Leg / Ankle / Foot issues

[BeauJangles]

I have flat feet, bowed legs, and slightly mis-aligned hips. I've been working very hard over the past several months to correct the first and last ones. In high school, I visited a podiatrist who built custom inerts for me. Unfortunately, those inserts didn't help much nomatter how much he corrected them. Instead of pain in my shins, I instead had unbelievable pain across my arches - so bad that I couldn't run!

Anyway, since then I've come off my parents health insurance and haven't been able to seek treatment from another podiatrist. Based on my last experience, I've also lost faith in their ability to do much.

This week I've started to get myself in shape for the summer. I ran 2.5 miles on Tuesday and 4 miles on Thursday. The 2.5 was no problem. I ran slowly because it was cold and snowing, so I had no real pain in my legs. The Thursday run was fine until the end when I had pain across the bottom of my arch (near the heel of my foot) and my right foot started to go numb.

I'm assuming the pain started because my arches (which do exist, they are just low and weak) got tired after the 4 mile pounding. Will running actually make them stronger or should I see another podiatrist? Are there any other treatments to consider?

Thanks guys!

 

[mav451]

Ehh...I have flat feet. And I definitely would NOT run through arch pain. Heck, I ran maybe a mile+ with my wrestling team friend (big mistake haha) - and after trying to keep up with him, my arches were burning. In the end I couldn't walk well until maybe the end of the following day. I have a friend in ROTC, that using some custom orthotics, is running just fine. I'm talking well enough to go through boot camp and all that.