I got orthotics a good while back (years) to alleviate lower back pain. At the same time I started stretching / strengthening my back. Net result: not much back pain to speak of (ever!).
However… I have had lower leg problems for a long time now (especially calf / soleus cramps and micro-tears) and have had not much success remedying the situation. Today, a health professional asked if I had ever considered “losing” the orthotics.
I was shocked! Get rid of my orthotics?! Aren’t they, by definition, good for me? Aren’t they made from molds of my feet? Doesn’t every serious athlete end up owning a pair? Not so, claims aforementioned health professional. They are unnatural and force your feet / legs in positions they “don’t want to be in”.
I’m stunned! I had never considered ever running again without orthotics. Has anyone done such a thing (after significant time WITH orthotics) and had success.
OR
just tell me how to stop the soleus micro-tears / cramps
Yes, after 28 years, I ditched my orthotics and now feel like I’m running much better. I have so much more feel for running now, which was masked by them. Just be sure to pay very close attention to any discomfort, and work on some easy drills. Take your shoes off, and balance on each foot, one at a time, for 1 min each, to help strengthen yourself.
LOL! Hate to break it to you, but most athletes do NOT need orthotics. They apparently helped your back? for whatever reason, so worst case scenario is some low back pain may slowly return? Ditch em! But I’d initially run in a a shoe with at least a medial rearfoot post, and then transition to neutral if that is your ultimate intention.
If (like eyeglasses) they are constructed for a true biomechanical malady, then going without them (like taking off your glasses) will be obvious pretty quickly.
I ditched them about 3 months ago after having them for about 4 years. Had them for knee pain. Knee pain never really got much better…until about a year ago, when I started dropping weight, training daily, and slowly uping the run volume while being careful not to pound and heel strike. It was a physio who suggested I just try going without them. I’m glad he did, I hated dealing with the damn things.
Foot orthoses are one of the most overly prescribed and poorly understood medical devices out there. From a chiropractic website:
“Approximately eighty percent of the population could benefit from orthotics to correct the dysfunction present in the arches of their feet. Uncorrected, this leads to chronic back, knee, hip and foot pain as well as headaches, poor posture and degenerative changes. In addition, your athletic performance, whether competitive or recreational, will be affected.”
Eighty percent they say. Now of course they don’t quote a source for that or any of their other claims. But they will happily sell you shoe inserts for several hundred bucks. A scam you say? Never.
There are cases where you could make a rational argument based on biomechanical principals that foot orthoses may be of benefit. And there are certainly cases where people benefit from them, or at least the placebo effect. But there is absolutely no quality evidence to support their use, and simply because your longitudinal arch is bottoming out is not in of itself a reason to use them.
Got orthotics that I switched between my running shoes and my Ultimate cleats. Really,
helped with the shin splints.
Then I stopped moving them to my running shoes because I was running trails.
I’m only putting on my cleats about every 4 months now, and they’re in there, but
I really think I have effectively ditched them.
That being said, I think that support for shin splints can be fantastic. I just wish
that “shin splints” didn’t encompass so many things that rroof could help us figure
it out authoritatively.
Actually, there is a very large body of evidence to support foot orthotic use (hence the reason most large insurance companies cover them) - but only for approved reasons. But, I absolutely agree that they are greatly overused - especially by chiropractors who get virtually little to no training with regard to their use/manufacturing. To treat headaches? Seriously? Even if they can help “remote” issues (i.e. back pain, knee, etc.), that is NOT what insurers cover them for.
I had a lot of IT problems following a marathon a few years ago. I have been a competitive runner for years, ran 90-100 mile weeks in college, and never had any problems much less injuries. When the IT started hurting, I got orthotics b/c I convinced myself that something was wrong other than overuse. I was also in a rush to get back to training. I saw a podiatrist and had some orthotics made. I had to wait a few weeks for them to come in to start running again. When I started running, I didn’t have any problems at all. The truth is that it was overuse and I needed the time off, which I got. This winter, however, I got sick of them - having to switch them from shoe to shoe and thinking that I might need them forever. I hated being dependent on them. I spoke with a rep from Adidas who had been through the same thing. He, along with several other runners and coaches, told me that orthotics are rarely needed by everyone that has them. Long story short - I took them out 2 months ago and haven’t looked back. I have not altered my training at all and have actually felt much better on the run. It makes the shoes lighter and more flexible. If you don’t have a serious condition that has really requires them, put them in a drawer and get back to running. Of course the people selling them are going to tell you that you need them or how much they will help you, but the simple fact is that while beneficial to some people, they are way overused.
