Orthodics

Off Topic
21

[quote]vision1 wrote:

My doctor gave me a proscription for orthotics, but he didn’t really look at my foot at all. After a glance he said I’ll need orthotics, without examining.

The orthotics will cost me $500 if I need them, so I’m hoping I can fix the problem. I’m going to take the next 4-6 weeks off all heavy weights. I’ll also lower the amount of running I do. I’ll try and judge which muscles I need more mobility in, and which I need stronger and tighter(posterior tibial tendon I think). So any more info would be great.

Thanks again[/quote]

I would recommend going to www.yoursole.com these are for inserts that are heat molded to your foot. I have had several doctors over the years tell me I need orthotics, but at the price tag ($300) on my budget this can’t be done.

These are the best alternative I have found (and I have had orthotics since I was young due to ankle problems). If you have any questions PM me.

22

[quote]belligerent wrote:
AllTraps wrote:
Ignoring the problem with this “bare feet as much as possible” ideal is complete bullshit - A body out of allignment is set for injury and possible lifetime problems - period!

How do you know that? Are you aware of the research indicating that many “alignment” problems, especially those related to pronation, are reduced when barefoot compared to during shod ambulation? [/quote]

Well, that is nice. But I can tell you as a former competitive runner, it’s not feasible to train barefoot much of the time. We did try to incorporate barefoot training when we could because it has its benefits.

24

[quote]yorik wrote:
belligerent wrote:
AllTraps wrote:
Ignoring the problem with this “bare feet as much as possible” ideal is complete bullshit - A body out of allignment is set for injury and possible lifetime problems - period!

How do you know that? Are you aware of the research indicating that many “alignment” problems, especially those related to pronation, are reduced when barefoot compared to during shod ambulation?

Since you brought it up, please list the studies so we can review them ourselves. Include that one about modern barefoot societies having fewer foot problems too. I knew a girl in college who always went barefoot; maybe she knew something we didn’t.[/quote]

Yea, she knew she didn’t have foot problems!

25

I’m still uncertain of my original question. I’ve looked at different websites, and they all say different things.

In you’re opinions are orthotics more like:

Braces (fix problem, and are taken off after)?

or

Glasses (fix problem as long as you always wear them)?

26

[quote]vision1 wrote:
Braces (fix problem, and are taken off after)?

or

Glasses (fix problem as long as you always wear them)?

[/quote]

It depends on what the pathology is.

If you’re walking funny and have knee pain or whatever because of a particular muscular tightness or weakness (I’m a good example of this, my medial hamstring on my right leg is weak at the moment and I have too much external rotation of the shank), they’re like braces while you stretch or so a little rehab.

If it’s a problem that’s harder to fix (overstretched tendon or ligament, skeletal deformity, etc) they’re more like glasses.

If your health care provider can’t figure out which would be the case, grab a cheap pair of inserts off the shelf at a Walgreens that make you feel a bit better until you can find someone who can accurately diagnose the problem (usually a physical therapist or biomechanist. PM me for some help finding someone in your area if you don’t know of someone). I haven’t met a chiro who can find the precise musculotendonous issues that can cause certain issues, but they may be out there.

-Dan

27

[quote]belligerent wrote:
Orthotics are completely inappropriate for most people. They should be reserved for people with true anatomical DEFORMITIES and not every person who develops common overuse injuries like shin splints, plantar fasciitis, and other proplems that the ignorant fucks in the medical community invariously attribute to “overpronation”.
[/quote]

I think this is true. I have had custom orthodics for four years and I plan to wear them the rest of my life because I have flat feet that led to probelms with knees and just about everything else. The only time I didn’t run with them was during a race in track. Another person said they were kind of like braces to help a person along. I think this is true because my dad had plantar fasciitis and the physical therapist gave him temporary orthodics. Now my dad can run without them and does not wear them.

28

I’m a 20 yr old male, 6’2 200lbs, about 12% BF. I’ve been active in sports (soccer goalkeeper) for all of my life, and have suffered few injuries. By far the most troublesome has been shin splints. I had them as a junior in high school and just worked through them, but they bothered me for months. After that I played college soccer, during which I was running/training ALOT, and they didn’t bother me at all.

