[Closed] fallen or dropped arches....advice anyone.

Read "Born to Run" 😉

Ton, I used some shoe inserts for dropped arches. Get them from boots. I used them for a month and no longer need to. All fixed.

I had some inserts made many years ago by a Physio who had a sidline in making these. I still wear them in my work shoes & IMO well worth the money.

Born to run is a very interesting read in terms of how many run today in protective running shoes (heel strike) and how we may be designed to run i.e. more on the toes and the related injuries (shin splints etc) we may suffer from as a result.

I bought a new pair of running shoes this week from the Sweatshop who will make you a pair of custom insoles for £45. Very interesting to watch video footage they take of how your feet hit the ground and push off wearing differnt shoes. I thought it was a bit of a con prior but seeing my own video footage analysis it made very interesting viewing.

I had that. Your first few steps in the morning hurt like needles stabbing into your feet right?

Do you cycle? Are you tall? Push your cleat back so you cycle more mid foot rather than ball..

After months of trouble, I made inserts to push my arches up and I was soon ok. Also avoid flat skateboard type shoes and shoes without arch support in general.

I thought this was going to be an architectural thread 🙁

Over pronation and collapsed arches are a symptom of imbalance in the hip and knee. Supports aren't fixing the problem, they're actually making it worse. Sort your imbalance and do arch strength exercises.

Watch it is not putting strain on your achilles tendons. That was a problem I had. Did nothing about it until I snapped a tendon playing football. I since found inserts help.

Read "Born to Run"

Then get to know your physio

Over pronation and collapsed arches are a symptom of imbalance in the hip and knee. Supports aren't fixing the problem, they're actually making it worse. Sort your imbalance and do arch strength exercises.

Not sure I totally agree. A trip to the podiatrist is well worth while.

A properly custom moulded set of orthotics can help to re align the lower leg and remove stress from the knee and hip joints whilst strenghening excercises bring the arch back to a better place. I went through a bunch of different biometric 'stuff' with the podiatrist based at my local university sports injury clinic before getting a plaster cast taken of my feet and an orthotic built. The original orthoic itself cost over £100 but then its possible to switch it beween footwear for sport etc and a re sole only costs £20.

I have had it adjusted a few times now over the course of the last ten years and the support it has provided coupled with the regular(ly forgotten to do) strengthening routine has made my feet much happier.

If you can't be arsed with all that then wear better footwear, something with a higher heel than toe is a good place to start and obviously walking boots etc beat plimsoles handsdown.

I started out year ago with plantar fasciitis. Couldn't walk first thing in the morning. Saw a couple of podiatrist who both made eva inserts for me. Helped a little but never really got to the bottom of it.

I now see a biomechanist called Tim King. He has made me some hard orthotics that look like they would be agony, no give at all but they work perfectly. However, Tim was very clear that the orthotics were only half the answer, maybe less. He has also given me a number of core exercises over the last year. My posture has changed, I now engage my core and as a result, my legs have slimmed down as they're no longer doing all the work. Feet are fine and I can now run.

Not cheap, and he's a long way from you but depending on how painful it is, he'd be worth every penny.

The wife is also under his care and a family friend has just started seeing him after years of specialists telling her that she'll always have a bad back. It's already improving after a month with Tim.