Orthotic Insoles

[Hatty]

Hi there

I am in a bit of a quandary regarding my daughter's feet. In general, she's ok with her HMS although tires very easily, but her feet are really very flat (little plat plat duckling feet) and her ankles roll over alarmingly. In very sturdy lace ups her ankles are sort of straight, but in anything else at a really weird angle. Her physio (who has been wonderful) is not a fan of insoles/special boots and says her feet need to strengthen up on their own. However, I have flat feet (and lupus and probably HMS but masked by arthritis now) and according to my physio these are partly responsible for the mild scoliosis I have and considerable back pain, which has now finally been hugely helped by insoles. My husband had insoles as a child and now has the most beautifully arched feet ever.

SO what is the consensus on insoles? I have always trusted Evelyn's physio but am now getting concerned about her feet, esp given my and my husband's history. What are your opinions/experiences? I really need some help on making an informed decision!

Thank you!

x Hatty

[Blaadyblah]

If you read through the previous pages on this topic you'll find the experiences users have had.

From a personal perspective, my cousin and I have the same heel deformity that my daughter and I share.

When we were small I was made to wear insoles and she had special boots, followed by orthotic insoles as she grew older. She wore hers until she was fully grown, I refused from about age eight. I'm told that this is at least part of the reason my knees suffered so much damage. My cousin has no joint problems to speak of at all.

Madam (11) is less than impressed with her orthotic insoles and the limitations it puts on which shoes she can wear, however she also knows that failing to do so is part of the reason Mummy can't walk properly and has to use a wheelchair.

There's absolutely no reason why a child can't wear orthoses and do the physio to improve the muscle strength in the arch. For us it was a no brainer, have you spoken to her rheumatologist about this?

[Hatty]

At what age do children get insoles/boots then? Evelyn is 3 and a bit. She's not actually having weekly physio any more, I take her swimming and she does ballet. However, what I have read here makes me think that I should make an appointment to discuss her feet!~

x Hatty

[Blaadyblah]

There is a topic on this in the parenting section - if you use the advanced search facility and look for orthotics (within topic titles) you should find it.

[jax]

I really think the insoles help. My son does his physio every 2 weeks with them on.
He runs and plays each day during playtime with them on. I'm sure my son has less
knee problems since he's had them since I haven't seen him tweak it at all since
he's had them (having said he also does a mini knee exercise programme).

My son got his when he was 9 and has had them for approx six months. I don't
wear insoles as yet and I hated giving up my heels for flats to help with my posture
but it's worth it.

[Flims]

Hi All,

I was just diagnosed with HMS last week, by a private physio who I when to (I had already had a course of NHS physio to no avail, and was asking for advice on how to stop my hip hurting on a long-haul flight). On the advice of the physio and a high-street podiatrist, I have been sold off-the-shelf orthotics to wear (with an extra heel-bit stuck on the right one, as apparently my right leg is shorter than my left). However, these are making me ache EVERYWHERE, I'm getting numbness and shooting pains in my legs (trapped nerves?), and my hip is clicking out more than usual (I am going to get this investigated to see if it's hip dysplasia or something else - I've had it for around15 years...I'm now 27!). Is it a case of 'no pain, no gain'? Or could these insoles be damaging me?

Advice please.

[Rosie]

Hiya

When you start wearing orthotics or you have a new pair it is a good idea tgo break them in gently by wearing them for a short while and gradually building up. Stabilising or correcting one joint can have a knock on efect on neighbouring joints as they struggle to cope with the new mechanics. If you jump in at the deep end and wear them for too long the other joints may not have time to adjust.
Some people don't get on with them at all, and it is important that they are made to fit you correctly so they provide the right support or correction. Sometimes they need to be adjusted before you get any benefit. May be worth going back to whoever prescribed them for you.

Rosie

[Spireite]

Hi Flims,

I have a lot of history with ortotic insoles. I've seen about half a dozen podiatrists over several years and each has come up with a different prescription. Each had different techniques (or lack thereof) for coming up with whatever prescription. The first lot were all awful and injured me. The last more comprehensive ones which address three, not just one, problem my extremely hypermobile feet have, immediately felt so much better for my whole body (and building up gentley went out of the window! as my body rejected the old rubbish ones).

The advice certainly is that you should build up gentley as you are changing your biomechanics. It could be that any aches and pains to start with are just adjustments to the new biomechanics. However, it could also be that the orthotics are completely wrong for you. You need a proper check in person by someone competent and who knows all your problems to ascertain which. There are 26 bones in each foot and they are complex bits of engineering. Something off the shelf may or may not be suitable for you. You need to be checked with the orthotics to see.

My right leg was APPARANTLY shorter than my left, but it was a functional short leg due to the right foot overpronating a lot more than the left. Ie not a true short leg and a heel lift did not help or may my two legs equal at all. I think it just made my pelvis more twisted. Some podiatrists just don't know about this surprisingly. I despaired.

If you haven't automatically got a follow-up appointment with the podiatrist a few weeks after starting to wear them, you should go back and have one anyway. To do a good job, they need to see how your complex bits of engineering at the end of your legs are working in practice with the orthotics. When I finally after many years got the good orthotics, the right one was tweaked a little after 3 weeks on the outside edge.

By the way, I am the joint local group leader for South Central if you would like to join our little get-togethers. We sometimes meet in Oxford and sometimes in Handy Cross, just for a pub lunch or so. Let me know if you are interested.

[Flims]

Hi Rosie and Spireite,

Thanks for your advice. I think I'll keep trying to break the othotics in gentlely, but will also try and get myself a refferal to a decent podiatrist. I'm new to all of this HMS stuff, so still have to get myself checked out in various ways by various professionals. Although, given my experience with orthotics, I'm beginning to wish I'd never bothered re-looking into all my various quirks!

Hopefully I can soon start getting some treatment that makes me feel better rather than worse!