Orthotics and arch weakness

[Serendipity]

I was very well trained from the get-go to hold up my arches. I never had orthotics until after I broke my ankle (only a few years ago) and never really had ankle or foot pain due to strength and good use. Now I wear my sneakers with orthotics all the time and often use the Dr. Roth Fabs as well. I use the Fabs in my ballet slippers if I feel I might be having issues.

 

Tonight, my teacher, who is very good at detecting subtle issues, said I was rolling in. I was wearing the Fabs. When she realigned my ankles, it almost felt like they were going the other way, I think it's called "supination" (?), but the ankle itself felt quite good. The toes were all on the floor, as they were with my "regular" way of standing, but no pressure on the arch.

 

I have been trying not to wear the Fabs in class but I'm wondering now if wearing those orthotics might actually be contributing to my rolling in; in other words, is it making my feet lazy???

 

They were prescribed for pronation, even though I told the podiatrist that although I have low arches (almost flat), I knew how to hold them up due to all the ballet. Now I'm wondering if I should forego them for just standard, store-bought ones in order to force me to realign my feet properly.

 

Just wondering if anyone else has had this happen. nI plan to talk to my podiatrist about it. It was quite a revelation tonight and the ache from the re-training is going to go on for quite a while. It was a good ache, not a bad one.

 

Thanks for any insight.

[Clara 76]

With the FABS, I would slowly adjust your body to not wearing them. So wear them for 2 good weeks, then wear the for 1/2 days at a time for 2 weeks, then taper it down to every other day, and so on. You have use them as tools to re-align your ankles, but then the muscles need to take over and do their job. You can put them back on if you start to have further issues, and repeat the process if needed.

 

As far as orthotics, I would follow whatever the doctor ordered.