Fighting with pain in the arch

[wisnier 7]

I recently bought some new Supreme 180's EE size. I tried them and they were great. No pressure, no pain, snug fit. Until first game....

In all skates I have the same problem - pain in the arch area on the outside side of my feet. In some skates it's beeter, in some worse. The pain is not from the bottom of arch but from above. It increases during the game and my feet hurts basicly when I put some pressure above outside side of my middle part of feet.

Has anyone had the same problem and solved it somehow? I would like to avoid buying new skates - those are new and expensive. Also all skates fit me great until i skate on them - which can't be made during the fittign process in LHS. I've visited my doctor and he said I have normally anatomical feet, no flatness or other problems.

[Vet88 673]

Hmm, what you are describing is often associated with pronation. You feet fold inwards slightly and this causes them to roll inwards, as they roll inwards the outside of the foot is forced up into the top of the boot and this is where the pain comes from. The problem does not show at fitting, only once you start to skate does it start to hurt.

Do your shoes wear evenly across the back of the heel? I'm not knocking your doctor but foot mechanic issues are often best left to someone skilled in the appropriate orthopaedic field.

[wisnier 7]

Thank You for Your support! Exactly that's what i thought that this could be problem with pronation. I think I will change my doctor for more skilled one.

Nice point with the wearing the shoes. They wear fastly at the heel from the inside. I threw out my shoes after a year since they wear soe much that i have holes on the heals.

Should I use some specific insoles for this?

[SirJW 207]

Best bet is to go to a pro to be fitted.

Podiatrist is first choice.

Good running store, skate shop or camping shop are other choices to get best fit.

Also don't tie your skates too tight at that point I sometimes curl my toes when I crank down at that point so there is a little less pressure when you flatten your foot back.

[MikeBoyarchuk 45]

I'm going to chime in here but not from any medical point of view. I had the same kind of pain your describing and my heals on my running shoes wear in the same pattern yours seem too [not as quickly though]. You may be interested in looking at the CCM Skate insoles; they have different grades of arch support and a neat way of finding the one you need in store.

It may be worth trying at $40-$60 before you invest in an orthopedic pair.

[Vet88 673]

A orthopedic insole is sometimes not the best choice, it depends on the volume you have in the skate. They are often quite thick and this can force the heel out of the pocket which leads to other issues. You should look for something that is made specifically for ice skates, superfeet or ccm or graf sidas footbeds are the ones I would consider first. This combined with a shim in your skate (placed between the holder and the boot) is one of the most common ways to address foot alignment issues.

[wisnier 7]

Well I made small mistake writing about wearing my shoes on the heel. They are wearing on the outside part not on the inside as I stated before. Also wearing is notices on the inside of the forefoot under the big toe.

Problem is that I live in Poland and we have 3 on-line shop with hockey stuff for whole country and none has CCM's insoles. Maybe I will look for yellow Superfeet but this would also be a challenge.

[Vet88 673]

Outside wear on the heel is pronation and by your description of how fast you wear through the heel yours is reasonably excessive. Sadly there is no cheap or easy fix that I have found, it is often a combination of things that gradually address the issue - insoles, shims, blade alignment, time on ice.

I know you have new skates but you might want to consider selling them and looking for some graf skates, the ones that have the holder attached by screws. Ideally you need to check the pair first to make sure the holder is not aligned outside the center line (graf quallity control isn't that great), then you can move the holder inwards by removing it, filing away at the mounting holes and then screwing the holder back on. I did this and it helped immensely, pm me if you want any further info about doing this. And here is a good article that explains pronation in ice skates, figure skaters have dealt with this for years:

http://www.ladyinredcreations.com/Ankles_Down.htm

[wisnier 7]

I saw the videos about shimming the skates. If I'm stubborn enough I can replace the rivets in my Supremes and allign the blade.

Problem is that as I mentioned I live in Poland. I searched on line and Superfeet and Sidas insoles are not available in my country. I can order CCM's insoles from Czech Republic but which size should I use? Is high redomended for pronantion or I should go with medium ones?

If that does not gonna help then next season I'm gonna buy some Grafs. I would have to travel to Czech Republic for that but... i have no other choice :(

[SirJW 207]

Go to a camping or running shop if you can find one. Bring your skates. Hopefully a knowledgeable fitter will be able to help you find insoles that will help.

