to your doctor and have a knee Xray and check up done to see if it's anything else that's causing the new pain. If nothing shows up on Xray, perhaps it's time to change the orthotics. Hope you feel better soon! :angel: