The TRUTH About Arch Support!

MOST people do NOT need arch support. Here's why.

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#archsupport

[pattyb]

Engineer here: The anology doesn't play out, the structure of the arch in the foot is not the same as an building.

[VH-ewoq]

-This video is a great example of "dangerous over-simplification".-

This comment is neither helpful nor from a position of education on the subject and I can't believe it has almost 3 thousand likes. I am making this edit to this comment nearly a year later. You'll need to educate yourself on these matter and this guys channel is good place to start.

[dorrionarmand]

Arch support isnt meant to support the arch. Its to hold the foot up when the talus pronates past normal range of motion. (Overpronation). If the talus is failing then the arch cant do its job properly hence the need for support.

Using the same bridge analogy, the arched bridge also has a maximum load capacity before it fails. Likewise so does your arch. So when your talus is causing excess load on your arch due to it extending past normal range of motion you get pain from not only the joints but all the stabilizing soft tissue that connects to it.

The reason most people feel better in Barefoot Shoes like the ones desribed in this video is because the hard floor stops the talus at a certain point. Hypothetically, lets say in your cushioned shoes your talus overpronates to 20 degrees but being barefoot on the floor your talus only overpronates to 17 degrees. Why the big difference? Because soft cushion allows more give until the talus can stop moving vs a hard-floor that stops the talus at a very specific point and doesn't let it go further.

Conclusion: Barefoot shoes can help mild to moderate cases of Talus/ Arch induced pain. Severe cases may need to first wear supportive shoes until the pain is lessened and then think about transitioning into barefoot shoes.

[bremCZ]

If you have a flat foot then your foot is a beam bridge.

[mmm-cstb]

I make orthotics as a podiatrist and the sub talar joint which controls the medial longitudinal arch is a tri plantar joint that moves dynamically in gait three different ways, it’s not a static bridge. Also orthotics don’t just hold up an arch, at the calcaneus and midtarsal region we do modifications so that your heel strikes inverted to the degree best for gait, whilst your midtarsal joint stays locked, and your sub talar joint can pronate at the appropriate time in the gait cycle and supinate too. Feet are meant to flatten a bit, become more flexible and also harden up as a rigid lever where in which the arch height increases. Both movements are needed in gait at the appropriate times. Inefficient gait can usually be seen in flat footed people with a delay in supination or no supination at all. It’s much more complicated of a structure than you’re giving credit to. Additionally a lot of people are hyper mobile with ligaments laxity and develop muscular fatigue with overworking intrinsic foot muscles. Eventually They can develop bones growing in tendons (os naviculare for example to Gain tendon strength in pull) or tendinitis of tib post, tib post dysfunction, plantar fasciitis etc. barefoot shoes are NOT for everyone. That being said I like barefoot shoes shape to prevent hallux abducto valgus but a lack of support is not great in my opinion for most. Also your foot has a foot core that involves two tendons crossing under the foot and the muscular activation of these two in gait pulling both together at the right time is another big factor in the arch. To improve mind muscle activation of intrinsic foot muscles and extrinsic muscles barefoot walking on sand and uneven surfaces is great as well as certain exercises but without that a barefoot shoe and delayed or incorrect sequencing in muscle activation can create problems for many people

[Aixmad]

Please don’t listen to any advice in a 1 minute video. Even if its a good advice you should learn it with full context.

[joeblowgoes]

Some critique about the arch comparison from an engineer:
A top Loaded force s distributed throughout, and ultimately supported at the ends but theres still internal stresses throughout the arch thats not even. Due to the geometry and direction of the load (which would be variable and dynamic to some 90 degrees) on the arch, you'd have more stress from compression or shearing on different parts.

So the simplest way to make a structural member stronger is to make it thicker, so an arch support essentially add more material thats weaker than your bones, but strong enough to take some weight from your arch.

Also the stress and deformation comparison between a solid steel member, brick and mortar, and bone supported by muscles and tendons.

But I have found lifting with a flat shoe gives me better balance. I'm also flat footed on one foot, with some kind of constructed arch on a deformed foot that was injured in childhood so my anecdotal evidence is not representative of the general population.

