Has anyone got them out there? I’m going for a biomechanical assessment in a couple of weeks as my friends have had huge improvements with custom made insoles. Just wondered if anyone had any experience of them. I’m hoping to get into neutral shoes. More choice! I know my running form isn’t good and have an on-going glute niggle. I also over pronate. Could be pricey but I feel it could be a worthwhile investment since I’d like to do another marathon in the autumn and maybe even do an ultra in a year or so. Never say never 🤣
Meanwhile I still haven’t got my heart rate training back on track after RED January 🥴
Written by
Tasha99
Marathon
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I've always needed insoles but when I started running I got bad injuries (knee/ankle) and it was only after I got customized insoles 4 years ago that my whole body got actually aligned which made an incredible impact on my running form - let alone a complete absence of foot-related injuries.
My feet are as flat as uncorked wine and it took a good osteopath to recommend a great running shop staffed with people who analyzed my gait and cut the insoles on site. 10 years ago I had severe pains in my feet simply by walking 5km. Today I run 25km routinely without stopping, feeling discomfort or any strains afterwards. Yes, I've got good running shoes but the insoles fitted inside are, for me, a game changer.
Wow that’s really amazing! I wish I knew a running shop that would cut them for me as I’m guessing that would be substantially cheaper! I really hope they align my body too! Anyway, I think it’s an investment. A one off and then apparently it’s £20-£30 every couple years to refurbish them. So have those that the shop cut last you this long? Or did you eventually get others made? Thanks for the reply 😊
Mine were 'London prices', which was about £120 compared to £70-80 elsewhere and I didn't need any adjustments for the first two years. Last year I couldn't go because of the lockdown and their subsequent backlog and now, again, they are shut like anyone else. However, the moment they reopen I'll go back for a test. I feel alright but want to play it on the safe side.
Yes I do Tasha. I’ve been wearing them for about five years now. It was a stop-in-my -tracks knee pain when I was training for my first HM that took me to a knee consultant who recommended a podiatrist. I had been getting little niggles but nothing big until this time when I couldn’t even walk!
Apparently I had one side of my pelvis tilt, slightly flat feet and one over- pronated foot. Who knew! He made me special orthotics which weren’t that expensive actually - about £75.
Admittedly it took me about a year to get them working for me and I kept having to send them back for minor adjustments. In hindsight I think the reason for that was I was wearing them with a supportive shoe. It was only when I was getting a gait analysis a few years ago that the chap there said I should be using a neutral shoe as I was being over-supported. That turned my running around.
I’ve had an annual review with the podiatrist and he makes minor adjustments. This costs me about £35. I’ve just had my first pair reconditioned so they do take a lot of mileage!
If you do get a custom pair then remove the shoe’s insole to give more room for the orthotics. Shoes always feel a bit “snug” to begin with but you get used to them.
Oh that sounds great! I haven’t heard a bad review about them yet! Everyone who has them has said that they are well worth the investment and they have transformed their running. I’m definitely a wonky runner. One shoe wears away much faster than the other. I’m paranoid about getting IT band syndrome again and my glute niggle is back. I’ll update when I’ve been. Getting excited 😊 I’d love to get neutral shoes too. Got my eye on Hoka Bondi. Although my friend has custom orthotics and still wears support shoes 😶🥴🤔🤞🏽
Everyone is different and some people are advised to wear theirs all the time even in everyday shoes. I just have to wear mine running and in the gym although I have found certain everyday shoes give me a bit of grief. I can’t wear totally flat shoes and need a heel even a tiny one and ideally need some support for my arches but you’ll be advised on all this.
Dodgy right knee for 10-15 yrs. No serious exercise for 20+ years. Knee consultant recommended orthoses (that is the correct term I've learnt recently) back in 2005 but I didn't do it cost i was worried about cost.
Fast forward 10 years and I saw the GP again with my aggravated knee (no thoughts of running at this point) who recommended a physio. The physio took one look at me and saw that I was very skewiff - similar to Irishprincess in fact. Titlted pelvis, different leg lengths, shoulders tilted in opposite direction to pelvis; right foot over-pronating, left foot (sore) over-supinating. Custom-orthoses were her immediate prescription. No exercises... just getting the 'foundations' sorted. She was/is very biomechanical in her outlook.
