Flat Feet/Shin Split injuries

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10571z

10571z

Brownlow Medallist
Veteran 10k Posts
Aug 23, 2006
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Christmas Hills
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Collingwood
Hey guys

Ive started playing football after stopping for about 5 years. Im 22 years old.

I have really bad flat feet which resulted in shin splints it seems. Extremely sore feet while training ect.

I have controlled the shin splits by replacing my orthotics but my feet still are pretty painfull even my knees get sore.

Anyone got any ideas how to keep it under control. I wear my orthotics religiously now and avoid doing any running on hard surfaces.

Is there any strapping or advice people have?

cheers
 
Stretching and strengthening of the calves and ankles is a good start.

Are your orthotics profesionally tailor made or just some sets off the shelf? If not, definately go and see a podiatrist as they can recommend the correct boot to wear as well as explaining to you exactly what you need to do.

They will also take measurements and casts of your feet and construct you proper tailor made orthotics to support you in all of the right places to stop your pronation.

I've struggled with flat feet since forever, I found it tough to participate in sport when I was a kid. However, just getting started playing again would be a huge shock to the system and it will take some time and alot of effort (unfortunately) to strengthen the muscles and ligaments.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES RUN THROUGH THE PAIN, YOU WILL GET INJURED.

Icing after training + taking glucosamine, fish oil and magnesium are also good.

Glucosamine aids ligaments in repairing, fish oil is a natural anti-inflammatory and magnesium helps with muscle tightness and cramps. (Tightness is what causes shin splints, as a result of your feet pronating and hyperextending ligaments and in turn the muscle connected to it.)


Strapping is not a good idea, and will not help the issue, it will just weaken your ankles. A good pair of custom orthotics will cost you anything from 200-350 bucks, but they will last you for years.
 
its extremely hard to fit an orthotic into a football boot
and any that will fit will only be able to give very minimal and basic support/correction to any biomechanical deficit you may have.

as for sore feet, go to town with them on a golf ball or freeze a 600mL bottle of coke and use that to massaage your feet. i personally find the golf ball a lot better
 

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prankmonkey said:
its extremely hard to fit an orthotic into a football boot
and any that will fit will only be able to give very minimal and basic support/correction to any biomechanical deficit you may have.

as for sore feet, go to town with them on a golf ball or freeze a 600mL bottle of coke and use that to massaage your feet. i personally find the golf ball a lot better
Click to expand...

It depends on his foot profile. Orthotics are very modifiable, my podiatrist gave me two pairs, a low profile pair for things like footy boots and a pair for work. Both work well.

As for them being a bandaid, thats a lie. (Well, partially). If you wore proper orthotics as a kid, they can actually help force the bone and ligament structures into forming correctly (atleast partially) alleviating alot of problems later in life.
 
they are modifiable, but will never do the job of a full length orthotic
again do you want to pay 400+ for something that will probably do the same as a low profile off the shelf orthotic can do for 60
 
Blissid said:
It depends on his foot profile. Orthotics are very modifiable, my podiatrist gave me two pairs, a low profile pair for things like footy boots and a pair for work. Both work well.

As for them being a bandaid, thats a lie. (Well, partially). If you wore proper orthotics as a kid, they can actually help force the bone and ligament structures into forming correctly (atleast partially) alleviating alot of problems later in life.
Click to expand...

What about how orthotics inhibit the intrinsic muscles in your foot from performing their job in supporting the arches of your feet. They then get weak and cause problems later in life.
 
Speaking from experience having never played footy 3 years ago until today I'd offer the following.

#1 Avoid self diagnosis via over the counter orthotics. Throw away your current pair of running shoes and go see a running shoe specialist....most serious sporting good stores or running shoe stores will have someone on staff that is either a professional runner or was one in the past. They will listen to you, have you walk or run for them and then fit you with a few options for you to try. Some stores even let you run on a track in store or a treadmill to see the improvement.

#2. Ice massages after every run. Freeze a paper cup 3/4 of the way with water. Tear the cup around the ice and massage your shins for about 5 minutes, both sides of the shin, until you have gone for about 20 minutes.
Ice will help with pain, inflammation and over time (talking weeks if not months) you will see a difference.

#3. Invest in a foam roller. After every run, as soon as possible and before you ice, you want to sit and stretch out your hamstrings, quads, calves and shins on a foam roller. Hit up youtube..tons of methods and techniques to learn from.

