Do orthotics make a big difference?

Orthotics help cure my achilles tendonitis. Get the soft orthotics though, not the hard ones.

PF is most often caused by excess motion. ITB has many causes one of which is excess motion. Custom Orthotics for PF usually treat excess motion. They are mostly cast in a no load (no weight basis) and for most work best with Stability shoes. If you wear Asics like your name you should look at the 1070, 2070. Both are Stability shoes which reduce the rate of Pronation. They do not inhibit Pronation (a natural part of the foot strike cycle). A good response to this is J.D.Denton's response on page 8 of the September 2002 Running Times. I agree with his assessment.

I am a Biomechanical Physicist who has run for nearly 25 years. I would recommend molded hard orthotics cast by a successful Podiatrist or Orthopedic Surgeon who has success with runners. I would strongly recommend you not get them made with weight bearing technique. They just give you an imprint of your foot and if they work its highly likely you don't need custom and expensive orthotics.

I have orthotics for many of the same reasons you stated. They are definitely worth it. It will radically change how you feel running. If you are like me and struggled with injuries in the past, with proper orthotics, this becomes a thing of the past. I can run more miles than before, I have less injuries, and my legs just generally feel better. I use Asics 2070's with my orthotics and it works well for me.

Also, I wear mine w/ Asics Gel-Nimbus and they work great.

So I need to make sure to tell this guy that makes the orthotics that I need them made without me standing up using weight to make an imprint right? I am in the sticks of KY, not too many knowledgeable people here, he's a sport medcine guy though, so he should know a little bit, I heard wearing a nuetral shoe is best for orthotics...

Nick

For many a Stable shoe works. Make sure he goes through the steps to make sure you need them. They are very costly and more often than not; not needed.

Have tried just getting well (no pain)? If you haven't you might want to postpone the trip to the Doc. Much of the cure can be done without professional help. What shoe do you wear, how long have you worn them, etc. If the shoe is a Cushion type it could be the cause.

My favorite Pod in the Houston area would not prescribe custom orthotics until he had done a complete analysis. He is the exception. Most use them as a money maker.

They even work if you don't need them if they are properly cast and made.

Make sure you are cautious when introducing your foot to the orthotics. They can often cause blisters or lead to other injuries if you start pounding out the miles on them right away. They will change your mechanics so your body has to adjust to that.

Nick,

Many people on these boards have used or still do use orthotics. They can be helpful, yes, but keep in mind you now have TWO seperate pieces of unnatural man-made objects that are keeping your feet from touching the ground in the way they were designed to. That they are both at the end of your levers where the force of weight is greatest on your core is only adding further insult to the miracle that is your body. There have been a lot of threads in the past year or so regarding orthotics, I hope you will use the search capabilities of this website and look at all the past posts to see how you can strengthen yourself so one day you will no longer have to rely on orthotics.

In response to legalizeit, I would agree that strengthening is a really good idea. However, for things like leg length discrepancy there's nothing you can do other than correct it with orthotics. I had the same type of injuries that asicsman said he had and they were basically all due to the leg length difference. Since that was corrected, I've felt great.

What it is, I have a rotated pelvis, making one leg shorter, the right leg, that is where all the pain is..I have taken up Isolated stretching and massage once a week, that massage therapist really knew where my problem with knee pain is..it's all my attachement sites where the IT band connects..but it hurts in the knee not at the outside, nor is it very painful, just when I jump or run up steep hills...the PF has lingered for a while. Thanks

Nick

Chuck D, to say that nobody truly has a leg length discrepancy would be absurd as I've seen people with one leg a good 6 inches shorter than the other. However, I believe discrepancies up to an 1" are generally due to muscle imbalances that pull the body out of alignment and lead podiatrists/patients to come up with a somewhat distorted view of the situation. Orthotics become a band-aid for the result of an undiagnosed muscle imbalance that eventually demands more band-aids as the patient grows into old age. If a problem is seeded in the mind, it won't be resolved by tinkering with the body alone.