At that 1st appointment she taped up my right leg (to straighten it up) and it made an instant difference - my knee felt normal when walking - no discomfort at all.
Her in-house podiatrist got me sorted and from that point I realised that I may be able to start running - something I'd longed to do for 20+ years. A few months later, after I stupidly got injured doing too much running, too soon, I started C25K and have never looked back.
That was October 2014. My custom-mades are pricey - £250 a time - and I'm on my 3rd pair - but it's a price worth paying AFAIC. I can RUN! Something that wasn't even on my radar before going to that physio (now retired).
Simple equation for me: no orthoses = no running.
And yes, ALWAYS neutral shoes for me. Otherwise, the support/correction shoe will not allow the orthoses to do their job properly.
HOWEVER... there's many physios, run coaches, etc who don't 'agree' with orthoses. They believe that any imbalances can be corrected with strength/gym work etc.
But just remember this: some orthoses, work for some people, some of the time.
A good read here - and note the response of Kevin Kirby below it:
Wow that’s great, thank you! I’ve been assured that the guy I’m going to won’t sell me something I don’t need so although I’ll be paying for the biomechanical assessment, he’ll only recommend insoles if I really need them. I’ll be good to know. I know I don’t run correctly and it bugs me. So much positive feedback on this so far. Thank you for your reply 😊
I over pronate quite a bit, more on one side than the other. Weird glute niggle thing that seems to come on whenever I drop back mileage 🤷🏽♀️ And the thought of more IT band issues, although Hokas solved this, terrifies me 🤣
I’m just reading Born to Run, which throws everything I thought I knew about running shoes, gait analysis etc right out of the window. An interesting read but I don’t think I’ll be turning to running barefoot along Southsea prom.
Ha ha I started to read that a couple of years back but I found it hard to get in to. But I’m a real dreamer and can’t focus very well on books unless they’re very easy reads. It’s a shame as Povey to read it. Maybe I might try again in half term.
Oh I’m sticking with hokas anyway for the low drop. Whether I need support shoes or not, I’ll still wear Hokas. But this is a separate issue 🤣 Hoka #1 fan here 🙋🏽♀️
I could write pages about Orthotics. However - Feathersprings got me from not being able to stand without excruciating pain let alone walk, to where I could run at least one FM
And defied the odds about being in a wheelchair in my forties
Based in Germany so should definitely be available your side of the pond, took me about three days to get over the initial "strange feeling" of them - they are custom made of stainless steel - but within a month I felt great
They have a rock solid return policy too which gave me peace of mind over "what if they don't work?)
Expensewise - I bet you get at least 20 years out of them, and far longer if your feet aren't as brutal on them as mine are
They send you a sheet of carbon paper and an impression pad. You dampen the carbon paper, put it on the pad and take a walking step on it, then same with other foot. They send that to Germany and about three weeks later you get your inserts, made specifically for your feet. I am being 100% truthful when I say that in 1992, after another injury and having got a thorough medical eval and patch up, one of the best Orthopedic Docs in the US told me - on the Record - "You need to start preparing now for being in a wheelchair in your forties" I was 31 then.
Anyway, literally a year of desperation, test after test, "fitted orthotics' costing a hell of a lot etc I was fighting to have both feet amputated. The pain was awful, especially when standing. So, I was arguing it would be fsr cheaper for them to just cut and fit artificial feet and at thst point "My actual feet are useless - worse than useless. I cant work, I cant stand still, I cant even walk long enough to finidh a twenty minute Pool game! But a guy in Canada is running marathons witha steel leg! (Terry Fox) "
So, I wanted two "steel feet" just so I vould walk without pain
Anyway - and this really is what happened -Feathersprings used to advertise every week inbthe Sundsy paper how 'Miraculois" there inserts were. Full page, full colour, glowing gushing letters from "satisfied customers"
I got fed up seeing them at first, then I got irritated - and then I got VERY upset.
