I wear orthotics to correct over pronation. When i bought my last pair of shoes i was advised by a salesdude at a running specialty store to buy a moderate stability shoe. THis was the first time i wore a stability shoe. The difference was not immediately apparent, but my running took a severe turn for the worse - lower leg pain and huge decrease in endurance. After a few months i noticed an abnormal wear pattern and decided the shoes had to go (this week). I switched back to cushioned shoes, my recurring shin pain vanished, and i was once again able to make it through a (short) long run.

I would get multiple opinions. good luck.

jg

Had a stress fracture and was fitted for orthodics. My P.T. and DR. said I no longer needed stability shoes,that the orthodics did that. Went to cushioned shoes and within in two weeks had terrible pain.Went back to stability,motion control shoes(even though I am an under-pronater,have a funny gate due to hip tightness)After last visit to Dr.,told me to try other cushion shoes,do not need control shoes due to orthodics(again). So I tried a different brand,after two weeks pain is back,went back to control shoes again. Pain is slowly going away but becouse I am training for CDA can not stop running so stuck with some pain....Bottom line use what works best for you. I always ran with control shoes(also a heavy runner)and that is what I will stay with.Wasted 200 dollars on shoes with hardly any milage on them that I just can not wear."For me" what my body had previously adapted to is what I needed.FWIW

With orthotics you need the same cushioning shoes you have been using. Cushioning shoes are suitable for high arches which are also often inflexible feet. They are also used for neutral gate runners which is what the orthotics correct you to.

The cases where orthotics change the shoe you require is that some (but not all) pronators need to switch to a cushioning shoe. Other pronators need to stick with the motion control shoes

Motion control and stability shoes are for the 90% of people who pronate.

My experience is that there's absolutely no canonical answer to your question--different shoes manufacturers do different things with their "cushion," "stability," etc and once you're somewhat out of the normal minor corrective issues, you're on your own.

I had plantar fascitis, go custom orthotics, switched to adidas control shoes for 2 years, though only arrived at them after several months of trying different shoes. Then I developed IT band issues (very common with orthotics), new adidas control shoes (I was told by a sports podiatrist that the adidas shoe designer focused on forefoot control more than others) that worked, blah blah. All in consultation with a PT that watched my stride as I tried different shoes on a tread mill (Rebecca Kern Steiner, New Dimensions Physical Therapy, Austin, TX, could not recommend her more. a true life saver).

4 yrs later, new orthotics. Adidas stops making shoes that work for me, and after running in 15 different pairs (no lie) I surprise myself by getting Reebok DMX Stability, which after some IT band pain and breakin, work great. I buy 4 pairs.

To pick the right shoes out, I recommend RoadRunnerSports.com. If you pay the 25 to be a member, you get to try the shoes for 2 months and get a full refund. So while with those 15 pairs I racked up a lot of postal fees and heartache, I found the right pair. And RRS were so nice about--I got chirpy emails about "better luck next time" when I'd send one set of failures back.

If you have a good run store, that's an option (NYC is surprising weak is this regard), but sometimes even the best stores have a) inexpert advice (yeah, runners work there, but not runners that have experienced my pain), and b) draconian return policies and not even a tread mill in the store (this could be an insurance issue). After being saddled with one unreturnable pair of shoes, I switched to RRS, more than worth the postal hassle.