I have patellofemoral pain in one knee. My physical therapist watched me walk and said I was overpronating. He heated and formed some orthotic insoles to fit in my Nike Air sneakers. (I see that the same inserts can be bought here: link and they cost $45 for a pair.) Now those sneakers are worn out, and the “Air” chambers have burst which I think happened when I put them in the dryer. I’m in the market for a new pair of sneakers, and also maybe a pair of casual brown-suede walking shoes or something similar.
How do I shop for shoes? A problem I had with the Nikes was they were a bit too tall when the inserts were in. Should I be looking for shoes with thin and flat soles to put inserts on top of, or ones with good arch support out of the box? I’m not sure how to try on shoes if I might be altering them later. I should mention that I don’t have a ton of money, less than $150 to spend on a pair, preferable a lot less. Does anybody have any experience or advice?
I have the same problem you do. I’ve got patellofemoral syndrome in both knees, and I wear custom insoles. My left foot is a different shape from my right, and I have narrow ankles on both feet. Finding a good pair of shoes for me takes a minimum of a full day of shopping.
I’ve been getting by on a pair of hiking boots (I took out the regular insoles and put my insoles in instead. It worked great) and a single pair of dress shoes. The dress shoes come from a dance shop. A store that specializes in ballroom dance shoes (or maybe other types of dance shoes, too) can set you up with the most comfortable and sharpest-looking pair of dress shoes you’ll ever wear. They deal with lots of people who have custom insoles and/or need other orthopedic requirements in their footwear.
But you didn’t ask me about dress shoes. You asked me about athletic shoes.
A store that specializes in running shoes might be a good bet. Lots of runners end up with foot and knee problems like ours after several years of training, so the staff at a good running shoe store will probably be able to help you find a shoe that works with your insoles and provides stability. Stores that sell general athletic wear or athletic shoes for lots of different sports often aren’t as much help, I find.
If you try a running shoe place and can’t find what you need, check out a store that specializes in orthopedic shoes. There’s a chain of stores called “Foot Solutions” that might help you. You probably also have at least one or two local orthopedic shoe stores. They may or may not do an even better job of helping you. If you find a good clerk who really takes the time to find the right shoes for you, make an effort to buy from them. It can be hard to get good customer service, and that service is incredibly important in finding shoes that work for you.
Oh, yeah–and your price range of about $150.00 will probably cover about 1 pair of shoes, with maybe some money left over.
A store that specializes in outdoors stuff might work well for you, if you’re willing to use a hiking shoe. If you ask the local outdoorsy types where they shop, you’ll find which places have the best customer service and the best shoe selection. I haven’t shopped for hiking shoes in a while, but I remember the Vasque shoes working well for me. You can take out the insole that comes with the shoe, put in your custom orthotic, and it works out great.
I have fallen arches (worse on one side secondary to breaking my ankle) for which I have been prescribed orthotics. My orthopedist suggested I go to a store specializing in orthopedics/orthotics/prosthetics and which carried orthopedic shoes in many styles and types. I bought some black walking shoes and some sandals. Both pairs look completely normal, not like clunky “orthopedic shoes” you might imagine. See what you can find in that regard.
I’ve had good luck buying shoes that have a thick, removable insole - Timberland is good for this, as is one line of Dansko. With other shoes, if you have to put the orthotic on top of the insolve, the fit gets all goofed up; if the orthotic and my foot both fit into the shoe, then the heel slips off, or something else just deosn’t work right.
What a coinky-dink, I just had my feet cast for custom orthotics on Monday. I’ve got major flat feet (over-pronation) and they cause pretty painful feet and shin splints. I should get 'em in about 3-4 weeks and my podiatrist told me to wait to buy shoes to make sure I got the proper size with them in there. He recommended a couple things:
[ul]
[li]Brand:Asics and New Balance offer the best support. Avoid running shoes unless that’s specifically what you’re going to do. Go for a cross-trainer as they support multi-directional support (running shoes are meant to solely go forward apparently). Take the shoe and place it flat on a surface and tilt it left and right, the more difficult this is to do, the better. [/li][li]Shopping: Take the orthotics with to make sure that the foot fits properly with the orthotic.[/li]Testing: Take the shoe and place it vertically on its toe. Push down with the heel. If it bends in the middle, the shoe does not offer enough support. [/ul]
If you were near San Francisco, I’d be urging you to go to On The Run. They’re known far and wide around here as the experts at finding the right athletic shoe for a person, with or without orthotics.
It’s a long shot, but you might try calling them to see if they know anyone with similar capabilities in your area.
I’ll second that. Timberland is just about the only brand of work/hiking boots that I can get my orthotics into.
Most others are either too narrow (Timberland makes most of their styles in both “medium” and “wide”) or the pre-shaped footbed is the wrong shape and there’s a cliff of sorts where the front end of the orthotic just hangs in free space.