Has anyone ever used orthotics? I have noticed swelling on the side of the arch of my foot after running recently. From talking with some people I think my arch is high and not fully supported by my shoes. I'm thinking about getting custom orthotics made and wanted to see if anyone has experience w/ ordering custom orthotics from a website.

thx Dr. Tww

7/12/2007 9:41:07 PM

Start by getting shoes that fit your feet. It's unusual to need orthonics if you've got high arches. However, if you have high arches and you're wearing a motion control shoe, your feet will be very sore indeed after any kind of serious run.

Go to a real running store and have them analyze your foot type and gait, then you'll probably find a shoe that works.

7/12/2007 10:24:43 PM

I over pronate which means I have no arch. I went about seven years ago to a podiatrist and got customs orthodics made for me.

^ is right. Make sure to get shoes that work with your foot type first before you go drop the cash for those puppies. And also, I'm not sure but I don't know if orthodics work in your case. I mean mine are fitted to make me have an arch. How exactly would one undo having too much arch? Maybe just take a sledge and flatten things out a bit first.

7/13/2007 9:38:10 AM

^ i thought the orthotic would "fill in" under the arch to provide support.

7/13/2007 10:59:53 AM

It does for me and it corrects the alignment in my legs. The support for me is under the arch. Probably for someone who supinates they would just put the support towards the outside of the foot to collapse the arch.

7/13/2007 11:21:20 AM

^^ If your arches are high, you almost certainly don't need support. When the foot strikes the arch will compress, but people with low arches end up overpronating (foot moves too far inward in the gait cycle) because there's not enough support in the arch. High arches demand neutral shoes, not "stability" or "motion control" shoes. Go to Raleigh Running Outfitters or Fleet Feet Sports, bring the shoes that are causing you trouble, and they should be able to set you up with something that won't hurt. If you really do have high arches, you probably don't need to mess with orthotics.

7/13/2007 12:03:33 PM

you'd be much better off having your feet measure in person, like at an orthopaedic clinic. i work at one in greensboro and we do custom orthotics with really good patient satisfaction. but yeah, ordering from a website is probably just wasting your money

i actually wear some from our office, and i have high arches. they feel great

[Edited on July 13, 2007 at 1:49 PM. Reason : .]

7/13/2007 1:21:30 PM

I got orthotics from a podiatrist for $360. and they work well. I use them for running. I buy Profoot SuperSport inserts at K-Mart or WalMart for $3.84 for everyday use. They are a dense foam and work great. I'd try the SuperSport inserts before spending alot of $$ on custom orthotics.

7/14/2007 5:16:24 PM

You can have high arches AND flat feet.
"Flat feet" are feet that lean inwards, regardless of how high the arch is.
Se7entythree has high arches and flat feet.
My left foot has a low arch and my right foot has a medium arch and both of my feet are flat.

Go to a good shoe store and have them watch your feet while you walk. It's possible that you have high arches and flat feet. If that's the case then you'll need a motion control shoe or posted insoles.
If you don't have flat feet then you may simply need a good pair of arch support insoles such as Superfeet, Powerstep, or Lynco.
Expect to pay $25-40 for a good pair of over the counter insoles. Don't waste your money on any cheap walmart crap.
Some people with very high arches get arch pain because the tendons in their midfoot actually pull downward away from their bones as their arches flex under weight.

My boss has the tendon problem with his high arched (but not flat) feet, so he wears good regular running shoes and arch support insoles.
For running I wear motion control shoes and non posted insoles (Superfeet). Works great.
I use posted insoles in my hiking boots because they dont make motion control boots.
The most comfortable shoes I own are Nick's Forester firefighting boots. They have a really high heel that helps my flat feet.

The key to good foot comfort is to find out if you have flat feet then buy a good pair of running shoes suited for your foot type and a corresponding set of good insoles. All shoes need a good set of insoles. Factory insoles are crap.

[Edited on July 15, 2007 at 11:02 PM. Reason : ]

7/15/2007 10:56:39 PM

yeah, i have high arches and flat feet. i started having knee problems and went to the orthopedist and he noticed my feet were flat. they didn't used to be.

there is a difference between custom orthotics, corrective orthotics, and the shit that comes in your shoes. you most likely don't need custom orthotics, just corrective. my doctor told me to get aetrex lynco orthotics (you can get them at any of those feet stores or home medical supply stores). they will have a machine and a person in the store that will tell you what you need (although my dr told me which type to get). after a couple of weeks of wearing the insoles nonstop, my knee was greatly improved and i felt like i could walk/run a lot further.

don't buy the insoles at the store though...just go in and get them to run the test, then leave. they will cost $70+ in the store but you can get the same thing online for $40-50.

Quote :

"It's unusual to need orthonics if you've got high arches. However, if you have high arches and you're wearing a motion control shoe, your feet will be very sore indeed after any kind of serious run."

this is complete bullshit. i have very high arches and need motion control shoes to run/walk fast. otherwise it's not possible.

Quote :

"If your arches are high, you almost certainly don't need support. When the foot strikes the arch will compress, but people with low arches end up overpronating (foot moves too far inward in the gait cycle) because there's not enough support in the arch. High arches demand neutral shoes, not "stability" or "motion control" shoes. Go to Raleigh Running Outfitters or Fleet Feet Sports, bring the shoes that are causing you trouble, and they should be able to set you up with something that won't hurt. If you really do have high arches, you probably don't need to mess with orthotics."

holy crap you really don't know what you're talking about.

please don't listen to jerrygarcia. he is apparently full of shit.

THE BIGGEST misconception people have about flat feet is that flat feet = low arches. this is not true in any way, shape, or form. you can have low, normal, or high arches and have flat feet...just as you can have low, normal, or high arches and have normal feet.

