I recently discovered that one of my transverse arches is low -
this is not the arch that runs along your foot, but the one that
runs from side to side under the toes.

Does anyone know of any exercises that can strengthen this arch?

5 responses total.

Why does a low arch imply that something is wrong with it?  I have low arches
and no foot problems due to this (except that shoes with arch supports hurt).
Do these arches cause you pain or other difficulties?

Yes they do - not always, but often enough.  I'm not sure but
maybe when I wear tighter shoes my foot doesn't hurt because
the shoe squeezes that arch into the right shape.  With looser
shoes it feels like I am walking not on the ball of my foot
(my left foot) but on a spot in the middle of the arch, and I
have to crack my toes to make the discomfort go away.

I have the opposite problem. My arches are too high. I have custom made 
arch supports in my shoes. Birkenstocks are great because they give me 
tons of arch support. Well worth the money you pay for 'em. 

I kept spraining and injuring my ankles. One orthopedist says this is 
because my arches are so high that I don't get proper support from most 
shoes. So, without that support my ankles have to work harder and 
sometimes get hurt in the process.

I actually got a pair of full-length archsupport/pads for my shoes.  Ran me
$20, and they last me about 8 months or so.  Can take them out and switch
them between shoes.  THey are garunteed to last a year, but for as much wrok
as I make them do, I figure 8 months is good. :)_

re#0:
any exercise that strengthens the intrinsic muscles of the foot (in a balanced
way) will help you stabilize the 'transverse arch'.  you may, however, have
a structural deformity which is the result of the way your bones have
developed.  that is partly inherited and partly influenced by the kinds of
shoes you've worn and the way your feet function.

do you have symptoms?  everyone can develope some pain if they wear shoes that
do not fit them correctly or provide the support they need...and each foot
is usually a little different.  again, if you have a bone that is bearing more
weight than it should, you can get pain as you described (this can be a
plantardeclinated metatarsal, or the result of pronation which causes one
metatarsal to receive excess shearing force).  also, if pronation, or other
mal-function of the feet cause the metatarsals to irritate the nerves which
run between them into the toes, you could develope a benign swelling of the
nerve sheath commonly called a neuroma (but more correctly termed a
neurolemoma, or shwanoma).

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