Shorter leg and orthotics

For what it's worth, I have one leg that is about a quarter inch shorter than the other (measured through bone xrays of each leg, the only way to tell for sure), and I'm slightly bow legged. I had three stress fractures in my senior year of hs as well as knee issues -- was about to give up running altogether. A podiatrist put me in orthotics that corrected for leg length discrepancy and the bow legged issues. Now in my fifth year of healthy running -- no issues whatsoever in college (got down to mid 14's for the 5k, 3:55 for 1500).

orthotics are worth the investment in my opinion. born to run, well and the minimalists in general have a point. they're point is NOT that humans aren't designed to run, it's that we're not designed to run with SHOES. which is true if you think about it. if it weren't we'd all be born with shoes. however, there are most likely more, if not as many, people who run injury free with shoes as without. and the competitive folks who run without (primarily the africans) have ALWAYS done that. they haven't forced themselves to adapt to one thing, then bought into some "new" idea that we're supposed to be shoe-less, then tried to force themselves to adapt to the opposite. they probably would have an equally difficult time adapting to shoes as a runner who has always run shod would have adapting away from shoes. initially i ran in orthotics for several years, had no injuries on high mileage, eventually scrapped the orthotics and tried to follow the "less is better" premise of semi-minimalism, and had multiple injuries within less than a year on very low mileage. went back to shoes and the orthotics i had and am back to where i was before. one case doesn't make a trend, just my two cents.

I'm sorry that last post didn't turn out right. My piece starts from "I guess its a coin toss...."

I don't think I really answered your question... you asked if there's an alternative to getting orthotics? certainly. how many people have you seen who determined that you need them? i would make sure that whomever you see doesn't just sell everyone orthotics (and believe you me, there are a TON of podiatrists for whom selling orthotics is their livliehood...therefore everyone from the 350 morbidly obese man with terrible foot problems to the skinny little 6 year old soccer player who sprained his ankle ends up in them). in my opinion, though i have had good results with them, they are a bit overprescribed. it may be that your feet function fine, maybe all you need is a heel lift under your shorter leg? costs about 400 dollars less, may be just as (if not more) effective. may be a case of trial and error, just make sure that you do some research and perhaps see more than one person. that would be my advice for what it's worth. sorry bout the ramble.

I don't think that Frank Shorter uses orthotics.

I have a leg 3/8 inch shorter. I got the orthotic made. I could never use it because it tore up my foot. I went minimalist and all my leg problems went away. I bet yours would too.

By the way, I had a lot of homemade orthotics that I used to use and they were all superior to what this doctor made me.

I am kind of similar to you. My left leg is 4 inches shorter than my right. Rather than invest in orthodics (and putting money in the pocket of the man) I have chosen just to run my miles on an extremely banked track. This allows me to run without noticing my leg discrepancy.

I think he recommends orthotics for everybody so I am going to get a second opinion. However, he said that even over-the-counter orthotics would help me a lot, along with a heel lift.

What bugs me is that he even recommended walking around in them all the time and running 100% of the time in them, even races. Fat chance of fitting them into my flats or spikes though. ;)

He also said that there are lighter orthotics for runners.

How light do they get? Will I notice a significant difference? Will my feet feel like bricks?