Ankle Pain

[Velobambina]

I got my Superfeet insoles (the ones that Knotted mentioned) at Pacer's in Clarendon, where I purchased my shoes. They are the green ones and cost about $35. I, too, am an overpronator and even though my shoes are the "motion control" type, the insoles made a difference. They were worth the money. :-) Good luck!!

[aicabsolut]

Sounds like your peroneal muslces and tendons (outer calf muscles which become tendonous at the ankle and foot). One runs down the outside of the foot and attaches to the 5th metatarsal. The other runs under the arch at the back near the heel and ties in on the bottom at the inside of the foot. If they're too tight or inflamed, you might be able to see them protruding just under your outer ankle bone and maybe a little farther forward towards the 5th metatarsal.

Usually the inner ankle ligaments are the strongest (like the deltoid ligament), and it's not uncommon to have peroneal weakness. You can help it with physical therapy exercises, massage and/or ultrasound, nsaids, rest, and icing. Sounds like you could also use more medial arch support for that foot as well to keep those outer muscles from getting strained.

Kind of funny that running is doing this to you, since cycling lights mine on fire in my right leg from time to time. .

[HillSlugger]

Biking isn't bothering my ankle at all (did 24 miles today). I'm going to skip another run this week and try again on Friday.

I did the R.I.C.E therapy during the first 48 hours and am now continuing the ibuprofen.

I went to the running store and bought some green Superfeet insoles. I had a tough time deciding between green and blue. The arch support felt good in both. The deciding factor was that the blue's were thinner than the existing insoles and made the shoes feel too loose.

If I have problems again after running on Friday I guess I'll go to a sports medicine doc.

[KnottedYet]

I have lovely arches, but I also over-pronate. I found that wearing the Superfeet all the time in all my shoes made the most difference.

The nice thing about wearing them in all your shoes is that your feet/ankles strengthen themselves while wearing the insoles. And they are strengthening in proper position.

If you have a true structural dysfunction (as opposed to a muscular one) plain neutral footbeds like Superfeet won't solve all your problems. You might need "posted" footbeds or orthotics. I used to do posted footbeds for a podiatrist's patients. If the posted footbeds didn't solve the problem after 3-6 months (with PT, too) he wanted them to come back for orthotics.

("posting" is just wedges and lifts that are gummed on the back like stickers, and the PT or podiatrist sticks 'em to the underside of the Superfeet. If after a few weeks you hate them, you just peel 'em off. No harm done. $15 down the tubes, though.)

[aicabsolut]

My physiotherapist did that on top of my ancient molded gel orthotics. The original wedges were getting mashed down so she stuck some new stuff on top and tried a few other things. Much easier to change that than it is for me to deal with my completely useless pair of epoxy-like hard orthotics which can only be ground down so far and adding on is tricky.