I wrote a really angry letter telling them they gave people false hope etc etc, ordered a pair, threatened to ring a "Nightmare lawsuit if I don't get my money back when they are NOT MIRACULOUS"
Well..a couple of months later, a sincere and rather groveling letter of apology, another letter sharing my miracle that they used in their future adverts - and almost thirty years later I still thank Whoever or Whatever led me to them.
And, not alone in it. When the original owners of the Marketing Licence for the US decided to retire, a customer who is a retired businessman was so grateful and now - like a lot of us - concerned that nobody would pick up tje reins, he bought the rights. It was always a "Mom and Pop" business by nature so only a recipient probably eoild have valued the licence enough. The original owners came across them on vacation in Germany, had their own foot problems, tried them and asked the company could they make them available in the US - and the rest is history.
I absolutely have no financial or any kind of compensation from them. What I've told you is the God honest truth. Its the only time ever in my life that something that s sounded "To good to be true" was, actuall - in my case, a genuine miracle. When an obscene amount of money is paid out of someone else's budget, a slew of Surgeons etc put in writing that your feet are basically disintegrating and eventually you will be in a wheelchair within fifteen years or so, you've tried anything and everything but it doesn't work - and then a pair of rather sinister looking steel inserts get you through a Marathon thirty years later.. "Miracle" is the word
Over here, its a years guarentee on returns for full refund, don't know about over there.
My feet are still crap enough, and I am in the habit of putting a hell of a lot more pressure on them than almost anyone would, that after twenty years one of mine snapped a bit. The company refused to cash my cheque as there was a lifetime guarantee when I bought them. I told them I wanted to pay for them as I was grateful, they nicely refused. Thats people you can be confident in your dealingd with
Anyway - thats the story. I hope it helps you or someone
I got some custom orthotics at a cost of £325 last year to help recover after the metatarsalargia... but I only used them for a couple of months. I don't believe they're a good long term option for me at all. I am more committed to strengthening my whole foot/ankle etc.
Yep and they didn't feel or look worth the cost either. They got me through the worst but then they started to hurt so they've been relegated to the "just in case" pile. I actually created my own after that from off the shelf insoles and taped additional gel pads in. They really helped for a few months but I've ditched those too and am working on just strengthening my feet. I'm heading down the barefoot direction.
One of thr problems with gel, leather or even plastic composite inserts - and I had all and every variation - is, like shoe soles, they deform after a certain amount of use. Thats why the steel inserts are a good choice. You do change out two small rubber "shock absorbers" on the front of each every now and then -thats where the problem of a compromise between rigidity and absorbancy was a solved by some major genius The wee grommet things cost me a total of about $16 per year, and I tend to switch them out more "often and early" than I probably have to
Honestly, I know I sound like I own the company or something but I don't
I think I have a different problem though as I don’t have foot pain. Or any pain really. A mild glute niggle and poor running form. Looking forward to the assessment. See what they say!
Yours actually look interesting. I almost purchased flat carbon insoles for similar reasons, however I'd already spent over £1000 at that point trying to fix the issue so held off. I do think something like this would be very useful at work, what with frequent clutch/accelerator use and being on my feet a lot, potentially meaning running would be more natural/unaffected.
Nice thing about them also is I can wear them in anything from sandals to cowboy boots, Dress shoes to Construction wear :)And - because I basically run on them and not my shoe soles as such, I get a lot more life out of my Running Shoes.
Its not even a hassle at Airport security anymore as we have to take our shoes off nowadays anyway lol
I have one leg shorter than the other due to a break as a child, I’d compensated over the years and barely limped. I saw an orthotics expert who gradually built up a heel raise which straightened my spine I was told long ago that I would have arthritis in both knees due to that accident and have suffered knee pain since my early thirties, I was made special insoles to help with over pronation and after wearing these fir a few days realised my knees no longer hurt, it’s amazing after 30 years of pain i’m pain free 😀
They were expensive but now almost 3 years old and I don’t need another pair just yet
Yes, i really didn’t expect the knee pain to go and because my spine has straightened over time, I have lost the constant ache in neck shoulders and back
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Forefoot varus? 
HM training week6 day2/you live and learn:
