What is the best profession to go to for orthotics?

FrankGrimes

I've recently had surgery for compartment syndrome in all compartments in both legs and as there was still severe pain when running after that I've been diagnosed with shin splints (specifically, problems with the tibialis posterior).

The consultant surgeon doesn't think I have a stress fracture (think he said this due to the pain not being localised).

My surgeon and physio are in the Sports Surgery Clinic in Santry and after a bit of a break from it all to let me get over the disappointment of going through all that surgery only to still have the pain almost bad of ever, I'll be going back to the physio soon (surgeon wants to see me when I've 2-3 months of solid physio under the belt).

Long story short: I'm now starting a program of stretches for the lower leg muscles, strenghtening exercises for the same, core stability exercises, turkish bathing & plunge pooling (great for the symptoms) and I also need to look at gait.

I was told in the past that I over-pronated and a previous physio prescribed me expensive orthotics that helped for a while but after a while it made no difference if I had them on or not - pain was always severe.

I also think, based on recent research, that my running stride will need correction - I think I probably reach out too far in front and so my heel takes a big hit which leads to the foot slapping down (which actually seems to be a bigger cause of shin splints than over-pronation). I probably need to take shorter forward strides and longer back strides and actively kick off from my toes - I don't do that today I think.

Anyways, what I'm not sure on is who would be best to look at the full picture and recommend any stride corrections, orthotics, and footwear that I need?

I know Amphibian King will analyse gait and recommend a shoe, but I figure making separate decisions on footwear and orthotics doesn't make sense as it seems it's key to ensure the combination of both of those is right that matters.

Should I expect my chartered physio in Santry to be able to do all of this or should I look for a podiatrist, oesteopath (whatever that is!), or will it need separate people?

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Sorry to hear about your failed surgery for the shin splints.

Regarding the question about orthotics and profession. I don't think any profession is superior in the prescription of orthotics.
It comes down to how good the person is at analysing a patients gait and the scanning equipment they are using.

From your post you said that you had orthotics before so there is no guarantee that they will work this time round.

Should you decide to go ahead with orthotics then I would recommend a neutral running shoe to put the orthotics into such as Adidas supernova or Nike Pegasus.

Another treatment option I would like to recommend is Active Release techniques(ART), it is a brilliant soft technique for shin splints, even after previous surgery. The following link will give you a list of the Certified providers in Ireland http://www.activerelease.com/providerSearch.asp?searchType=city&intCountryId=9&intStateId=105&strCity=
and a link(pdf) to an article written by an ART instructor: http://www.drabelson.com/PDF/Improve%20Your%20Running.pdf

Kind Regards
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