Orthodics - Can I stop wearing them?

Domer

Ok, heres the dilemna...

I have been wearing Orthodics for over 10 years, the current pair I have were purchased in 2006 before my first marathon. Since then I have been running fairly consistantly, with the usual injuries... mostly Calves and Achilles etc. I wear the orthodics in Asics 2160s.

Bio: 43 years old, just under 15 stone (and decreasing). Run about 25-30 miles per week, with swimming and cycling also.

Having just finished "born to run", I am thinking for weaning myself off the Orthodics. Has anybody done this before, and what are your experiences. I am a Physical Therapist, so i know the benefits of Orthodics, but if I knew 10 years ago what I knew now, I would never have gotten a pair in the first place.

Anyone any experience doing this successfully? Should I do it? Should I do a staged approach or Cold Turkey?

Thanks... Domer

BobMac104

Ive never done it nor know anyone who has but if you are going to try i would suggest doing it very very slowly.

roseybear

i was forced to stop wearing mine as they needed to be re-covered so went without them 4 2-3 weeks. i only wear them when im running so didn't think it would be too bad but i was wrong. had the worst shin splints i have ever experienced in my life, had to get an m.r.i. it was so bad i thought i had a stress fracture!

i think though it would depend on the reason y u had them in the first place? i have mine due to very high arches so without them i was just in a lot of pain. it seems to have resolved itself a couple of weeks after i got them back?

TheRoadRunner

Domer wrote: »

Having just finished "born to run", I am thinking for weaning myself off the Orthodics. Has anybody done this before, and what are your experiences. I am a Physical Therapist, so i know the benefits of Orthodics, but if I knew 10 years ago what I knew now, I would never have gotten a pair in the first place.

Oh no, we've lost another one. Seriously, if you're going to stop wearing them, wean yourself off them. Similarly, if you're going to attempt to run bear foot slowly ween yourself out of your running shoes into a more minimal pair, then go from there. The amount of ejits I know who are interested from trying to go bear foot is not funny. I also know lots of people who say they are injury free because of bear foot running but I have my reservations.

menoscemo

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

Similarly, if you're going to attempt to run bear foot slowly ween yourself out of your running shoes into a more minimal pair, then go from there. The amount of ejits I know who are interested from trying to go bear foot is not funny.

Not too mention the cruelty to animals aspect. I mean what kind of F***er goes around cutting the feet of bears just so we can run in them. Make my blood boil :mad:

TheRoadRunner

menoscemo wrote: »

Not too mention the cruelty to animals aspect. I mean what kind of F***er goes around cutting the feet of bears just so we can run in them. Make my blood boil :mad:

Ha ha. You fecker. Well spotted.

BeepBeep67

menoscemo wrote: »

Not too mention the cruelty to animals aspect. I mean what kind of F***er goes around cutting the feet of bears just so we can run in them. Make my blood boil :mad:

I've no sympathy for them - they use rabbits to wipe their ar$e

Jnealon

I don't wear mine any more and I have no regrets. When I had mine I was a heel striker but now I land on my mid foot I have no need for them

eyeball kid

Funny you should bring this up. I was wearing a pair for the last year and a half after the physio said I should get orthodics.
Used to get bad pains in the knees after running. Never found that they did much for me but continued to wear them just in case.
I've been over in London the last year or so but after Christmas I forgot to bring them over (actually I had one in, no idea how that happened) so I've been
forced to go without the last two weeks. So far I haven't noticed anything but then I've only done 15 miles in that time. I'll let you know how it goes in the coming weeks.

PS - Also I must say that I went to another physio over here last summer who told me that the orthodics weren't really required and gave me a series of leg strengthening exercises to do. However I still wore them as I thought I might be worse off without them. But as I forgot to bring them with me, I was kind of happy for the chance to go without to see if they made any difference.

Clearlier

What are these orthodic thingy's anyway?

More seriously (and hopefully I don't get infected by the mis-spelling on the thread) I'd guess that you if you need them because of a muscular weakness that you address then you won't need them. If on the other hand you need them because your big toe was chopped off in an accident and you need them to balance you should probably keep them in.

I've been wearing orthotics for 5 years, gone from about 5 miles a week to 50 and am currently trying to get a replacement pair. I've been without them for about 6 weeks now and I've managed to run about 10-15 mpw and a bit of walking whilst doing lots of stretching and strengthening without any of the shin pain that I used to get. So I'm thinking that maybe I don't need the orthotics. I had two physios look at me running today including one who was encouraging me before Christmas to try going without them for a while and they both think that I need them. The thing is I'm doing more running now than before I got the orthotics so clearly some of the problems I was having were to do with my physical condition. Perhaps if I got myself into peak shape I wouldn't need them? Then again perhaps I could get to one level without orthotics and another level with them. It's difficult to know what the best option is.

As a first step if you are going to consider getting rid of them I'd suggest a full body assessment from somebody you trust and address all of your weaknesses, lack of flexibility and imbalances. Don't assume that running barefoot will magically do that for you.

BTW - Born to run is a great book to read but somewhat evangelical. Be careful about what it inspires you to do.

Getonwithit

Dangerous! I'm not advocating for or against orthotics but if you've been wearing them for 10 years then the process of weaning yourself off should be a slow one. Born to run is correct in that we should all be in our bare feet but the reality is we haven't been reared in our bare feet and we can't ignore the adaptations that has caused. Try doing your easy shortest run without them first, undertake a set of leg/foot strengthening exercises and walk around in your bare feet at home as much as possible for a start perhaps?

jb-ski

Domer,


I can't answer your question, but i am curious as to why your wearing 'support'
runners (gt 2160?) & orthotics.

My understanding was that a neutral shoe are suggested for orthotic wearers.
(i'm no expert, just based on Mrs.Jb's experience)



I also have to agree with Roadrunner, i wouldn't get too carried away with the ('Bear') barefoot running fashion.

Clearlier

jb-ski wrote: »

Domer,


I can't answer your question, but i am curious as to why your wearing 'support'
runners (gt 2160?) & orthotics.

My understanding was that a neutral shoe are suggested for orthotic wearers.
(i'm no expert, just based on Mrs.Jb's experience)

That's how it should work but in reality the adustments needed to my orthotics meant that I needed a supportive shoe. Interestingly, the better my core strength the less support I need.

Domer

Thanks for all the replys.

I am not planning to go barefoot any time soon ... I agree with the earlier posts, and dont think it is the right thing to do, but I did enjoy Born To Run.

I was just enquiring as to whether people have decided to no longer use orthotics, and I see that some people have, some with positive results, and some with Negative results... interesting.

I suffer from eternally tight calfs. I roll, I stretch, I wear compression socks, I do core, Iwork on my gluts strength etc, but calves are still sore. The orthotics dont seem to be helping that, so was thinking, a change may help. No decision made, however I do need to get the Orthotics re-covered in a couple of weeks, so dont want to miss a full week of running, so may just do a few easy runs with regular insoles and see how it feels

Thanks agian for the advice.
Domer