#4 Only run your distance. Much like goalkicking in football, you wouldn't try to boot a ball outside of your comfortable distance. Same is said for running. Warm up with a nice 5 to 10 minute walk, then stretch out as deep as you can go. Then run slowly for another 5 minutes, and picking up the pace only slightly as you continue your run. If at any point you feel pain in your feet, shins, knees or hamstrings immediately stop running, find a piece of floor and stretch. Go home, ice, foam roll and give it 2-3 days. You aren't going to be running fast to start, the idea is to get your legs used to the battering and beating and slowly over time stretching and building up the muscles.

#5 Stretch. Stretching is the most underrated part of any workout. Some guys will run and ignore stretching and wonder why they are constantly taking minor niggles and pulling up with sore hammys and tight calves. Good rule of thumb is to stretch for 5 minutes for every 20 minutes of running you do. I like to stretch my hips, pelvis, calves, feet and hamstrings out for a good 15 minutes after even a short run of just 2-3km.

#6. Buy a pair of shin braces or supports. I imported a pair from 2XU and my entire football team makes fun of me, but they work. Cost me 60 USD and I can tell you it completely changed my running. I never run without them now, and they help to stabilize the sheath and muscles surrounding your shin muscles....minimize vibration and simply help with recovery afterwards.

Know that rest, ice and recovery time is the only cure for shin splints. If you fix them and reaggrevate them down the road, take a week off running and focus on the bike or on some upper body cardio like boxing or light weights with high reps, or a hand bicycle. The bike will keep your legs rolling over and keep a base of fitness while your shin muscles heal.

Any other questions feel free to PM me.
 
Story of my life!! Last year I went through some terrible shin splints and just could not shake them for months. Eventually just had to minimalise any running on hard surfaces, switched to cycling at the gym and it made a big difference. Make sure you have some quality Orthotics too.
 
Thanks for all the input everyone.

I have heard mixed things about orthotics but it seems to help me a bit as i litterally have no arch at all and seems to stop my shins from hurting.
 
10571z said:
Thanks for all the input everyone.

I have heard mixed things about orthotics but it seems to help me a bit as i litterally have no arch at all and seems to stop my shins from hurting.
Click to expand...

Just re-iterating my suggestion from before....Do not self diagnose.

Your new orthotics might be relieving the pain or discomfort temporarily...but you can potentially over-correct or hyper-correct the problem because you have diagnosed yourself incorrectly. Consult a running shoe specialist in a running show store, not just a sporting goods store manned by an army of high school kids and lowlifes. At the very least pop into the office of a podiatrist and get yourself checked out.

There is simply no reason to place an orthotic into a running shoe....into a football boot maybe if you bought a generic boot, but shoes come in all shapes and sizes for all types of feet. Adding a under pronating orthotic to a shoe that is trying to over-pronate your feet that you bought because they "looked cool" or "seemed to fit ok" is a big mistake.

I am only JUST coming together with my running after making the mistake you might be...3 months of tough awkward running that a simple 25$ over the counter orthotic and the "feels better" approach did to me.
 
Claims that orthotics don't work is ridiculous...none of you really understand the role they play in biomechanics.

please read www.podiatry-arena.com more specifically the info on MTSS

i accept that a some people may have had a bad experience with orthotics...it's probably because the orthotics you were prescribed were not what you were needed (there are 100s of prescription variables).

there is more to orthotics than controlling pronation - believe it or not no properly designed study has been able to prove that over pronation or flat feet are predictors of injury.
 

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inside_player said:
Claims that orthotics don't work is ridiculous...none of you really understand the role they play in biomechanics.



i accept that a some people may have had a bad experience with orthotics...it's probably because the orthotics you were prescribed were not what you were needed (there are 100s of prescription variables).

there is more to orthotics than controlling pronation - believe it or not no properly designed study has been able to prove that over pronation or flat feet are predictors of injury.
Click to expand...


your grammar makes it hard to take anything you say about science seriously.

i agree about your statement regarding no evidence to prove that over pronation is a predisposing factor to lower limb injury. you can never prove anything in medical science unless you and test everyone to ever live and continue to test everyone who is born. you only provide evidence to support an argument.

there is a fair bit of evidence supporting over pronation being a predictor in a number of lower limb injuries.

orthotics have their role but are not always the answer with biomechanical abnormalities, especially with kids and teens
 