When I first began the sport 12 years ago, I had terrible shin splints, ultimately ended up at a physio, determined I needed orthotics for moderate to severe over pronation. I ran with them for many years but as I started running longer I found that my feet would get sore, I think due to the stiffness of the carbon soles. So I talked to My Sports Med Doc, and he felt that after 9 years of running that I had likely developed the muscular and supportive soft tissue strength to not need them any more. I started running in a pronation control shoe and immediately noticed how much better my feet felt, then gradually transitioned to a light weight cushion shoe and have never been running better. I think the long and short of the story is that like so many I wanted to get into the sport and started running too much too soon, and the orthotics were a tool that allowed me to advance faster than my body was really ready. So like others have suggested, give it a try with the right shoes and see how it goes.
Good Luck
this is all very interesting to me. i just had molds made on friday for my orthotics. never had them before and have had some major foot problems (PF) and have had them recommended by a few different docs and fellow athletes. i have very high (very) and they are stiff as well.
it seems that there are two opposing schools of thought on this:
1.) orthotics help your feet align and pronate properly which can help your feet, legs, back, etc.
2.) don’t get orthotics because you are weaken your natural foot strength by giving them a “crutch” and the long term will be worse.
in talking with friends (athletes and not) that have orthotics, most feel they had some gains…some had a lot. oddly in my situation, my foot pain comes from standing all day and i have no bad pain while running. so maybe i’ll just wear them in my dress shoes only.
oddly in my situation, my foot pain comes from standing all day and i have no bad pain while running. so maybe i’ll just wear them in my dress shoes only.
i’m anxious to hear other’s thoughts on this…
I suffered from PF and actually took the summer off because of it. At the end of the summer I started back into running, wearing VFF. I started a cashiering job around this time, which included a lot of standing. I also noticed that my PF pain only started to act up from standing a long period of time and would go away as soon as I put the VFF on and began my run. I tried wearing more shoe to work, wore some running shoes, put Dr. Sholls (sp) in my nicer shoes, neither of which worked. I actually think the nice shoes with the more cushion are the worst. Then I started wearing Puma K Streets, the flattest and lightest shoe I have, and you know what? Pain is gone.
A few years back I got a bad case of ITB on both knees. My arches were collapsed, I pronated severely, and I had some muscular imbalances.
I got support shoes and orthotics and got back to running. In the beginning I was uncomfortable when going without the support and used them most of the time. I also started a general strength training program designed to correct the imbalances.
After 2.5 years I started having pain in my feet, and after a while I checked whether it was the rigid support that caused it. It was, so I started running without the support.
So far it’s going fine (1 year support free now). If I skimp on warm-up and stretching my ITB will remind me, but I haven’t missed running due to injury during this time. And last time I was at the shoe store, my gait is now close to neutral.
So I would summarize as: For some people, who are built “incorrectly”, they might be needed indefinitely, but for others it might just be needed for a while, until the weaknesses have been corrected.
I just got my orthotics (about 2 months ago) for my Sesamoiditis I had. I can’t use them to run, it feels really weird. I use them mostly in my work shoes and other " weekend" shoes.
I bought L400 Lynco Sport Orthotics Arch Supports Insoles from ebay and that’s what I have in my running shoes, they are lighter and have the support I need.
Got PF in 2006 - not too bad though: constant ‘sensation’ in foot with PF. Pain in morning. Pain disappeared while running except for the occasional stabbing pain that could occur any time during the day.
It took three fittings before we settled on an orthotic that alleviated the pain. Once that was done I wore them all the time: running and in my regular shoes. While indoors I wore crocs.
In mid 2009 while in the wife’s family’s summer house I noticed that I was walking barefoot a lot and experiencing no pain at all. I then decided that it was probably time to remove my orthotics. I did as follows:
I began by doing 90% of my running in my Kayano/Orthotic combo and a 30 minute run in DS racers. Over the next 4 months I gradually switched all my orthotic shoes for flatter lighter ones.
I now run in DS racers, Brooks ST Racer 6 on the road and Inov8 X-Tallon 212 on the trails. So far I have had no recurrence of PF at all… let’s see what the year brings.
