In the past year, I have been visiting the physiotherapist regularly because of back and shoulder problems. During these visits, some adjustments were made and then I went home again. When you spend 40 hours sitting at a desk, it is logical to think that this is the cause of the problems. But once I was referred to a Mensendieck therapist, they looked more closely at the cause of the symptoms, such as my posture. It then turned out that there was a completely different cause for my symptoms.
A length difference between my left and right leg
My left leg is shorter than my right leg. Now everyone has a small difference in length, but in my case the difference is so big that I compensate for it in my hips, back and shoulders, which is why I am slowly growing a little crooked. Off to the podiatrist for orthotics! There too, it turned out that my left leg is indeed 1 to 2 centimetres shorter. I also stand with my ankles inwards and this does not contribute to a good posture. After everything had been measured, I had to wait two weeks and then I could come back and collect my orthotics.
Orthotics? That must have hurt!
When I was told I needed orthotics, my first reaction was: “Yes, bye. Then I’ll never be able to wear my Nike shoes again!” My idea of orthotics was a bit old-fashioned. Nowadays, orthotics can be worn in (almost) any shoe and they look really cool too. However, there are many warnings about the first few weeks. It varies from person to person whether you will experience pain in your feet when wearing orthotics or whether you will get used to them in no time.
In my case, it all went quite smoothly. It did feel strange when I put my shoes on in the morning, but ten minutes later I was already used to them. Thankfully, I only had one or two days when I was really happy to be able to take my shoes off at the end of the day. So it does indeed vary from person to person, as I have heard enough horror stories from other people about the first few weeks with orthotics. I don’t know if I will be able to walk a whole day on them, because that doesn’t happen a lot, but we will find out soon enough during our holiday in Lisbon! 😉
Does it also give results?
Yes, right away! In the pictures below, you can see the difference in my posture with and without orthotics. When I saw the pictures, I could not believe the difference. Without orthotics, you can see that it goes wrong from my hips up. I then try to compensate for that position with my shoulders, which (unconsciously) causes me to stand crooked. With orthotics, this is all solved. Just by one extra centimetre!
Running with orthotics
In theory, I can also use my orthotics in my running shoes. However, it is recommended that you wait a little longer in the first few weeks. But because everything was going very well with the new orthotics, my stubborn self came out and I started running very ambitiously last week with the orthotics. The first two kilometres went quite well, but after that it felt like my left foot was on fire. Brrrr! What a horrible feeling that was! In the end, I let it cool off a bit in a foot bath with ice cubes and a blister plaster did its job! Note to self: don’t be so stubborn and start running with orthotics after a week and a half! 😉