Last summer I transferred colleges, and decided to play soccer at my new university. I jumped into training after a long layoff, and my shin splints came back. They bothered me all summer, and I finally went to a doctor. He said that I over pronate (esp. on my right foot), have weak arches, etc…and was on the way to stress fractures.

The doctor said there was nothing I could do about my arches/pronation, and would have to just wear orthotics for the rest of my life. I went to a physical therapist and got orthotics. The PT basically had me do balance exercises, stretches, and strengthening exercises for the anterior tib and the gastro-soleous area. I kept on training for soccer, and they got worse… The PT told me what to look for with stress fractures, and I’m pretty sure I was on the brink, so I quit for the season before it had even begun. This was in August. Anyway, my shins don’t hurt at all anymore (granted, I haven’t done anything in months…), and I want to start training again and play for my university team next year.

I’ve been doing some research, and refuse to become dependent on my orthotics. I’ve decided to start barefoot running every other day, working my way up to 2 miles. This is supposed to really strengthen your feet in general, especially your arches. I will also be weening myself off of the orthotics. Additionally, I’ll be stretching and strengthening both ant. tib and gastro-soleous. Sound good? Does anyone have any experience with barefoot running? What should the technique be like?

I also found the attached article (www.aptei.com/articles/pdf/IntrinsicMuscles.pdf), which claims that strengthening the intrinsic muscles of the foot is key in the control of over pronation. However, I couldn’t really understand the recommended exercise-- could someone help me out with this? Is it basically just balancing while focusing on staying on the outside of your foot?

Does anyone have any ideas on how to correct my weak arches/overpronation? Throughout the day should I consciously be trying NOT to overpronate? I’m not even exactly sure how to do this…

29

Solidgk,

It’s nice to have someone in the same situation as me (with similar stats)

  • 17 years old
  • 195 lbs
  • 6’2
  • been playing sports all my life

If anything works for me, I’ll post it up. Eric Cressey advised me to do alot of rolling on my calves and peroneals. Mike Robertson said the same + rolling the bottom of my feet.

I’m going to stop doing any heavy lifting and see if that helps. If you want, you can take a look at my log in the strength section.

My plan is going to look like this:

M: ankle/foot work at home
T: full body at gym
W: off
T: full body at gym
F: ankle/foot work at home

I’m also going to try hard to strengthen my ankle extension and dorsiflexion. I have a feeling ankle inversion movements would help as well.

As for supplements I’m taking: Glucosamine/Chondroitine, and fish oils.

If you start having success with the barefoot running, please tell me. I won’t be able to do that for a while though because of the winter.

EDIT: I forgot to say, but I don’t have shinsplints, only the over pronation/weak arches.

30

Hey guys,

Just wanted to share my experience. I used orthotics for over pronation for a few years, and decided to wean myself off of them when I started reading that the over-protective running shoes many of us wear actually encourage poor running mechanics and are in part the cause of lower leg/foot injuries and chronic pain. Heel striking is a good example - trying “heel striking” when running barefoot! Yet, most runners - even very good ones - are heel strikers.

I gradually started wearing shoes sans orthotics, and walking around the house barefoot (which I’ve never really done, believe it or not [edit: I guess my avatar show what a liar I am, eh?]) then I got started on Nike frees, which took about a month to get used to. I did make the mistake of taking them out sprinting right away - what an idiot - not only my plantar facia was inflamed, but my achilles too.

Once I got used to them, then I purchased vibram fivefingers (weird looking, but they’re really great, sort of like gloves for your feet.) They took two whole months to get used to.

Now, six months after dropping orthotics, I sprint either barefoot or with the five fingers, depending upon the surface.

I find that when I start to get a problem it’s usually related to tightness and knots in my calves, which I roll out with a lacrosse ball.

Though I’ve had pretty good success, I’m going to check out that article above too.

It would be great to hear any more experiences you guys have had regarding this.

Cheers!