Question re: supination

I've been to the physio today regarding my ankle problem and she said it was most likely a problem with the peroneal muscle and tendon. However, when assessing me she noticed that I supinate my right foot (the one with the ankle problem) and the same foot has a slightly higher arch.

She has taped up the peroneal muscle and tendon and shown me some exercises, and I will go back next week to see how I'm getting on and talk about long-term issues.

Anyone with experiences of this? Prognosis? Do I need to change my footwear (currently using Asics Gel Fuji Trainers and just bought some Inov8 Roclite 295s)?

Comments

  • Supination is also refered to as under-pronation; it usually shows up with injuries, wear on the outside of the heal of your trainers and kicking your ankle as you run. It is something that will improve (slowly) with time. People generally use padded trainers as a result of this condition which is relatively rare (compared to over-pronation). But the solution is the same. Try Googling supination/under-pronation. A 'natural' runner would probably say you could be 'cured' with excercises to strengthen your feet. I have had this for years. It is no big deal for me, I just go through trainers a bit more! I do not like my Inov8 295's: Roclite 315's work well  for me.

  • Thanks for the information. We did discuss using some shoes with better padding, but thought we'd try exercises and taping first.

    I haven't even used my 295s yet, except for 500m of a run abandoned through injury so could potentially sell them and get some 315s instead.

  • The 295's do not seem to me to be running shoes, they have little support and have poor grip in the wet. They are OK shoes, but not for running! Excercises sound great; I think that would be the best long term plan. Don't know about taping, I assume that is more a short term fix.

  • I supinate (both feet, but slightly different forefoot strike on each).  First improvement (going back a few months now) was when I REDUCED the amount of shoe support. 

    Just had a bout of peroneal tendinitis, but admittedly this was from increasing mileage too quickly so overuse a major factor.  As well as the usual ice etc, did calf and hamstring strengthening and it paid huge dividends with overall endurance.  Other thing I am working on is to try to lift from the knee more, so that the foot falls better / straighter naturally, and that seems to be working (and it is faster too) but it's early days on that one.

    Shoes I runn in most of the time are Saucony Cortana

  • That sounds very familair Louise, thank you for sharing your experience.

    It is worth noting that I only do trail running, with the odd section of road where necessary, so this will influence my choice of footwear.

  • Supination is not under pronation. A foot does both (pro and supinate) when walking. It describes rolling the foot in and out going through a neutral position.



    On heel strike a normal (whatever that is) foot is supinated. It has an arch and as load is taken through the foot it rolls into pronation. This is the description of the movement.



    Supinated feet are stiff as they have less ability to roll in. They are poor at dealing with the load of the ground crashing onto your feet. Your shoes will most likely need cushioning, not support. Orthotics can strangely help - not to control motion but allow more of the undersurface of your foot to come into contact with the ground....
  • Thanks Physio. Can you get inserts that would help? Or am I looking at a new pair of shoes?

  • ....$10,000 question. Horses for courses. All depends on the shoes you've currently got or may need versus how much you can pronate (roll in), need and control.



    It's also very plausable to go large on ankle, calf flexibity and pelvic control and do without....



    Try going with just a pair of cheap sorbothane insoles in your runners and see what gives.
  • Feet which exhibit increased magnitudes of external supination moments very often contribute to peroneal symptoms. Think of them (peroneii) as being in a heightened state of alert - as they are one of the main muscle groups designed to prevent ankle inversion inversion injuries. As with all muscles they have a ceiling to how much they can tolerate, so to reduce symptoms you often have to lower the work demands being placed on them.



    Put simply; increasing pronation moments will usually do it...
  • I have high arches which is usually associated with supination and I use orthaheel sport which are about £20 from boots and last a long time. Since running for about 10 months my feet have strenghened so I don't need to wear them in all my shoes and slippers all the time, which I used to as I damaged the arch ligament. I still wear them for running but am planning trying to reduce using them slowly.

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