Mr. Skeptic has high arches. So high, in fact, that it’s hard to tell where the bottom of his foot ends and the arch begins. I think this is why his calves and feet are always hurting (tight and sore). I also think he should pay a visit to the podiatrist. (Orthotics have helped my pronation–flat feet–immensely.) He has yet to listen to me, so I result to the teeming millions. Do we have any high-arched dopers who have received orthotics or other treatment? What were your results?
I, too, have ridiculously high arches. When I went to a podiatrist because the area betweeen the balls of my feet always felt bruised and sore, he gave me foam inserts that fit into my arches and redistribute the weight, which have helped immensely. I still can’t wear heels much, but I no longer get that bruised feeling. (I’ll never be able to do a jumping front kick in tae kwon do, which is what really aggravated the problem in the first place, but I can live with that :))
I haven’t gone for the orthotics - but I do buy the Dr. Scholl’s Arch Supports and find them immensely helpful.
I no longer get the leg pain or the problem tendon that runs from the bottom of my foot through my calf tightening up like a guitar string.
Orthotics probably would help - but the Dr. Scholl’s Arch Supports work well enough for me.
I have high arches.
I also have torn fascia in both feet.
I wear, or am spose to, orthotic arch supports, which, when I do, I have zero problemos. Problem is is I prefer clogs. Never been a tie-on shoe gal.
If your feet are not happy, nothing else in your system feels right.
Tell Mr. Skeptic to go to the doctor. It will be about 45 minutes. Three seconds for the Xray, eight minutes of a doctor talking to you. A few minutes of a nice nurse asking you questions and a whole lot of waiting around feeling like a maroon because there will be someone else out in the lobby who is way worse off that you.
More screamingly high arches and narrow feet here. I ended up developing Plantar’s fasciitis, which is an inflamation of the heel caused by overextension of the tendons on the bottom of one’s feet. It’s quite painful.
Luckily, it doesn’t usually develop until you are a little older (40s?) and put on too much spare tire. The cure is usually just good orthotics in the shoes and some decent anti-inflammatory drugs, but it can take quite awhile for the heel pain to go away.
high arches and instep here. foot aisle and shoe arch supports don’t come close to my arch.
when a roll of paper fell on my foot and cracked my outside met., the one that helps the piggie go wee wee wee all the way home. my foot doc. made me some custom arch supports to give that bone a bit of a break. it was the first time something touched my arch.
i wear them at work, when i am on my feet for about 8 hours plus. does help it shifts the weight around to my entire foot. at home i don’t wear shoes.
no calf or toe problems, but i can’t run on hard surfaces, shin spilts like crazy because i run on my toes.
I’ve got high arches which began collapsing a few years ago due to age and weight. This led to tears and plantar fasciitis-very painful indeed. I’ve worn off-the-shelf arch supports which did help but weren’t all that comfortable for me. Right now I wear mostly Birkenstock clogs. Their molded footbed with arch support is just the ticket, my heel pain has diminished greatly although it took over a year for the fascia tears to heal (not unusual for this condition). One very important thing to remember if you have plantar fasciitis-never go without arch support. That means never walking around barefoot or in slippers, etc. if you want permanent improvement. It’s easy to keep reinjuring the fascia otherwise and end up with a chronic problem as I did. (I’d previously had intermittent heel pain which I’d ignored.) Except for the shower and the bed I’m never out of my clogs.
Lexi, which ones do you buy? There are several, and I don’t think all of them are suitable for high arches.
If you can afford it, go and have some shoes made. I have very long, thin feet (size 13+, 2 fitting) and they’ve been a godsend. I had mine made by a company in Bristol which specialises in medical and military footwear. The shoes are, of course, a near-perfect fit. The shoes cost me £275, the boots £400. I have new insoles every year or so which cost me £20.
Another one with very high arches and orthotics, but the orthotics aren’t because of the high arches (directly, anyway). They are to deal with the aftermath of me busting my left tibia and fibula into a bunch of pieces a few years ago. My ankle doesn’t bend all the way anymore, so if I’m barefoot, I limp. I was OK in decent comfy shoes until a couple of years ago, until I started having shooting pains into my toes. My ankle doc (I’ve never been to a podiatrist; he’s an orthopedic surgeon) prescribed these, saying that the high arches were exacerbating the lack of ankle mobility, and to release some of the pressure on the ball of the foot, I needed better support.
It took a few weeks to get used to them (be prepared for some pretty serious soreness in various other leg muscles while you adjust - it’s amazing how big a difference a few degrees of angulation can make), but they have completely changed my life. I used to need ioxx pretty much every day and be unable to walk more than half a mile or so, or stand for half an hour, before going kaput, but now I’m almost back to pre-accident endurance levels.
Hmmm, planta fascitis is related to high arches? Another doc told me I was having it in one foot a few weeks ago, but it went away in a couple of days. I always thought it was mostly an overuse injury common among runners and such, which I’m certainly not (and at this point, couldn’t be if I wanted to).
You may have to break down and go to a podiatrist for decent supports. I pay about $45 a pair for mine, but the arch support portion is hard plastic covered with thin rubber and provides good support. Problem is, you may have to buy shoes that have removable insoles. If I don’t take out the insole, the shoe doesn’t feel right and rubs my ankle bone raw. CG
Well, the thing is I’m trying to ease him into going. For some reason, lately he’s not been wanting to go to the doctor. I think it’s because he’s been so busy and stressed with school and work. Anyway, if I can get him something that will make him feel a little bit better, I can probably get him to go to the podiatrist who will make him feel a lot better.
Money’s not an issue, really. We have one of the few insurance plans in the world that covers orthotics. No, I’m not kidding. My feet are flatter than western Kansas*, so I got a pair and love them.
*Are our possible future children doomed to have messed up feet, I wonder?
BTW, Chefguy, as long as you don’t care what the inside of your shoe looks like, a lot of shoes have removable insoles. 
(I can’t wear my orthotics with the built-in insoles either.)
Also, where the heck do you buy orthotics that you only have to pay $45 a pair?
Well, plantar fasciitis is basically tearing and inflammation of the fascia that runs across the sole of the foot, from the heel out to the ball of the foot. In my case the tears are caused by a combination of my arches no longer being springy enough to support me and too much weight on them so the fascia gets stretched until it tears. I would guess that there are other ways to injure the fascia, like overuse. In that case it would be a temporary thing. As for me, my arches aren’t getting any younger unfortunately, so there ya go.