Okay, had a video gait analysis done and here’s what they said:
BTW, had it done 'cause my left arch has been hurting…
“After looking at all the video, we have come to the conclusion that your right foot tends to supinate, and your left foot seems to slightly over-pronate, rolls in medially. While watching you run in the Asics 2120, you look very neutral on the left foot. There is nothing you can do for a foot that supinates other than try to stay in a neutral shoe, but with your left foot pronating, you may want to buy shoes specifically for that foot. In other words, if you are having issues with the left foot, then you should focus on that foot and find the right fit for it. We agree that the Asics 2120, or shoes of similar support should prove beneficial”
Will running in support shoe hurt a neutral foot, or have anybody ever tried to run in two different kinds of shoes (support-left and neutral right) for each foot? Just curious if I am crazy…
Why not go for some orthotics just for the left foot?
I have two different types of orthotics a set of stiff ones and some softer cushioned ones. After some mixing and matching I have a soft one in my right shoe and a stiff one in my left and that gives me the right amount of support for each foot.
“Will running in support shoe hurt a neutral foot”
For a number of people I have worked with, no. But, that’s not to say that it can’t for everyone. Too much support is much less risky than too little.
“or have anybody ever tried to run in two different kinds of shoes (support-left and neutral right) for each foot?”
No, at best that’d be expensive, at worst the difference in the shoes could just lead to more and more imbalance. From what I have seen in runners, many people have different levels of pronation from left to right. But, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone with moderate pronation on one foot, and supination on the other.
I’ve also found it very rare that anyone actually supinates. I’ve seen a lot of people that have VERY little pronation and remain on the outer edge of the foot, but rarely will someone land on the medial side of the heel and supinate to the lateral side of the foot. If anyone’s seen it, rroof would be the man to know.
Perhaps correcting your right foot (the pronating one) will also improve the left one - IOW the suoination might be a reaction to the pronation (?). DK
FWIW, I have almost exactly the same gait pattern, although I supinate like CRAZY on my right foot, and have mile pronation with my left foot, I use motion control shoes for both feet, and NO problems…but that’s my experience. My wife OTOH, pronates like MAD, and had to have custom orthotics made.
A typical issue would be a true limb length discrepancy - possible get a scanogram. The shorter leg will tend to “pronate” to functionally lengthen, where the shorter leg will “supinate” (or more correctly, just not pronate) to keep shorter.
Also, a weak tibialis anterior can help this pattern. I just saw a girl (well, 33 yo) yesterday with a pretty severe supination gait on one side … after digging deeper, she failed to mention to me her cervical cancer tx, resultant neuropathy, and foot drop from it that she rehabbed! (she just didn’t put her cervical cancer and “foot issue” running together). In short, there is a reason, dig deeper.
As for the shoes until you figure things out. I’d stick with a neutral shoe, and get some custom orthotics to deal with the excessive pronation on your one side. Easiest way to go for now.