What's wrong with my foot?

Amongst the millions of other muscular imbalances I have, I have a very over active right semimembranous (inner hamstring). A physio I saw a while ago demonstrated to me that I needed insoles- he took a thin book and got me to stand with the inner half of my right foot on it and the outer half on the floor, so my foot was at an angle. My balance was much better and my over active inner hamstring stopped being so active.

My question is what is that? Is there a name for what I have? What could possibly have caused my foot to need to be at an angle to function properly? Genetics? Collapsed arch? Anybody got any pointers to help me research it?
I sprained my ankle badly around a year ago, I suppose this could have something to do with it.

Hi Buddy,
unless and until your body,especially the lower limbs are not examined,i think no one can guide you appropriately.other option is to post your pic in standing -from front,back and sides(full Size)

Hi ya,

Ok, so I found out from the physio that it's an uncompensated forefoot deformity causing pronation, possibly forefoot varus or plantar flexed 1st ray. Things like that- are they genetic or caused by something. And are they serious in the sense that they cannot be cured, only compensated for with orthotics? I've no idea about podiatry. I will get it examined, I just want to know the heads up before I do. Cheers.

Quite common to have increased pronation through either subtalar joint forefoot or midfoot and is often genetic. Orthotics usually work a treat.

I agree with you. I know this problem from one of my friend, he also don't know how to call it. But now his problem is gone by treatment from orthopedist.

Ok, this may be very significant to anyone who is diagnosed with a foot problem.

I did go to a podiatrist and was told I would need insoles, as the physio said. They were £240 however so I had to have a think! Plus I wasn't convinced of the necessity myself. The general podiatry line just didn't make sense- that despite the fact that we have been through thousands of years of evolution, a process through which all our bodily functions have been fine tuned to work in perfect harmony with the world around us, for some reason so many of us have feet problems, genetically. Why would evolutionary selection forget about the feet quite so much? Hmmm.

A month later and my foot problem is completely solved- my subtalar joint is neutrally aligned and I no longer have the deformity. No insoles, I simply followed my instinct and rigorously corrected some of the muscular imbalances in my body (particularly the upper hamstrings and glute which were locked tight, throwing my posture out of whack.)

I believe the issue was my shoes being too narrow and restrictive. Attempting to wear them again brought back all the issues.

It's funny, at the time I had suspicions and I asked the podiatrist (who was a well respected one with a month long waiting list) whether she thought shoes were at all to blame for the wealth of foot problems we have and she categorically and defensively denied it. I wonder whether some podiatrists have a vested (£120 per hour/£200 per insole) interest in this line perhaps? I didn't ask her to explain the comparative lack of feet problems in certain developing countries where they don't wear shoes so much as she didn't seem open for debate.

Anyway, thanks for your help and suggestions along the way.