I had PF for a long time and it just wasn't healing. Turned out I had shotty orthotics. I went to a SPORTS PODIATRIST (note the added "sports" in front of podiatrist) and he made me knew ones that were properly angled removing the undue stress on my plantar fascia. I was allowed to run the day I got them after taking months off. The correct orthotics allowed my feet to heal and they work great now. I haven't been injured since. It also helped with my lingering knee problem. Going to get good orthotics from a real sports podiatrist made all the difference in the world.

Some of the posts have talked of strengthening leg muscles to correct leg length discrepincies...can someone post what kind of strengthening exercises would be useful? Thanks.

DMX...in my opinion the situation is something like this...your legs are the same length, so there is something else that is causing the discrepancy to occurr...ask yourself what is in between your legs and where your energy is eminating from, your core, and you'll find where your probelm lies...the abdominal muscles are weak/being unconsciously used/and imbalanced, which is well described a few posts back where the person described a "rotated pelvis"...what else is going to rotate your pelvis but muscle, a hanging skeleton doesn't have a rotated pelvis does it? i'd recommend taking up triathlon to better balance yourself, the swimming helps you understand how to emit the energy from your core better, and spinning smooth circles with one leg at a time on a bike can be a valuable teacher. you may try gazing, for extended periods, at leonardo da vinci's canon of man for some valuable insight of a balanced body. please keep in mind though reading words alone will do little for you other than give a bit of inspiration.

keep in mind that this orthotics might be for an underpronator. so to give them a stability shoe(asics 2070) would be counterproductive. Also, a lot of cushion shoes today use a "california last" instead of a slip last, which is benefitial for supporting the orthotic. For someone who has 25 yrs experience, i cant understand why you would assume the foot type of the original poster, and then give advice that could be harmful.

I was always against them. Now I'm using them but it's the third pair I've had and they're soft, thin, and comfortable like they ought to be. They seem to help. This is a last ditch effort to stop recurring tendonitis.

My advice is see more than one doc. Have them put they're treatment plan into writing and take it around for the others to see. Talk to PTs and people in the field and find out who the absolute best practitioner is in your area.

I now travel across the country to see the guy that made my orthotics, he is very good, what he says makes sense to me, that's usually not the case. In the past, I've seen some very well respected quacks who absolutely wasted my time and money.

Jeri from Houston or anyone else?

I hate to hijack but you mentioned cushion shoes possibly being the culprit for aggrivating the plantar fascia...

I have switched to cushion shoes (NB990) for the last 300 miles and now my left PF often has a twinge...it acts like it may become a problem if I don't constantly try not to aggrivate it during runs over 7 miles or so (this is also the point at which sweat fills my shoes and they become waterloged - could be part of the problem).

I have upped my mileage from +/- 50 to 80 and I do most of my running on asphalt (some on grass when I can) so I felt I needed the extra cushion. Also I am a heavy runner: 175# but I am not very injury prone so must be pretty efficient despite the weight. My question is: Am I better off with lightweight trainers (NB830 have worked well for me in the past) or is cushion worth it?

Last week, I noticed that my shoe insoles were compressed extremely thin underneath the balls of my feet all the way across the shoe behind my toes. I stuck gel inserts (just the pad type, not whole shoe liners) underneath both insoles and my PF feels a little better. Also taking off my socks after they become saturated seems to help since it slightly changes the position of my foot in the shoe...like the compressed area was pushing on my PF nerve in just the wrong place.

Thanks

the right running shoe for pf is either a cushion, stability, motion control, or light weight trainer. Now the right shoe for your foot is another issue. Go to a Running shoe store(not footlocker) or to a foot doctor, and have them look at your feet. They will be able to tell you which is the right shoe for you.

Run Run Run, It rare for a person to have PF and ITB who does not have excess motion problems. Stability or MC shoes do not cause problems for most underpronators. The stability devices do not even enter the equation unless you have significant medial motion. If you notice Asics is now using a Dynamic Cradle in their high end cost Cushion shoes. This cradle is used to add stability to the shoe. I don't find the advice harmful and my recommendation is based on experience. The type of last you should use should complement your orthotics. That means they should seat well in the shoe.