Dear 10571z,
I am a podiatrist located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
In order to effectively treat your shin splints and associated foot pain, a thorough assessment is the only possible starting point. Often an orthotic is issued to a patient to treat their flat foot deformity but that does not necessarily treat the internal tibial rotation that is causing your shin splints (that means that when you step your tibia – the main shin bone – turns towards the midline of your body and takes all your soft tissue with it, possibly stretching some parts, causing fibrous tissue to grow in others or causing oedema to fill your anterior muscle compartment – or a combination of all three).
It is advisable to return to your podiatrist whom issued you your orthoses for a readjustment. When a patient who I have been treating for shin splints returns for their review with some residual discomfort, a quick adjustment in the laboratory at the clinic to increase the correction has always fixed the problem. It should be noted that only 2 out of every 7 orthotics that a podiatrist will issue will need no re adjustment at some point. Aka most people need their orthotics ‘tweaked’ from time to time.
For pain management at this point, apply methyl salicylate to your shins before football (really rub it in with your thumbs) and ice after footy. Ibuprofen or diclofenac (Nurofen or Voltaren) is more efficacious at ameliorating pain that paracetamol in soft tissue injuries.
The claim that orthotics do not work has been quite comprehensively debunked via randomized trials. At present, orthoses ameliorate the presenting pathology in 79-82% of cases (well above placebo). Also, a half length orthotic is exactly as efficacious as a full length orthotic (the latter just has some padding that extends under the toes). The off the shelf orthoses, Formthotics, have been demonstrated to be effective at the same level as placebo, aka have a go with them if you want, but don’t expect much.
The relationship between lower limb pathology and foot pathomechanical alignment (leg pain when you have wonky feet) is 77% according to randomized controlled trials. It’s a bit like driving a car with the wheels out of alignment, you drive for a long time then nothing happens, then after a while things start to break down.
There is a special type of orthotic that fits exceptionally well into a football boot. I have treated hundreds of football and soccer players with them and have personally never had a problem with fit or function. An averaged sized orthotic will however be rather difficult to place in a football boot initially, it will most likely require modification by a professional.
There is no athletic shoe that causes pronation or supination, thus if you suffer from a pathological foot condition such as flat feet an orthotic is indicated. All a ‘rolling out shoe’ does is provide extra cushioning due to the high arch foot being a more rigid foot type. A ‘rolling in’ shoe has a medial post which prevents excessive pronation – it won’t however push the foot in to correct anatomic al alignment.
The claims about orthotics inhibiting muscles/being Band-Aids are conjecture and untrue. I won’t comment further on that.
If you want to see me or need a good podiatrist, call my work and speak to one of my receptionists 03 9840 7877.
Good Luck and Kind Regards,
Dr. Steve
 
what if the problem is from excessive femoral internal rotation?

of course you'll have tibial internal rotation and thus excessive pronation

the problem is the hips not the foot or lower leg...orthotics may help slightly but the problem still remains (pelvic positioning)
 
cptkirk said:
what if the problem is from excessive femoral internal rotation?

of course you'll have tibial internal rotation and thus excessive pronation

the problem is the hips not the foot or lower leg...orthotics may help slightly but the problem still remains (pelvic positioning)
Click to expand...

Pelvic positioning is not a major contributing factor to shin splints. that is more an aetiology for iliotibial band (ITB) syndrome. On the occasion that the practitioner feels that an internal pelvic tilt and femoral internal rotation is contributing to the strain on the anterior musculature and osseous structures of the lower leg, a simple measurement using a goneometer to measure the Q-angle (the right angle between the knee, outside of the hip and midline) is undertaken and factored into the correction.

if this is the case, we place this calculation into the orthotic device in much the same way we would treat a child with genu valgum (knock knees - which is actually a hip condition).

ceteris paribus, an experienced clinician should be able to pick up the aetiology in their routine measurements.

