I’m told that the arch of my left foot has collapsed (it’s noticeably lower than the arch of my right foot) and that this may be the reason I’ve been experiencing problems with my calf and Achilles tendon. What will have caused the arch to have collapsed and what can I do to help rectify this? Should I consider running with arch cushions in my shoes? When fit I'm a high mileage runner (50 or so mpw) with a tendency to pronate although not markedly.
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Do you have sciatic problems in the leg that has the foot problems? When my sciatica is bad I lose a lot of feeling, and a lot of movement/control in the foot. I suspect that over a period of time, not using me feet very well has caused muscles to waste a bit, eventually causing arch to sag.
Some things have helped.
I do wear orthotics, 8%m ub all my shoes, not just my running shoes. This is by way of a prayer to preserve my knees. So far I have escaped any real knee problems.
I do foot exercises, which seems to bring back a bit of life to my feet, and I hope may little by little restore some of the muscles which I think I lost, thus causing the collapse.
I also use MBT footwear, again, to try and get some muscle action back in my feet.
e-mail me if you want the foot exercises.
You know well that I am not a high mileage runner, nor do I have any medical qualifications. I would suggest that you do get medical opinions, several in fact, and between them piece together your own opinions and consequent recovery plan.
I also do some foot exercises, although I am a bit lazy about them as they don't have a huge effect for me, as my injury is so long standing. I can, however, now wear girlie court shoes for about 3 hours without inserts before my feet and legs start to complain, compared to about 10 minutes before I started with the inserts/exercises.
I'm fortunate in that I've never suffered any sciatic problems - I'm just a typical ageing (mid forties) runner (like you I run as much with my heart as I do with my legs) - muscles shortening and tightening – fighting a constant battle to remain injury free.
Nessie - I think I'll experiment with some insoles (local runners shop sell "Spenco" arch cushions which feel very pronounced - I'll look out for the other brands that you mentioned). If these make a difference I may look at getting orthotics as a more permanent solution.
Thanks for the advice folks.
Thanks