Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with arches

Good Mary-Jane style sneaker with arch support?

ninotchka — Sun, 24 May 2009 07:20:10 -0800

What's a good Mary-Jane style sneaker (for walking) with solid arch support? I'll be moving to Europe soon and plan on spending many of my weekends out and about, walking. I have pretty flat feet, though, and could use solid arch support as I go. I'd prefer a slip-on, Mary-Jane style (a style something along these lines), something with a low profile - but I'd also like a shoe that's going to be as comfortable as possible for long walks. Any suggestions?

My feetsies are weird.

stray — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:08:28 -0800

How can I fix my over-pronation? Someone pointed out to me today that my ankles sag inwards. After looking this up on the internet, looks like I over pronate, and will suffer horrible crippling deformaties in my legs and back as a result, or something.

How do I fix this? If I consciously try to walk more evenly on my feet, with more weight on the outward edge, will they get better? I already do yoga and stretch, but I'm probably not focusing on my legs/feet the way I ought to.

I'm not sure that I can afford to buy orthotics at the moment--are they really the only way to deal with this?

Also, I've seen the exercises in this thread . Frankly, it makes me nervous. Do I have to do all that to fix this?

Orthotics and Tennis

charlesv — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:41:11 -0800

Orthotics and tennis shoes? I am a novice tennis player. I have sesamoiditis due in part to high arches. To help with this, I wear orthotics .

My problem is that they do not want to stay put in my tennis shoe. They are stable laterally, so they do not slide side-to-side, but they slide forward. My orthotics are only partly rigid plastic, so the front part, which is a softer material, smushes against the front of the shoe and the orthotic slides forward. I had a pair of Asics that had this problem, so I switched to Reeboks. When I tried them on in the store, no problem. It was not until after I spent an hour or so running around on the court that I noticed they did not want to stay put.

I would especially appreciate recommendations from other folks out there that have foot problems and wear their orthotics while playing tennis.

How do I make them stay in place during play? Is there a way to make them stay put, like some kind of double-sided tape? Or are there shoes I can buy that will work better with orthotics? Or should I just give up wearing them during games and practice?

HOW IS ARCHY FORMED?

TheOnlyCoolTim — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:17:46 -0800

How was this made? Slightly different angle here.

I discovered this while fucking off into the woods for a while today. Based on its location I would assume it to be made by random idle kids/drunks/stoners or some combination of the above three. On the other hand, I am near a large university and it's possible this was built by an expert civil engineer stoner kid.

I understand the theoretical aspects of why an arch stays up, yet based on the ad hoc nature of this one I don't immediately see how it was built or see it as likely that someone constructed a special scaffolding to build this on a concrete drainage pipe. (Though this is not implausible.) The readily available materials are rocks provided for drainage, as seen, as well as possibly wood presumably gathered from being in the woods.

Note in the pictures the fact that small rocks and rock chips are liberally used as shims between the large rocks.

Is there simply some neat simple trick behind this that I don't know? Is it just easier than it looks?

Give me feet of steel.

middleclasstool — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:42:23 -0800

Resources for exercises for my feet, arches, ankles, and lower legs? I'm a distance runner -- or, more accurately, was one until after my first marathon, when IT Band Syndrome finally caught up with me. I've done physical therapy but will have to go back to the doc's for more treatment. Right now I can't do more than three miles for fear of making things worse.

I'm told the ITBS is likely a result of my overpronation, which I'd like to correct. Inspired by this post, I ran a mile barefoot on the treadmill last night, then spent the rest of the evening walking around barefoot and paying careful attention to feedback from my feet, and learned more about my gait from that than six months of running prior. I found myself working muscles in my feet and lower legs that I didn't even know I had. It was, in short, awesome, and has encouraged me that maybe I can build up muscles to help at least partially correct my gait so maybe I can ultimately transition to a lighter-weight shoe.

Thing is, I'm not finding many resources for strengthening exercises that target ankles, shin muscles and feet for overpronaters, so I turn to you for help. Resources need not be online. Books are good too, though I'd prefer not to kill trees. Give me feet of steel, people.

And yes, I will check with the doctor, but it'll be a bit before I can get in to see her.

How to find 'short' arch supports?

Wild_Eep — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 08:45:13 -0800

Where can I find arch supports for running shoes which *don't* extend back to the heel? I've looked at WalMart, Target, and 3 shoe stores. None had what I was looking for. I found many variations on a design which includes a portion which lives under the heel. When I tried them, my heel would slide out of the shoe. (I'm abnormally picky about shoe/heel fit.)

I remember 15 years ago I bought some nike running shoes which came with red foam inserts and some double-sided tape. They were sort-of teardrop shape and fit directly under the insole. The shoes I've seen recently don't include anything of the sort, no matter the brand.

For my last pair of sneakers, I resorted to trial and error, building my own out of some craft foam.

I'd prefer a retail store, but I'm willing to consider buying online.

Recommend basketball shoes for those with high arches.

callmejay — Thu, 18 Nov 2004 09:27:01 -0800

Which basketball shoes are good for people with high arches? Information's easy to come by for running shoes, but I can't find anything for bball. I'd like to be able to put orthotics in them as well. (Yeah, I'm getting old.)