[Closed] Flat feet

No flat footers out there?

yo! i have flat feet and went to FASIC in Edinburgh. i actually went to see a physio about my sore knee (IT band) and she spotted tight toe tendons and flat feet. i saw the foot guy and he prescribed me some everflex innersoles. they're 3/4 length, and every year or two you replace the foamy innersole but the carbon and dense rubber heal is reused. £100ish initial outlay but then the refurb is £30 every couple of years...

How do you get on with them? Can you run in them?

I have really flat feet - pancakes. I'm convinced problem isn't flat feet, it's stupidly designed shoes and the constrictions they impose on your feet.

I refuse to wear any shoe that is not flexible and I'm very fussy about fit especially width.

In my younger days I could run for hours or walk all day and have no more problem than anyone else. Even now I can probably out distance most of my contemporaries.

(I did spend a lot of time in my youth barefoot though - one of the benefits of a childhood in a hot climate)

Proper running shoes designed for overpronators and custom insoles allows me to run all day, flipflops leave me with knee and hip pain.
What are you suggesting epi?

fourbanger - i can use the jogging machine at the gym with no bother, and they're fine for cycling too. the ones i got were the basic ones, though for more cash you can get sport-specific ones. as well as the IT band problem, i used to get severe knee pain from long walks (8 hours or so) which is now gone since using them.

if you go the prescription route ask them about suitable running shows too as some will compliment the innersoles, others will negate the effect...

i also happen to agree with epicyclo too, though. having feet so constricted by shoes arguably results in flat feet as being a problem (rather than flat feet being a problem in themselves)

fourbanger - Member
...What are you suggesting epi?

Very flexible soles, comfortable fit - especially width that lets your foot spread, seems to do the trick for me.

flat feet here and hypermobility which gives me achy knees all the time. Custon orthortics (nearly rigid HDPE plastic ones) made from casts of my feet. Blue Spesh insoles when riding. just about controllable..

Alternatively you could strengthen up the muscles that support your arches [assuming it isn't structural]

But before you do that you could ask yourself why they haven't been doing their job...

A kinetic chain assessment wouldn't go amiss.

Most people just go for the band aid approach - orthotics,running shoes,surgery and so on .when it comes to musculoskeletal dysfunction...

I have completely flat duck feet. I've been through both NHS and private podiatrists and had custom innersoles made which were invariably uncomfortable and expensive. The two best things that I have found are: 1- Asics running shoes for people that over pronate. The comfiest sohes I've ever worn, even if you do look like a tool in them. 2- Blue Superfeet insoles, I use them in every pair of shoes I own (except the asics) including my five tens. They are about £40 a pair and worth every penny.

Podium - Member
Alternatively you could strengthen up the muscles that support your arches [assuming it isn't structural]...

I was diagnosed during a medical at boarding school and set a series of exercises such as picking up towels with my feet. I doubt that did me any good.

This totally ignored the fact that I had no complaint about my feet and that I used to spend the whole of the weekly sports day running around the periphery of the cricket pitch in my bare feet with no problems (as a punishment because I refused to play cricket).

Podium, point me in the right direction.

Anyone know anywhere in the south that can do gait analysis and custom insoles?