[sya]

If you have plantar fasciitis, please listen to a foot doctor. I re-injured my foot with this logic. Did I have to wear arch support forever? No, but if you need it, wear it.

[christiangrant]

I'm gonna go with the advice of my actual foot doctor thank you very much

[idontthinkso]

This is kinda misleading because there’s people who actually have real foot problems so telling them to just wear better shoes or no shoes at all might make the situation worse.

[mannymm]

I got a better idea… don’t compare a human foot to a bridge

[jaeyd]

Orthopedic technician here, this may come as a surprise, but the foots arch is not made of bricks, but of bone, muscle and ligament structures. In passive correction insoles, this is exactly how the Medial arch is supported. In active correction insoles there is a much higher, harder and more concentrated support element because it works by loading or unloading tendons, which is registered by the body, which then adjusts the muscle tension to reach its "baselines" tension again, actively correctly the foots posture

[banksnicholson]

Well, I’ve had a foot doctor ever since I was about 11 because my feet are so flat they roll inward. I started getting knee, foot, and back pain that was terrible in 5th grade. Not very fun. Now for about the last decade I’ve been using custom molded inserts that are made for my feel not just shit bought off the shelves. Let me say, yes they absolutely do work and save me an unbelievable amount of pain. The ones on store shelves may not be very good, but if you’re paying 350 a pair for custom ones yeah they work out pretty damn fine.

[totalphantasm]

As an engineer, pushing in from the sides is the SECOND best way to support an arch.
The BEST WAY is to fill in all of the space beneath the arch with an appropriate material so the arch doesn’t have to do anything. Ya know, arch support.

[rumpeltyltskyn]

I’ve seen like three of these videos now and now I’m CERTAIN this guy is just selling a specific brand of shoes.

[procraft]

The problem is that regular shoes force our toes together, especially the big toe is forced inward and this will put the ligaments in their most extended position, always. The ligaments that connect from our toes (especially the big toe) are none flexible, this is the reason for heel spurs to form, the skeleton literally grows to shorten the length the ligament travels. If you'd look at people that never wore shoes you'd see that the toes naturally are stretched super wide, like "wow is that really how untouched feet look?". When we ruin the foot mechanism by using small toe boxes the arch collapses and our feet hit the ground with an inwards angle and the forces travel upwards to our knees which absorbs every step in an inwards angle and the result is that 80% of old people got joint problems. Having a bridge support will correct the angle of how the foot hits the ground, although those plastic hollow ones are pretty weak, they don't support a lot of weight. But a bridge support won't fix the problem neither, fixing the problem requires using the foot normally, being barefoot or in barefoot shoes but that's not always an option and requires quite a lot of determination as well. So bridge supports do work, but they don't fix the problem.

[fortyozfreedom]

Idk, at work i have to stand most of the time and my feet would hurt bad. arch support actually worked for me. I didnt have a problem standing in boots all day after switching out to an arch support insole

[alfredwindslow]

The reason you don’t support the arch at the middle is because that would defeat the entire point of the arch in the first place lol (to create an opening underneath). Plus some arches do get supported in the middle

[infra_rd]

Any doctor or therapist will tell you that “bracing” will weaken muscles over time and is highly situational; ex. Post surgical bracing, deloading* braces post sprain injury, etc. it’s a short term strategy. If you’ve been wearing “normal” shoes your whole life, then you’ve been bracing your foot for possibly DECADES. All of the muscles in your foot will be ridiculously weak in that case. You will need to start from the ground up with intrinsic and extrinsic muscle strengthening of the foot and ankle; flexor hallucis longus, abductor hallicus, tibialis posterior/anterior, and soleus. Toe spreaders can help with mobility, also, if your foot is rigid. Quit looking for a quick fix and get into a longer term solution that will provide great benefits for your feet, ankles, knees, hips, and lower back.

Edit: Autocorrect correction of reloading to deloading

[Big_Serb]

I got wide feet, and tbh nike af1's are one of the most comfortable shoes ive ever had. Usually i wore flat sneakers (because wide feet and weight), but the af1 was a whole different experience.

Not all nike shoes are crap