[anfe]

hi all

My 15yr old son has serious flat feet..can't remember the medical name. But his feet has no arch and he overpronates. when he stands instead of feet pointing straight ahead like most of us, his feet point outwards like a duck.
Because he has no arch, his feet and ankles hurt alot. a long walk in the mall or at wallmart shopping center requires several stops to rest his feet and when he gets home his ankles are very, very painful. High school requires walking alot between classes/classrooms,so at the end of the school day, his ankles are killing him.

We have taken him to the orthopedic dr, who recommended custom made soft orthotics. That helped a little bit, but not that much.

I am now thinking of buying him a pair of good walking/running shoes. But have no idea which ones are great for flat feet. To this point he has been wearing regular running shoes with his inserts in them. I have looked at New Balance, but need not sure which ones are good for his problem. Something probably with good arch support, etc.

Can anyone recommend a really good brand of shoes which will help his painful flat feet? Anyone with that problem and what has helped?

tks

[ladywiththelamp]

Speaking from experience, I recomend you take your son to a podiatrist; they do so much better in the care of feet vs. an orthopod. My teen boy has exactly the same problem....

[nesher]

Plus go to a running shoe store that will be able to assist in picking the right shoes for the pronation issue.

[ecacofonix]

While I'm not in a position to suggest the right shoes for your child, I am wondering whether the right shoes will do the trick...as an earlier post suggested, taking him to a podiatrist will help much better in my opinion
Hi,

My mom suffers from chronic leg pain and in the beginning - many years ago - we felt it was owing to her footwear. Since then of course we had visited any number of doctors, and it appears that she has what is called the Restless Leg Syndrome...we are not 100% sure, but it is most likely to be RLS...I would hence request you to consult more doctors on your son's pain, just to be on the safer side...

Btw, the (amateur) research on various types of leg pain I had done have been compiled and put up @ a page with resources and links for the same - http://www.billdoll.com/dir/health/q/leg_pain.html

Check out if that page is of use to you - it has been put up for those suffering from chronic leg pain, but I have provided related resources as well

Hope your son's condition improves soon, all the best


NS

[milagra]

I found some good information on insoles for flat feet on this page:
www.myflatfeet.blogspot.com
Check it out, maybe it helps you as well. Personally, I think these insoles are a great idea.

[catslave]

I have flat feet or fallen arches, if you will.... As a child I wore orthopedic shoes - ugly and expensive. I now wear New Balance walking athletic shoes with podiatrist constructed inserts. Hope this helps.

[Gennaver]

Originally Posted by anfe

hi all

My 15yr old son has serious flat feet..can't remember the medical name. But his feet has no arch and he overpronates. when he stands instead of feet pointing straight ahead like most of us, his feet point outwards like a duck.
B...
Can anyone recommend a really good brand of shoes which will help his painful flat feet? Anyone with that problem and what has helped?

tks

Hi,
Initially I was going to post that this forum is not for medical advice, yet, I see you are a member since 2004.

So, I can only offer my personal opinion and not medical advice and since I've been a runner since 1980 I've got some personal opinion which has been substantiated by various reports and advice from others through the years.

This is based on flat feet and high arched feet, the two extremes.

If you have flat feet or no arch your feet are very flexible and you will need a very stable shoe.

If you have high arch your feet are very solid and you will need a very flexible shoe.

So, I wear very flexible shoes since I have a high arched solid foot, (I wear non-stabilizing and cushy shoes). Someone with flat feet that overpronates would likely want to wear shoe with heel stabilizers and mid foot lateral protection. Running shoe stores "may" be able to help but, not all of the employees are aware of this because not all of them have a clue.

You can easily surf the web for shoes with mid foot and heel stablizing action.

Best,
Gen

[Tweety]

will close this 2 year old thread. Hopefully the op got some good advice, which we aren't supposed to give.

Gen, hopefully someone will get something out of your post as well. Thanks.