Orthotics

Bombbastic22

Tried all sorts of these from cheapo store bought ones to one's that I paid 400 euro for. The 400 euro ones were the best - but - and it's a big but - I simply traded one pain - inside my knee - for another - outside my knee.

Loved running but even doing small mileage hurt my knees no matter what shoes or fancy dancy inserts I used, tried stretching more, muscle strengthening - all that stuff you read about online. Also, I just hate the idea of being dependent on a bit of hardened plastic that you have to keep in your shoes.

Accepted I was never going to run again as even the slightest jog seemed to go straight into my knees .

Until, one day I got this mad notion of trying to run without shoes and after reading an article about it online - I gave it a go.

I ran two miles(well,more of a slow jog) for the first time in years and had no problems with my knees, which are a bit banjaxed (massive blister on my toe though).

First thing I noticed was 'ow my heels hurt' on foot strike so I adjusted accordingly. Interestingly when I had my 'professional' analysis for custom orthotics, the guys test showed that there was 2-3 times more pressure on my heels, when walking, than there was supposed to be. The test involved walking accross a pad which fed info about my gait into a computer no less. Very technological and impressive, or so I thought at the time. Also, he showed me a graph of all the pressure points - what they were vs what they were supposed to be and guess what - I'd have to get these miraculous insoles which would help me no end for a mere 300 euro on top of the consultants fee.

I found out years later - that shoes actually make people land on their heels - which nature never intended, which puts more strain on joints and also throws off the motion of your foot and makes you over pronate (wonder was this why my amazing computer generated graph showed all my pressure points to be off kilter)

Anyway, being a bit self conscious about the idea of going around with no shoes I decided to try some barefoot style shoes I found online (ones with 4mm soles - no cushioning, arch support,padding or any sort of fancy stuff that's supposed to correct problems I believe created many injuries in the first place, incidentally even tried Nike's contribution to barefoots (the frees) and found them as bad as ordinary trainers..

To conclude - takes months to get used to and my feet and calves were killing me at first - but now I walk a lot more than I have been doing the last few years and even started jogging again (though only doing very small jogs - bout 1.5 miles twice a week).

Lots of people get stress fractures, achilles sprains and foot problems when they start as they do too much to soon.

Basically your feet are weak from years/decades of not being used properly. When you think about it your foot was made to flex and bend for a reason and yet most shoes don't allow this.

Not to say that shoes are bad - I personally am just better without the traditional ones.

IMO and experience though - orthotics were overpriced and somewhat ineffective - though hey - they might work for you.