[tenfour 1]

This might be stupid but are you tighting your laces hard? I used to have the same issues until I let go of the tight laces. Basically I just gently pull the laces in all holes except the 2 most upper, these I tight like a rock.

[wisnier 7]

I tried all different laces and possible ways of tighting them. It is problem Im struggling through many years in all different skates models and widhts. Its foot problem for sure. I have a good foot clinic on scope and Im planning to visit it and come back with results.

[wisnier 7]

Ok so after few weeks I finally had some time to go to specialist since I couldnt find Superfeet in Poland.

I had my feet measured in all different ways and i have problems with support and my foot is rolling outwards when walking. This is what caused pain in the outside of arch.

They will make me some orthoics. Costs 50% more than Yellow Sulerfeet but I think that custom insoles will be better than store ones. Im picking them up on 15th so I will post result after first skating.

[GreatestAmericanBeardo 258]

Ok so after few weeks I finally had some time to go to specialist since I couldnt find Superfeet in Poland.

I had my feet measured in all different ways and i have problems with support and my foot is rolling outwards when walking. This is what caused pain in the outside of arch.

They will make me some orthoics. Costs 50% more than Yellow Sulerfeet but I think that custom insoles will be better than store ones. Im picking them up on 15th so I will post result after first skating.

Are that making you orthotics for JUST walking too? (I would suggest it) I have been using orthotics in my everyday shoes for the past year. and my feet are thanking me for it. My Hamstrings were SO tight it pulled the bone out and created a Spur on the back of each ankle, so thats no fun. My arch was very low as well, so the added support in the plantar fascia was a godsend. iwas going to look into superfeet for my skates as well. (I'm only back on the ice for 4 months now, after a 22 year "break") i don't get the pain from the skates, but i can tell the support is not there, and i feel it the next day. maybe i'll talk to my Doc and see if theres something that can do for my skates. (I'm sure they will do what ever i ask but will be a pretty penny in the end) ...maybe i'll go with the $50 superfeet first ;)

good luck, and let us know how you do after the 15th!

[wisnier 7]

First I want to check how will the sport one fit. I can always go and make everyday ones in a moment using data from todays visit.

I dont get any pain and problems with normal walking. Only when skating.

Also there is a price issue - one for skates will cost me about 87 USD and additional for walking would be 50 USD extra. A lot to spend in short time for me.

[GreatestAmericanBeardo 258]

yeah they can get spendy. mine were upwards of 400 USD. and insurance did NOT cover it. :/ so i feel your pain. (in the wallet AND feet)

[wisnier 7]

So I picked them up last Friday, so a bit sooner then 15th. First impression - these doesn't look like they're worth the money.

First few minutes on ice and I've started to feel a little pain, but not so much as always - good sign. So they took some volume from the skates and I had to loosen up the laces a bit. Now better. My skating improved, I can feel the ice much better, my turns are harder, it's just better. My stance is better and my feets are stanced properly on the outsole. After 10 minutes pain went away but the final check was after practice. Normaly pain was getting away during skating but after taking of the skates, bones starts move to their original posistion and blood starts to flow and this is the moment of a MASSIVE pain, when I can't even stand on them. After using orthoics - no pain when taking of the skates. SUPERB feeling.

Yesterday I had first game in them - again a bit of pain at the beginning but also a little pain after the game when taking them off. It's because I've thightened the laces to much. Next time I'll have to loosen them up a bit just like on the first practice.

In summary I'm very satisfied. Even if I feel a bit of pain still, it's nowhere near when using skates without them. Also doctor said that my feet needs to get some time with orthoics before reaching final result so I'm giving them some more time. Hope it will get even better.

Mostly I'm suprised of how much the feel of ice improved. It's like I'm skating on some different skates which are glued to my feet. Now I need to find some perfect lacing system and maybe rebake them since my foot moved up a bit.

I totaly recomend to everyone to get some examination and but at lest Superfeet if not orthoics. It's a shame that we buy 500USD skates with some shitty insoles.

[GreatestAmericanBeardo 258]

Also doctor said that my feet needs to get some time with orthoics before reaching final result so I'm giving them some more time. Hope it will get even better.

my Doc told me to use my every day Orthotics for an hour the first day, then two hours the second and so on until my foot adjusted to them. i'm sure it will take some time to get your feet back into shape