[Edited on July 17, 2007 at 8:29 AM. Reason : ]

7/17/2007 8:28:46 AM

I finally went to a running store and got measured/fitted for shoes this past year. They put me in some ultra control shoes, I'm not terribly fond of them b/c they are a LOT heavier than typical running shoes... My feet are definitely not symetrical and I feel that they corrected so much on one that it hurt the other side...

however, I used to have problems with runners knee in my right knee... Since I've A) stopped running on my toes and B) gotten these shoes I haven't had any problems with my knee...

I would like to think its a combination of both.

Also the shoes that I got were <$100 like every other pair of running shoes that I have purchased. I have a size 14, so basically in a store like Dicks I walk in, ask what running shoes they have in a 14 and would purchase the one that sucked the least, in the running store they had everything in a 14... it was awesome

7/17/2007 9:40:11 AM

Quote :

"The height of the arch in the foot determines pronation, and therefore, foot type."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_type

You may want to go to a podiatrist mellocj and get their opinion seeing as they are qualified to tell you about your feet.

7/17/2007 9:54:51 AM

Quote :

"The height of the arch in the foot determines pronation, and therefore, foot type."

Quote :

"Specifically the shape of the arch causes different levels of pronation in feet."

Whoever wrote that in wikipedia is a moron. They've contradicted themselves.
People with flat feet tend to have low arches, BUT arch height does not determine if someone is flatfooted.
A doctor told se7entythree that she has high arches and flat feet. Is that not evidence enough that you can have both?

By yeah, mellocj needs to go to a good shoe store like Raleigh Running Outfitters and have them check out the feets.

[Edited on July 17, 2007 at 1:14 PM. Reason : ]

7/17/2007 1:10:45 PM

aight thanks for the feedback.. I'll try a running store

7/19/2007 12:14:35 AM

I HIGHLY recommend The Athlete's Foot in Cameron Village. Ask for a guy named Baker. He will most certainly hook you up with the correct shoe.

I used to work there, and can attest that we are very thoroughly trained on the different types of feet, the causes of these types of feet, and what each shoe we carry is best for. We'll make suggestions, and bring out a few pairs of comparable shoes so that you find the very best pair.

7/19/2007 12:21:27 AM

Quote :

"A doctor told se7entythree that she has high arches and flat feet. Is that not evidence enough that you can have both?"

That isn't right, the doctor was wrong. Don't know what to say, but look it up yourself. Flat fleet means the bottom of your foot touches the ground between the heel and the balls of the feet. A high arch mean that the inside of your foot is arched higher than normal, resulting in less contact with the ground.

Quote :

"High arch is the opposite of flat feet"

http://pennhealth.com/ency/article/001261.htm

7/19/2007 2:52:23 AM

no. when i don't have any weight on my foot, i have a very high arch (the high end of normal, not the freak that that article describes). your arch is measured when you're not putting all of your weight on it. when i step, it collapses and my foot becomes flat. my ligaments&tendons are overly stretchy and it makes my foot overly flexible.

[Edited on July 19, 2007 at 8:47 AM. Reason : ]

7/19/2007 8:45:14 AM

Arches are measured standing(full body weight) and sitting(some body weight). Everyone has more of an arch when no weight is on the foot, or you stand on your tip toes. Usually a simple water test can be used to tell, which is done standing.

Quote :

"http://podiatry.temple.edu/gaitlab/facilities/arch_ht.html"

So you have a collapsed arch = flat feet. You might have had a high arch, but the wearing of the tendons means you now have flat feet, again you can't have both. Google it. I can post thousands of sites (running, education, medical, etc) that will say flat feet is the opposite of high arches.

7/19/2007 12:51:11 PM

i was there when the measurements were done and i'm going to take a doctor's word over someone on tww's so there's no use arguing.

7/19/2007 1:24:03 PM

Doctor's are never wrong... Especially when you can go to any medical database, book, etc and it tells you differently. Take the time to read for yourself, shocker... Yes, every medical database is wrong and your interpretation of what a doctor said is right!

I went to a general practicianer once for a bad case of runner's toe (never had it before), he said it looked infected and it might be bad enough they would have to remove it(!). So I went to a podiatrist, he took a quick look at it, yank the toenail off, and it grew back fine. So yep, always trust a doctor, they are NEVER EVER wrong.

7/19/2007 1:41:18 PM

does it really matter in this case? he prescribed orthotics and some physical therapy, my knee got better, end of story. yes, doctors are never ever wrong.

btw, you don't pluralize anything with apostrophe + s. why is this so hard for people to understand?

[Edited on July 19, 2007 at 1:54 PM. Reason : ]

7/19/2007 1:53:44 PM

btw, you start sentences with capital letters. Why is this so hard for people to understand?

7/19/2007 2:07:22 PM

hahahahahaha. haven't been on the internet long, have you?

there is no excuse for your poor grammar.

7/19/2007 2:14:13 PM

If you look at se7entythree's footprint then you will find the footprint of someone with a high arch.

You (and many in the medical community) confuse the term "flat feet" with "low arch."
They are not the same.
Flat feet are overpronated feet.
You can overpronate regardless of how high your arches are, it just happens to be that almost all people with low or no arch in their feet are overpronators. This leads people to believe that low arch=flat feet.

Look up "overpronated feet" and you'll see that over pronated feet are called flat feet.
Well if se7entythree has high arches, as defined by the footprint she leaves, then how in the hell can she possibly overpronate if flat feet = feet that have low arch under weight??

[Edited on July 20, 2007 at 11:43 AM. Reason : ]

7/20/2007 11:34:40 AM