Collapsed Arches - a story

The flat footed thread has prompted me to post this. I feel a new thread is justified as it may change a mind or two and help someone.

I have very flat feet. I have collapsed arches from (probably) playing cricket on concrete pitches and weighing 115-143KG during that time (getting heavier as I get fitter and play more sport - I am a big boy), which led to pretty severe shin splints. Before I went to a physio, I would just ignore the pain and keep bowling on a concrete pitch twice or three times a week. I would find it harder and harder to bowl a proper action (my hips would be open but my shoulders would stay in line with the batter which I knew could lead to back problems) and I would spray nuts everywhere. Finally I decided it was just too detrimental to my technique and went to a physiotherapist.
The physio told me there is a muscle somewhat parallel to the inside of the shin (and that was also getting very sore) and I was informed that if the status quo was preserved, it'd probably start to die. It is sheathed and apparently blood clogs in there under these conditions, which would starve it of oxygen.

I started strapping my foot to lift the arch, but the strapping just tore after 10 minutes, unless I double strapped. Then that just meant there wasn't enough give in the tape and my foot would go blue-ish. The physio gave me two options, start excercising some specific muscles in my leg OR go and pay several hundred dollars for inserts from a podiatrist before I HAD to do both. I started excercising my legs with a view to also getting the inserts.

About 6 months ago, I decided to try badminton again as I had played briefly as a youngster, and I gave cricket away. It's a shame because it was good fun, even if my bowling ability was never fully realised. What I found was that years of cricket had given me good straight line speed, but my agility was virtually non-existent. I beleive it was because my weight seemed to move onto my heels. I made a point of using the balls of my feet even if my feet protested all night (to a point - sometimes I just had to stop), and doing those excercises. Now I have some agility back, and I get much lesser shin splints or no shin splints at all playing badminton now, whereas I did have trouble when I started. The courts are rubberised, so I probably would still have problems if that wasn't the case.
The thing is, I played tennis on concrete and asphalt courts for several years with only a minor knee complaint. It wasn't until I played cricket for a year that this started. My weight crashing down onto my foot (which is essentially assisting the transferring of kinetic energy from my moving body to the ball) during a delivery on a concrete pitch, seems to have caused this.

I also seem to put more weight on the front area of my feet than behind now, and it feels less un-natural to do so deliberately. I no longer get shin splints from a regular day's pretty mundane activities, so I can put off the inserts a bit longer. My feet also don't feel as sore as they used to after 3 1/2 hours of badminton, if at all. The symptoms are eased, but the cause is still waiting there and I have to be careful or I will be in a wheelchair at age 50. I need to keep my legs and feet strong to compensate, and at some stage I will have to fork out for inserts as I may not always be playing on rubberised courts.

So if you get severe shin splints - go see someone! Don't do what I did and ignore it for as long as I did (a couple of years). If a muscle can die from it, then it is obviously serious - much more serious than I gave it credit for!

Russki Bear

 

Yeah, my sister and her fellah are distance runners and they both get shin splints as well. Their coach regularly tells them to take a week or two off to rest because of it. She's starting netball to keep fit while running a bit less.

That's something no one has mentioned to me, using stairs like that. I might try it out. Thanks!