A quick question in relation to orthotics. I use a prescribed orthotic in my running and everyday footwear. My question relates to which type of running shoe I should be wearing to maximise the effect of the orthotic. While some of the readings suggest that an orthotic should be worn with a neutral shoe, I have heard other “experts” suggest they should be worn with a more stability based shoe, as this will enhance the effect of the orthotic and hold it in place.
Can anyone provide any insight - I have been having a few injury problems which I am keen to minimize and therefore finding the right type of shoe is important.
Also, while I am sure there are many excellent professional shoe-fitters out there, I have found those many of the generic shoe-fitting experts employed by the running shoe chain stores have little real knowledge of the correct shoe for people, especially once an orthotic is inserted (yes, i know, gross generalization).
Well, a lot depends upon your running “style”, stride, the reason you are wearing the orthotic and the actual design of the orthotic. If the orthotic has an external heel post so that it doesn’t “rock” in the shoe and has good heel control, then I like them in a more neutral shoe and I would try that first, especially since these types of shoes usually feel much nicer and provide a much nicer ride (not to mention they are generally cheaper).
Many of my patients can’t run in orthotics, but wear them in everything else (myself included). As far as a shoe “enhancing” the effect of an orthotic - that is not exaclty how they generally work (speaking Root biomechanics that is). A stability shoes main controlling properties lie in the outsole anyway.
In general, neutral shoes work best. I generally recommend the same to my patients.
The orthoses (pet peeve…the things you call orthotics are actually orthoses, which are made in an orthotic lab) should hopefully fix the problem they were prescribed for. They are made very specifically for you (at least, they should have been) and thus, you should not require any ham-fisted, overdesigned shoe motion control.
All that said, talk to your doctor/PT/orthotist about the precise design of your orthoses. None of us can know how they were fabricated. The guy to talk to is the one who made them.
(FWIW my big honkin’ size 15 orthoses are in neutral shoes).
I’ll preface my statement by saying that I know nothing about bio-mechanics.
That being said, I’m under the impression that the goal of any orhtotic or motion control show is to keep the foot neutral through as much of the running stride as possible. The orthotic helps in normal shoes, but for running shoes anything can happen. I was also prescribed orthotics by my doctor and he recommended that I try several shoes with my orthotics in them. So, I went down to the running store and tried on about 5 neutral shoes. (my stride was videotaped by the store) and none of them kept my feet neutral. I tried on a slew of shoes (I think I went through 17 pairs) until we found a mild motion control shoe that kept my feet perfect through the stride with my orthotics in. (Asics GT-2100’s for what it’s worth)
My biggest problem with using orthotics in running shoes is I don’t get the same snug feel as I did with the standard inserts, and my heels slip more than they ever did, even with all kinds of neat lacing tricks. I have big feet and don’t get half size options.
I’d recommend (I’m not an expert) having your gait videotaped while trying on a bunch of shoes and finding out which stays neutral while you run. It’s kept my Plantar Fasciitis away for 4 years now.
For the record, I had been running in the Nike Moto II shoes, and been reasonably successful (IM Germany). I had tried the orthotics in my Asics 1090s, but had calf problems as a result (Asics 1000 series had worked well with my bulkier old orthotics). Then Nike brought out the Moto III and they just didn’t feel right on my feet (although I didn’t actually run in them). I have since tried both the Asics 1100 and Asics Cumulus, with mixed results, and my calf / achilles problems have now returned. So now I’m in a bit of a quandary. I will probably try my Nike’s again to see if things improve, but need to find a long term replacement unless someone has a stockpile of Moto IIs.
I’m not an expert, I just sell shoes, run a lot and talk to a lot of runners. An orthotic attempts to put the foot back in a nuetral position and probably never does this perfectly but to a degree (a high one hopefully) it accomplishes it’s goal. Sometimes “nuetralizing” the foot’s position during a weighted footstrike fixes a person’s biomechanics and in this case you can probably go with a nuetral shoe. I’d personally suggest a little firmer shoe to give the orthotic a nice solid base to work off of and also because many of the softer shoes have higher, or narrower arches sometimes interferring with the orthotic’s fit. Often there are other factors coming into play (inflexibilities, muscle imbalences, weird foot placement, other injuries, etc) and in these cases even with the orthotic the runner may still need some degree of motion control. It’s a case by case. One thing is pretty common though. If you’ve dialed your shoe choice without orthotics and you get orthotics specifically to curb pronation, you may need to move to a more nuetral shoe with the orthotic. Sometimes the shoe you used to be wearing coupled with the orthotic can be overkill.
Some shoes that I think work really well with orthotics and work for a wide range of people are the Brooks Dyad, available in several widths, and the Asics Fortitude which runs very very wide and you need to buy a full size larger than your normal RUNNING shoe, so probably 2 or more sizes up from your actual shoe size. Both are nuetral shoes with wide firm bases that fit and support orthotics well.
Here is an observation that may or may not apply, but may be something about which it might be useful to think.
I had a number of people at shoes stores, one at least was very well regarded, that mentioned I had some type of pronation issue and recommended a shoe to fit. At first I thought, OK, maybe it will help, but then as I gave it more thought it occured to me there was no need to fix what was not broken. I kept running in a straight cushioned shoe with supports. I went a step further last year and totally chucked the cushioned shoes and started to do all my running in racing flats. I worked into it slowly, but now I’ve run more than 500 miles in a pair of Brooks T3s and more than 600 miles in a pair of Ascis Gel Magic. After the cushioning gave out, I even took a knife to the Gel Magics and cut off al the plastic crap in the midsole and most all of the arch. My plantar fasciitus went away and now I don’t run in cushioned shoes unless I go over 50 miles per week.
Sometimes I think too much shoe is the cause of the problem.
I’m in the middle of that process right now. I am finding that it’s worth it because I am teaching my legs to do the work, etc… Yes, it’s taking me awhile to get there. I ditched my custom inserts during the summer and have done a few runs without some flimsy inserts and am running in lightweight trainer right now. I’ve got a pair of Zoom Milers that I’ll be trying out soon. The process goes on!! Did you have any “growing pains” with the process? Take care
