Arch pain

I spent the past 2 years with what I think was posterior tendonitis. One leg got to a stable level then the other began, infuriating I cut down on running and did things like spinning and the x-trainer when I got the bulk of the pain down.

 Since they have recovered (touch wood!) the arch on my left foot has started to ache. Its worse when I wear flat shoes and trainers do seem to help, but don't stop it. I think that I have especially high arches (snd yes I over prontate as a result), trainers were great for about a month- wearing them my shin/calf pains went away so they were def a wise buy (Asics) but now the arch thing has started to really ache. I had to walk home on the side of one foor this evening! Madness!!

 What to do? I can't afford a new pair of trainers right now, and arch support insoles seem to be arounf the £30 mark!! I can't afford that! I don't want to wear out my trainers by wearing them just for day to day stuff, are there any exercises I can be doing? I have been practising pointing and flexing my toes with my legs flat out in front of me, hoping that will help build some arch muscles, this is the only thing I can think of doing.

 I am a bit stuck with this one- I don't want it to get worse and I think that aside from my irritation with the past 2 years of shin pain, that infact it could be related, maybe the lack of arch support in previous trainers made my calves work overtime, maybe now they are slightly stronger and the arch is paying the price for taking the brunt of it as the calves have started to work more efficently now? Just a guess.

 Any advice is very much appreciated!

Comments

  • I had the same issues and tried a high arch shoe ... no good then a medium to low arch trainer and found things a bit better apart from pains from my teft foot arch were still there !! So decided a trip to my local Sweat Shop and after been measured and diagnosed that my left arch was higher than my right so basically no matter what shoe I would buy I was never gunna find a solution so bit the bullet and spent £45 on a pair of footbalance insoles and the results after a few miles of bedding in were amazing so in my opinion you will have to save some pennies and get some !!!

  • Wow! I'd forgotten all about this post!

     

    I'd posted this before I'd had any real investigation which as it turned out happened the following year (in 2011, March, got the results April and had more indepth scans the end of April and got the results in May.)

     

    The pain in my leg had remained, not gotten any worse nor better and despite trying to reduct my running and wearing compression, stretching and doing exercises to make my legs stronger such as hopping until it hurt, waiting for 30 seconds then repeating (as advised by a physio I had been referred to...) things had not gotten any better either.

     

    Funny that, because I was told I had a stress fracture once the results came in. I'd had an MRI which I was told was fine on the database but actually when speaking to the specialist was anything but: it was too inflammed to see anything. I had then a nuclear bone scan which I was told whilst the scan was being done (as it was so obvious to the scan person) that it was a tibial stress fracture. This was then confirmed by two specialists and I was told "never run again". (Though this was more to do with the osteoarthritis it also picked up).

     

    Moral of the story? If something hurts, ask for help. If the help does not work, keep going back for better help and perhaps even a diagnosis and don't stop until your mind is put at rest, if you stop complaining, the GPs, the Doctors, the Physios and the specialists all assume all is well and your fully recovered. Pain is a warning sign, its something that should not be ignored.

     

    It is funny though that you mention your experience with your arch drop. I was initially referred to a physio (private physio) because I'd sprained my ankle AND the tibial pain was making things much worse. The physio said she thought they could be linked and that I had weak arches and gave me exercises to do, she suggested I was referred to an orthopaedic specialist for my tibial pain as she though I needed orthopaedic insoles to support my arch and these could only be given by an orthopaedic doctor, hence the referral and it was when the specialist ran scans- which were just as a precaution (I don't think either of us suspected anything to show up) that I got the diagnosis I did!

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