I had multiple years of chronich knee injuries and was prescribed orthotics and stability shoes. But the injuries didn’t go away. I did all of the typical stuff - muscle imbalance remediation, stretching, ramping up mileage slowly, etc. It didn’t work. I was going to quit running altogether. My last ditch eefort was to rebuild from scratch in the opposite of what I was running in - i.e., minimalist shoes like the Mizuno Universe. I have been running 60-80mpw that way, injury free, for the past year. It’s all about making a very slow transition and running by feel.
I currently use orthotics (only while running), and actually always have ever since I began marathon running 7 years ago. I have been thinking about moving away from them becuase they are big and heavy, and would appreciate your feedback. A little history, I originally got them because of some knee pain after running, and after an evaluation by a podiatrist, he noticed my right ankle collapses towards the inside when I put weight on it (this ankle was sprained probably 5-6 times during high school and college), and this was the same knee that hurt.
I currently use a thick custom made foam ones (I think Superfeet) with a wedge on the inside of the heel, and Saucony Triumph shoes. I was told to use shoes with more cushioning because the orthotics already correct the foot movement, so you don’t need to use a motion control or stability shoe. Anyway, my thought in trying to move away from orthotics is to try first with my shorter runs and the eliminate them from longer runs as I adapt to running without them over the course of a month or so.
So, here are my questions:
Should there be this type of gradual transition away from them? Should this process take a month, or several months? Also, should I keep my neutral cushioned shoes or look for more of a motion control or stabilty shoe? Lastly, I am 4 months away from IM CdA, should this wait until after that to try to avoid an injust risk?
I used them since the mid 1980’s and have been slowly using them less. I don’t do a ton of running, maybe 45 mins a day average, so have been just using a lightweight shoe for some of my runs and sticking with the klunky trainers when I do a longer run. I suspect I’ll hold onto to the orthodics for a while longer. I tried just running in the light shoes and it worked OK for a couple weeks then my feet started getting sore. I think running in a lightweight flat for a few days a week is a good thing is you can tolerate it, from my experience it seems to help build some strength in the lower legs.
I think running around barefott or using those rubber sock things might be good for some people but seems like kind of an extreme approach. Perhaps 1-3 days a week without our orthodics for a few months and see how you feel?
I would definitely wait until after your build and IMCDA. No better time to start than after that if you want. As for why you had them (likely PT tendon dysfunction?), best to start with a mild stability shoe (i.e. medial post) and not the clunky full on motion control shoes. Likely no one on this forum needs them (I have a few patients that do, they just wouldn’t be a runner in the first place). Nice to go to someplace like your local Fleet Feet since most of them have the ground level mounted video on the treadmill. You can then see how much medial ankle collapse you will have in certain shoes. You don’t need to eliminate all of it, but if excessive, you are just asking for other troubles (I mean, you have been running 7 years injury free now, right and you want to change because …).
You are right, 7 years of high mileage running with no particular issues (besides the usual shin pain when I increase mileage too quickly after a break, but that’s due to user error…). I really only have 2 reasons for a change: first they are big, clunky and heavy. I have used them in Fastwitch shoes with success, but they still add alot of weight. Secondly, they are getting close to wearing out (I think). They have a different colored top cap about 1/16" thick that I have worn through in a few places on each one, so why they still have a useable life left I figured now would be a good time to see if I really need them before I have to get another set.
Thanks for your input, either way I’ll wait until after the season to try something new.
I got orthotics a good while back (years) to alleviate lower back pain. At the same time I started stretching / strengthening my back. Net result: not much back pain to speak of (ever!).
However… I have had lower leg problems for a long time now (especially calf / soleus cramps and micro-tears) and have had not much success remedying the situation. Today, a health professional asked if I had ever considered “losing” the orthotics.
I was shocked! Get rid of my orthotics?! Aren’t they, by definition, good for me? Aren’t they made from molds of my feet? Doesn’t every serious athlete end up owning a pair? Not so, claims aforementioned health professional. They are unnatural and force your feet / legs in positions they “don’t want to be in”.
I’m stunned! I had never considered ever running again without orthotics. Has anyone done such a thing (after significant time WITH orthotics) and had success.
OR
just tell me how to stop the soleus micro-tears / cramps
My orthos were not custom, but I ditched them a few years ago after wearing them religiously for 5 years. No problems since and I too feel that running/walking without them is more natural.
I think orthos have a place and time; usually when there is overuse injury.
