 I very nearly bought some superfeet insoles recently, but I had a biomechanical assessment last night by a chiropracter, and the first thing he told me was to see a podiatrist and get some custom footbeds made up.
I'm certain that I've read of a few people on here who've had orthotics made up and was wondering what they thought of it.
Superfeet would be undoubtedly cheaper, but has anyone tried both? I pay into a hospital fund, so any fees and costs are reduced by a half, so that's not so bad.
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 I had some custom ones made up, but IMO they were REALLY uncomfortable.
I think the podiatrist was a bit dodgy as all he did to take the measurements for my feet was to "draw round my feet with a bic pen as I was standing on a piece of A4 paper".
They sort of turned up about 3 weeks later and I thought the arch was way too high, and that the darned things wouldn't fit into any of my footwear...All in all I chucked them out as they were worthless. I returned to the superfeet and feel much better for it.
Obviously not all podiatrists are gonna be the same but...in my experience it was a waste of time.
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 The podi we have had recommended to us also treats the local premier league footy team and one of the rugger teams' feet.
I also had the assessment and I have a laterally pronated right foot - I've always noticed that it goes in a very wonky line on the way to my foot but I wasn't sure if it was as a result of all my serious childhood injuries...anyways, he looked at it and told me all about the knee problems I have and which cartilage was the likeliest one to have been damaged...he was spot on. A custom footbed on my right foot would really help to relieve stresses on my knee and prevent further damage allegedly.
Bob's feet are the average sort of pronation i.e. they look rather flat but are straight.
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 I had the same sort of problem as Jeannie i.e. excessive medial pronation on the right foot which used to cause a lot of pain while running in the right knee due to cartilage damage. I saw a physio who set me up with some customized Orthaheel footbeds. They were quite expensive (25 quid or so) but seem to be spot on.
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£25 is still less than a pair of superfeet mind you.
And the Podi I visited is a service one...They don't have that good a reputation, and by the sound it compared to yours Jeannie, quite justly deserved.
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£25 sounds quite cheap if they do the trick! We were expecting to pay a lot more ...not made the appointment yet...the assessment was free to gym club members but the full primary consultation is half-price too.
Alex - were you being serious about the biro and the A4 paper? Good grief. Mind you, we haven't been yet, our woman may do the same....
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Jeannie...deadly serious.
He even said I could keep the paper after the insoles were made up so I could get some more done if I ever got posted...
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I remember someone telling me once about a dubious podiatry consultation involving graph paper and felt pens. To draw round the feet of course!! I know what you people were thinking..
Shudders..
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Mine wasn't graph paper...The guy got it out of his printer!
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 mums the one to ask...she had a problem with ski-boots..cant remeber if she had foot beds or not tho...
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 Had some orhtotics supplied and customised by a podiatrist, he molded them to my feet and tweeked the shape after I'd tried them for a couple of weeks. Good results, and he's always been very helpful.
HTH
Si(C)
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 Bob, one of my climbing partners has orthotics. He was told that to get the maximum benefit from them, you need to wear them in all your shoes, which may mean getting more than one pair. He paid around £80 a pair for his, plus extra for the consultation.
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 Joan's right, my ex-partner had a set of orthotics made up by Man U's sports podiatrist which solved a chronic knee problem, but she did need to wear them all the time. They also take a while to get used to as your joints re-align and as someone else points out, they are quite hard and can feel uncomfortable to start off with. Costs for permanent othotics can run into three figures.
There's a guy in Settle who advertises in Trail and, I think, some of the other outdoor magazines. He specialises in walkers and runners and made some ortthotics up for Maria to help with an ongoing pronation problem.
As I understand it, Superfeet are basically very simply orthotics and may help if you have minor alignment problems, but if it's any more than that, tailored orthotics are the way to go.
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I wear mine at all times (unless I'm not wearing shoes, obviously) they cost around the £80 mark as I recall. Only use the one pair, they're plastic so don't need drying out or anything. Its a bit of a pain to start with, but you get used to it pretty quickly.
Si(C)
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As our local recommended podiatrist is away on holiday for a few more weeks, I got some superfeet at Rock and Run on Saturday. I put them straight in for a two day backpack, and at the end of it, my arches felt like they'd been rubbed with sandpaper! Guess my feet need to get used to an excess pressure there, but not as much ankle starin as i sometimes get.
It's a complicated week, this one, as we're heading back to the lakes tomorrow for two days, coming home, then returning to the lakes on Friday afternoon for another backpack. I hope the tender spots calm down.
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Keep with them Bob...Obviously your arches aren't used to that amount of support.
I find them brill and have been a remarkable improvement for me.
Before I wore them I got a pain which ran from my arch down into the heel of my right foot after only about 1.5 miles...Very happily did almost ten times than distance without any problems now.
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 Hi,i had two pairs of orthotics made by my
NHS podiatrist one pair are a tree quarter
medium density nylon material the others
are EVA and full length both are fine and
do the job they are built to do and where
free under my local health authority.Beware
of laminated orthotics ie phil orin as these
de- laminate quite quickly even under normal use.Custom made foot beds are the best for long established foot,leg,knee problems in my experience.
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