livelyjay

It came to my understanding, about 12 years ago, that I have flat feet and will ever be plagued by having to wear custom made, in shoe orthotics. My current orthotics are made out of a carbon graphite material and are absolutely fantastic. My question is, should I be putting, or attempting to put, my orthotics into my snowboard boots? Does anyone else have this problem? If so, what's the remedy for the inner-leg shin splints?

Mendel

Another in the fight against discrimination!
Haha sike, yeah I got flatfeet too. I've been wearing arch support(orthotics) for a few years now and before I start ranting, I'll tell you that I take the sole of the liner(in my motos, its black/red) out and put in a much stiffer arch support.

Just a quick note, during football, I discovered that I needed to wear them in every shoe(practice cleats/game cleats/street shoes). From my basic understanding, the arch in your foot enables you to have a more elastic spring in your jump and to absorb shock, basically like a spring. If you think of sprints, from a crouched position, I was one of the last getting off the line without supports. For snowboarding, you(or I) could make the connection that your jumps and impact will be affected.

The inner-leg shin splints, I have zero idea why your getting that from snowboarding, I only had shin splints a few times in my life, during football in the middle of two-a-days. I had pain on the bottom of my foot, it felt like the tendon that runs the length on the inside of my foot would be stretched(very fucking painfully) apart whenever I had my foot flat, in the middle of walking/running/etc.

The difference in cushioning that the factory support in the boot(inside the liner if you have a line) will be noticable if you don't wear enough socks, but I'm sure your used to that after 12 years. The size 11 support felt like it was a bit big inside the liner and was pushing the edges out, but you'll break it in after a few runs.

If any professional/doctor/admin tells me I'm wrong and gives evidence, go right ahead. I'm just stating my experience.

Yeah, sry about rant

livelyjay

Don't worry about the rant, venting about experiences could possibly help me or someone else reading this thread.

The inner leg pain was my first indication of my flat feet 12 years ago while running track. The doctors and trainers told me because of the severity of my condition (I basically have flippers for feet), and the abuse I was putting on my feet, was causing the inner leg muscles to pull away from the bone. That pain would come back every now and then, usually when my arch supports were going bad. Since getting my new arch supports over three years ago I have not experienced this pain. I haven't gone snowboarding in that long as well. These supports, which were $650 charged to my insurance company, are made out of some new high tech material (according to Hanger) and they don't know how long they will last, but estimates put it at 20 years.

My boot has pretty much zero padding for the bottom of the foot. Like I've said before my boots suck. I'll post pictures of all my gear because I would like to identify it all and know what I actually have. Tonight I'll just try and get my orthotics into the boot, put them on, strap into the bindings, and see how they feel. Guess that's the best way to determine if I will be comfortable without actually hitting the slopes.

Nivek

i have flat feet too. a lot of boots have removable inserts so put your orthodics in. it may also help to make sure you have a boot that is somewhat comfotable without them, that way you'll know if your boots will be wide enough to accept the orthodics well. i wish i had custom orthodics, i can't ride without foot ache and knee pains, all do to flat feet.

__________________
Snowboarding Sucks.

Netstalker

I have the opposite problem. extremely high arch that causes tendinitis in my feet. I just stick my orthotics in my boots.

livelyjay

You should check with your health benefit provider. My previous provider covered custom orthotics every two years and I only had to pay a certain percentage. I think it was like 8% or something really low. My current provider covers up to a certain amount every two years, but it's minimal, maybe $50-$100. It's well worth the cost up front to get rid of the pain.

Mendel

Also, I pop a couple tylenol/advil(whatever your poison) 20min before slopes which helps with the pain from first couple runs and then a couple 4/5 hours after that to help with the last few. Btw, thermal socks, forget brand, I have are really warm/dry/cushioned and I always wear them on outside, see if you can pick up a good pair of socks to help w/ pain.

Nito

Hey Stalker,

I have high arches also. Although I don't get tendinitis, sometimes I get cramps in my feet. If you get cramps, try this stretch before and after a day on the mountain. While barefoot, do the following hamstring stretch, get into a lunge position: forward knee at a 90 degree angle rear leg with a slight bend, knee off the ground, and toes pointed forward. Note the muscle in the arch of your feet are used to curl your toes, so stretch by moving your toes in the opposite direction.

Nito

Nito

Hey Jay,

I have both clay molded and hot molded orthotics. The clay molded are exact copies of the soles of my feet (made by a specialist and very expensive), while the hot molded are general copies (made by a tech using a machine to get the imprint). Furthermore, hot molded cost under $100 while the clay molded cost well over $100, mine cost $180. Finally, I can not tell you which to use, it all depends on the individual, I can only tell you an alternative exist.

Nito

livelyjay

I'm not looking for an alternative. My current arch supports are amazing. The initial post was just to ask everyone out there what you do to solve foot pain caused by flat feet. Last night I took the inner boot out of my boots and my arch supports fit in them pretty nicely. Then I shoved the inner boot back into the outer boot and tried them on. After a few minutes of wiggling around everything settled and it felt pretty good. They take up a lot of space though. We were going to hit the slopes this weekend but I forgot we have a vet appointment for our dog and there's a bunch of other crap going on. Next weekend we're going for sure. Until then I'm going to spend some time walking around the house in my boots, with my boarding socks on, and the arch supports in the boot to see how they feel after an hour or so.