Injuries to the foot, leg, knee and hip are common for runners and joggers. Biomechanics play a
major role as well as the way your foot hits the ground. For example, supinators, runners with a
high arch, have decreased mobility and underpronation which causes a decreased ability to
absorb shock. The shock is transmitted to the outside of the foot and leg which can cause such
issues as lateral shin splints. Pronators have too much motion which transmits excess force to
the inside causing medial shin splints.
Studies
Recent studies into runner foot injuries have shown that custom foot orthotics help them recover
faster and prevent these type of injuries from occurring and/or reoccur:
“Orthoses in prevention of injury in military training” – The study looked at 400 officer trainees
and half received orthotics and half did not. The orthotics group had 21 injuries after nearly
5,000 training hours while the non-orthotic group had nearly triple that with 61 injuries. Study
authors concluded: “Orthoses were effective in the prevention of overuse lower limb injury. This
is the first study to identify a positive preventive role of orthoses.”
“Short- and long-term influences of a custom foot orthotic intervention on lower extremity
dynamics” – This study looked at both short-term and long-term effects of foot orthotics on
runners and found that after six weeks of using custom foot orthotics study participants reported
a 73.1% decrease in symptoms and a significant decrease in pain.”
“Evaluation of lower extremity overuse injury potential in runners” – This study found that those
with a history of running-related injury had a significantly greater impact force when the foot hit
the ground.”
Which Runners Benefit from Orthotics?
Studies show that runners will benefit from the use of orthotics if:
- They do not currently have an injury
- They experience unusual fatigue in their legs
- They have a poor gait
- They have an over-use injury
Orthotic Support for Running Injuries
Runner’s Knee – One of the most common causes of runner’s knee is excessive pronation of
the foot.
Shin Splints – Shin splints are caused by running on hard surfaces, over-striding, muscle
imbalance, or overuse.
Plantar Fasciitis – Heel pain caused by inflammation of the tough fascia on the bottom of the
foot where the fascia attaches to the heel.
Calcaneal stress fracture – An overuse fracture of the heel bone that can occur in runners.
Achilles tendon tendonitis or bursitis – An inflammation of the tendon or bursa located at the
attachment of the Achilles tendon to the heel.
Extensor tendinitis – An inflammation of the tendons on the top and midway along the foot.
Sesamoiditis – An inflammation of the tiny bones located in the ball of the foot near the base of
the big toe.
Metatarsal Stress Fracture – An overuse fracture of one of the metatarsals, the long bones that
start at the midway point of the foot and run right up to the base of the toes.
Morton’s neuroma – This condition is caused by chronic irritation of the interdigital nerve,
usually between the third and fourth metatarsals near the toes. Runners experience a pins and
needles or “electric shock” pain with this condition.
Posterior Tibialis Tendonitis – Runners may experience pain below the inside of ankle or
slightly further along the inside of the foot where this tendon passes underneath the medial
malleolus (the inside ankle bone) and attaches into the medial aspect of the foot (navicular
bone).
Peroneal tendonitis – Runners usually experience pain on the outside part of the ankle or
lateral edge of the foot up to the base of the fifth metatarsal with this condition. The tendon
passes underneath the lateral malleolus (the outside ankle bone) and attaches on the lateral
aspect of the foot (cuboid and base of fifth metatarsal).
Functional custom orthotics will not only support but improve your running biomechanics and
prevent injury so you can train efficiently and have that winning edge on race day!