Cheers
 
I used to get shin splints from jogging because I had a forward pelvic tilt.
Not self-diagnosed... I actually went to a sports doctor (physiotherapist) who gave me some exercises to strengthen hip flexors and glutes and stretches for lower back.
Worked a treat
 
deeman94 said:
Dear 10571z,
I am a podiatrist located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
In order to effectively treat your shin splints and associated foot pain, a thorough assessment is the only possible starting point. Often an orthotic is issued to a patient to treat their flat foot deformity but that does not necessarily treat the internal tibial rotation that is causing your shin splints (that means that when you step your tibia – the main shin bone – turns towards the midline of your body and takes all your soft tissue with it, possibly stretching some parts, causing fibrous tissue to grow in others or causing oedema to fill your anterior muscle compartment – or a combination of all three).
It is advisable to return to your podiatrist whom issued you your orthoses for a readjustment. When a patient who I have been treating for shin splints returns for their review with some residual discomfort, a quick adjustment in the laboratory at the clinic to increase the correction has always fixed the problem. It should be noted that only 2 out of every 7 orthotics that a podiatrist will issue will need no re adjustment at some point. Aka most people need their orthotics ‘tweaked’ from time to time.
For pain management at this point, apply methyl salicylate to your shins before football (really rub it in with your thumbs) and ice after footy. Ibuprofen or diclofenac (Nurofen or Voltaren) is more efficacious at ameliorating pain that paracetamol in soft tissue injuries.
The claim that orthotics do not work has been quite comprehensively debunked via randomized trials. At present, orthoses ameliorate the presenting pathology in 79-82% of cases (well above placebo). Also, a half length orthotic is exactly as efficacious as a full length orthotic (the latter just has some padding that extends under the toes). The off the shelf orthoses, Formthotics, have been demonstrated to be effective at the same level as placebo, aka have a go with them if you want, but don’t expect much.
The relationship between lower limb pathology and foot pathomechanical alignment (leg pain when you have wonky feet) is 77% according to randomized controlled trials. It’s a bit like driving a car with the wheels out of alignment, you drive for a long time then nothing happens, then after a while things start to break down.
There is a special type of orthotic that fits exceptionally well into a football boot. I have treated hundreds of football and soccer players with them and have personally never had a problem with fit or function. An averaged sized orthotic will however be rather difficult to place in a football boot initially, it will most likely require modification by a professional.
There is no athletic shoe that causes pronation or supination, thus if you suffer from a pathological foot condition such as flat feet an orthotic is indicated. All a ‘rolling out shoe’ does is provide extra cushioning due to the high arch foot being a more rigid foot type. A ‘rolling in’ shoe has a medial post which prevents excessive pronation – it won’t however push the foot in to correct anatomic al alignment.
The claims about orthotics inhibiting muscles/being Band-Aids are conjecture and untrue. I won’t comment further on that.
If you want to see me or need a good podiatrist, call my work and speak to one of my receptionists 03 9840 7877.
Good Luck and Kind Regards,
Dr. Steve
Click to expand...

so u quoted a podiatrist trying to sell his product as evidence???

there are plenty of ways to skin a cat. i think what kirky and many others are saying is that you should look at all the possible causes and treat accordingly, not just give orthotics.

fact is shin splints generally have more to do with training error or technique (overstriding or heavy heel striking) than they do foot posture
 
keyboard_warrior said:
your grammar makes it hard to take anything you say about science seriously.

i agree about your statement regarding no evidence to prove that over pronation is a predisposing factor to lower limb injury. you can never prove anything in medical science unless you and test everyone to ever live and continue to test everyone who is born. you only provide evidence to support an argument.

there is a fair bit of evidence supporting over pronation being a predictor in a number of lower limb injuries.

orthotics have their role but are not always the answer with biomechanical abnormalities, especially with kids and teens
Click to expand...
This is just the sort of post I can't resist replying to. I can only presume that you do not take yourself seriously when it comes to anything you have to say about science considering that your grammar is woeful. Why is it that grammatical skill determines how seriously someone's scientific knowledge should be taken yet punctuation doesn't? lol
 
I have flat feet as well, I just turned 20 and always been one of the least fittest player in my team. Trying to run more over summer made the bottom of my feet ache and get extremely tight calves after alot of stretching. Tried playing through the pain but unfortunately received inflammation in my knee from my knee taking all the stress from the tight calves (in turn flat feet)

I have gone to a local podiatrist and I have been told orthodics is absolutely the best way to fix this problem, I was given these general inserts until my orthodics were made. They helped alot already but I still get the pain.

I believe orthodics is the best way to go..
 
Ulahoopski said:
This is just the sort of post I can't resist replying to. I can only presume that you do not take yourself seriously when it comes to anything you have to say about science considering that your grammar is woeful. Why is it that grammatical skill determines how seriously someone's scientific knowledge should be taken yet punctuation doesn't? lol
Click to expand...

thumbs up
 
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