I started getting problems w/ my ITB, mainly due to bad shoes (i think) i got more neutral shoes (my last ones had lots of motion control), and its not as bad. I have custom orthodics and a very high arch, and i feel like they might be forcing my foot to roll out, irritating my IT. Has anyone heard about this happening. I feel that since they are custom, they shouldnt do this. I examined them, and it appears as though they are angled such that they are higher towards the inner side, and slope down as they go to the outside of the shoe. Should i lose em?
Apolack1,
Why don’t you locate a podiatrist who runs and make an appointment with him/her for an examination? Get a professional opinion from a trained and qualified expert who has specific knowledge/connection to your sport (running).
That plan has generally worked extremely well for me in the past. I expect that in the future it will continue to be a good paradigm for successful resolution of physiological/medical problems. IMHO FWIW
The angle of my tibia makes my foot land on the outside edge and then roll through to the ball of the foot. So I’m a pronator, except I begin way out of the typical range n come back to neutral. Apparently most people land neutral and roll in to pronate.
The orthotics I had made force my foot to do the roll faster. The reasoning was that to block it would forced me to land on the outside edge and stay there. I had already had one stress fracture of the 5th met. It was also making my IT’s tighter, which resulted in VMO weakness.
So, I guess to answer your question, sometimes it’s good for orthotics to move your foot versus stopping it from doing something. Of course, if it’s getting worse then it’s not working. It took some time for my feet, ankles, achilles to get used to the new orthotics. That and my quads got beat to crap during the adaption phase. I almost quit using them, but now it’s fine.
first off, have you addressed this issue with the person that fitted/made the orthotic? i went through many adjustments when i first got my orthotics. took a year but now they are just right.
pretty common to go from a motion control shoe without orthotics to a nuetral shoe with orthotics. If the orthotics keep the arch from flatenning and the foot in a nuetral position that eliminates one source or the overpronation the made the motion control necessary. There may still be other biomechanical problems that necessitate motion control for some people even with the orthotics, but for many a switch to a more nuetral shoe with a firmer lateral edge is a good change. I’m the same, mild stabillity without orthotics and nuetral with. If I put my orthotics in stability shoes my ITB acts up pretty quickly and my shoes get a pretty leaning out compression pattern very quickly.
Are you still using the insole from the shoes as well as the orthotics? That would increase the height under the arch and cause the roll-out.
When I got my orthotics, I got (from the same person who made them) a new insole which was basically an evenly thick (~1.5mm) layer of material cut for my shoe size.
Not part of your question (yet) but then I had the problem that this new insole would slip forward in the shoe and bunch up when I tried slipping into them quickly in T1, so I went back and she glued it directly to the orthotic.
Hope my description is clear? And make sure to get an insole material which can deal with water without disintegrating.