shoes for flat feet

noonesperfect

cptnsausage wrote: »

flat foot is a greatly misunderstood condition - its actually caused by bilaeral eversion of the hindfoot which causes the arch to then collapse - therefore the problem is not the arch - u need to wedge the heel medially ( on the inner side ) and it will correct the arch and heel simultaneously...as an orthotist this is the best way i have come accross, and can be achieved by mere heel wedges although insoles custom made are much more effective again - NHS should do this for free if you are referred to one of us orthotist people :-D - arch supports alone will just do more damage to the condition (even in the rare cases where they feel comfortable) especially in kids who are still growing - at best they do nothing to permanently correct the condition - which can be done if the kid is treated properly through their growth years...I've worked in a kids hospital for quite some time and I've seen hundreds of kids with the exact problem ur describing, and medial heel wedging is THE best way to manage it and if they are made well then they shouldn't cause any problems fitting shoes.

i say this as an Orthotist but also as a patient since i am at this moment wearing a pair for flat foot (although i was never treated as a child so im unable to correct permanently and will most likely have pain without the insoles if walk for long distances) Maybe refer back to the orthotist and get a new pair made of a much tougher material, because where i work we can offer huge numbers of different material grades that are equally good on kids feet

In relation to the first post the same treatment is just as effective in all adults but without the option of permanently fixing it as its already a structural feature of the mature bones - wear medially wedges Foot orthoses and i guarantee it will fix it

Hi cptnsausage,
what is your opinion of Orthaheel products?
I live in their sports sandals throughout the summer - so comfy (are they meant to be? My OH tried them and he wallked like he's got blocks of wood strapped to hi feet! :rotfl: :rotfl: )
I often use the red heel inserts, the blue 3/4 ones hurt.

moneylover

I agree completelyonly wear insoles, wedges etc that are prescribed or you are likely to do more harm than good. So get a referral to a orthotist or podiatrist
I have insoles that have a slight heel wedge and an arch support. I wear Hotter shoes (some shops and also mail order). Shops in Chester and Bournemouth and some independents stock their shoes. They have removable breathable insoles that are just there as a bit of padding and I take those out and put my insoles in. That often works better than putting something in an ordinary shoe which may not have enough depth . Some Ecco shoes are made this way too - they have two London shops and Co-ops and independents tend to stock their shoes. Both Ecco and Hotter have good soles to their shoes that are shock absorbing.
Shoes with built in arch support I have always found uncomfortable because not right for me. There is one Ecco shoe the "Also Soft" that I don't find any good for that reason
Ecco shoes http://www.ecco-shoes.co.uk/
Hotter shoes (my vote) www.hotter.com
There is a recent thread over in the health forum similar to this one you might like to read.

noonesperfect

Ecco also have a shop in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

I use my Ecco shoes (bought in Cyprus of all places) for mowing the grass :eek:

It's an hour's worth of walking, albeit on a soft surface, gotta have comfy well-supported feet :rolleyes: .

LondonDiva

try www.hotter.co.uk

alric

I had been advised by physio to try insoles before to raise my instep
well my physio is getting me running with some wedges applied to my insoles, testing the ground until I get proper o nes fitted
after a few runs, the pains of using new muscles is disappearing
Anyway you can get running shoes for overpronators easily, but unless you know how much correction is needed, you may be wasting your time.

Better a step in the right direction, than direction on the instep

lilac_lady

One of my friends has flat feet. She gets insoles on the NHS and has been advised to wear lacing shoes as they support feet better than slipon ones.

cptnsausage

noonesperfect wrote: »

Hi cptnsausage,
what is your opinion of Orthaheel products?
I live in their sports sandals throughout the summer - so comfy (are they meant to be? My OH tried them and he wallked like he's got blocks of wood strapped to hi feet! :rotfl: :rotfl: )
I often use the red heel inserts, the blue 3/4 ones hurt.

hey...sorry its taken so long to reply but its crazy busy just now...why do ppl insist on remembering forgotten appointments at new year haha!

anyway in reply to your question i've never really tried the orthaheel products so i couldn't comment on them as a specific case although what i find is that alot of these products are designed on a model that is based on a normal foot shape and lets face it, if ur feet are a wierd shape then they aint gonna be comfy in something like that. saying that though if you do find something that corrects the underlying structure and is comfortable then go for it, i would advise at least talking to someone in the know about ur specific problem first though and get advice, sometimes the products commercially availlable can make u feel good but are actually doing more damage in the long term. as mentioned before flat foot is not (in 99% of cases) an arch problem...its a heel problem - feet are triplanar in that they work around multiple axes and about 4 joints for one simple movement.

theres actually a very simple test to see if you have a heel problem instead of fallen arch. firstly check what ur heels look like just standing barefoot, if the achilles tendon looks bent outwards towards the bottom then theres an underlying heel problem (which may or may not include a fallen arch structural problem)...stand on ur toes with ur back to a mirror...if the arches in ur feet appear when ur on ur toes you need medially wedged insoles, its that simple and there is generally no problem with ur arch. the reason is that the foot will reallign in response to the weight being pushed down on it whilst ur achilles tendon is pulling on u heel, the joint axes are setup in such a way that the foot twists and flexes back to its most stable state with the calcaneous being the centrally located fixation point. if u get the heel straight, the rest of the foot will follow on from that...its a kinda hard thing to explain without the use of a skeleton model lol - if your interested on reading up on it to see more details you could search for "hindfoot eversion" "pronation" "calcaneal eversion"

I use Pubmed Central for alot of articles like this as they are all 100% free but a few of the really good ones are all pay per view etc - I imagine theres alot out there on the web as this is a fairly "sexy" topic in orthotic/podiatry circles right now lol