[RC] Orthotics-questions for older riders (opps! a little long) - Maureen A. Fager
Angie mentioned: What I want now are inserts for my shoes. I can tell that when I level up my foot (I walk in the outside edge) that my knee feels better."
Angie I wanted to comment on this as I know something about this. In '05 I had a bad foot injury, which caused, among other things, my to grossly supinate. (walk on the outside edge) I called it "rolling to the outside" and is was so obvious other people could see it and comment it. Ruined a couple pair of expesive shoes it was so bad. My health insurance covers othotics, and since this was caused by injury, I had my doc write an RX for one. The results have been Wonderful! However, the technician who made my orthotic also mentioned a few things to me which I would like to pass on.
I have a very high arch, and he said that high arches can commonly cause supination to some degree, and usually it's not too much of a issue. However, pronation, the opposite of supination, is a more common problem and many shoes are designed to support and slightly tilt the foot to the outside to provide a bit of corretion. For an already supinatied foot, this can cause a problem. He said that with many athletic shoes, if you look a the sole in the heel area, if there is a part under the heel that is a different color, this is most likely a correction for pronation.
This means, if you want to correct supination, one must learn to select shoes carefully. I found this link which shows some OTC othotics to correct this, and links for more info on supination. As far the products go, I've included the link for info only, to give an idea of what one might look for. http://www.footsmart.com/P-Posture-Corrective-Heel-Cups-10211.aspx
The technician also recommened I to the Road Runner website as they have a way of selecting shoes that meet the persons needs; ie, for supination, high arch, ect, then show you shoes which should fit the foot. See disclaimer above. It is an interesting site for learning more about fitting shoes to ones actuall shoeing needs. On this site, they also help to fit sports bras. http://www.roadrunnersports.com click on "Shoe Dog" which is found on the left side of the page.
What my foot problems has taught me as people need to as stringet with their own feet as they would for their horses! We, like our horses stand on a column of bone, and the straighter it is, and the more correct foot fall we have, the better. Since I've been wearing my othotic, my foot pain associated with my injury has reduced to praciticaly nil, and knees, hips and lower back have also been nearly pain free! Who knew!
Best of luck with proper shoeing, for you and your horses! Cheers, Maureen My motto: No bones to fix in '07 either! "...we are pilgrims together, wending our way through an unknown country; home." Fra Giovanni
Don't get caught with egg on your face. Play Chicktionary! Check it out!
