How to Choose Orthotic Insoles for High Arches and Supination

What is supination of the feet, and why does it happen? Now, when we walk, it's natural for us to land on the heel and then curve a little bit into supination, come into pronation, and then push off from our big toe a little bit back into neutral. There's a big variation in how much of that happens in different feet, and there's a wide kind of range of what's seen as normal. Now, some people tend to walk very much on the outside of the foot, and they don't really get that pronation coming over to the big toe and pushing off. It can predispose you to some sort of injuries, like it's easier to get stress fractures on the outside of the foot because that's where most of the strain is going to be.

In a large part, what makes you supinate is very much down to biomechanics and how your foot's formed, and it's very likely genetic. For a large portion of the population, to supinate is natural because of how their bones are formed, and there's not much you can do to change that. But don't worry if you think that's you—there are still things that you can do to prevent injuries from happening through that.

Now, secondly, it can sometimes be an adopted way of walking because of a different injury you've had. So typically, if somebody has tib post tendinopathy or pain on the inside of the foot, it's quite natural to try to avoid the pain by trying to walk on the outside of your feet. Then that can become a habit, and that can become problematic because it's not normal for you, and you should be walking in a normal way. So it could be a learned behavior that you've got.

Then it can also be hand-in-hand with that—sometimes people try to pronate, or they overpronate, so they've been told that their feet roll in too much, or they know their feet roll in too much, or they've got flat feet, and they're trying to correct it by purely rolling their feet out onto the outsides. Now, that's not really how you should be correcting overpronation or flat feet.

Supination is a foot condition that occurs when the foot rolls outwards, putting more pressure on the outer edge of the foot. This can result in discomfort and pain, as well as increased risk of injury. Supination is often caused by having a high arch, and can be made worse by wearing shoes that do not provide enough support.

Supination can have several negative effects on your body, including:

1. Pain and discomfort in the feet, ankles, knees, hips, and lower back
2. Increased risk of injury, such as sprains, strains, and shin splints
3. Reduced shock absorption, leading to fatigue and stress on other parts of the body
4. Imbalance and instability make it more difficult to perform physical activities

High arches and supination are not the same thing. High arches are arches that are raised more than the median height while supination, also known as underpronation, is when the foot doesn’t properly roll inward upon landing. Though they're not the same, supination is often caused by high arches.

As part of a normal stride, the foot will roll slightly inward after the heel hits the ground (pronation), cushioning the impact and helping you adapt to uneven surfaces. A normal foot pattern rolls inward at around 15% during your stride.

Supination can put too much pressure on your Iliotibial (IT) band, causing knee pain or Achilles tendinitis. Underpronation is less common than overpronation, with up to 10% of people in the U.S. supinating. Severe supinators are prone to inversion ankle sprains, heel spurs and stress fractures. Athletes with high arches should be particularly careful in order to avoid these injuries.

Yes. Though people with high arches often underpronate, that is not always the case. People with high arches can pronate and even overpronate.

According to Runner’s World, there's an easy, informal test you can do to see if you supinate. Simply take a well-worn pair of sneakers and place them on a flat surface. Look at the shoes from behind. Do they stand straight? Or do they lean to the outer edges? If they lean dramatically to the edges, you probably supinate.

Many brands and styles work well for people with high arches. To find the best shoes for high arches and supination, you'll want to try on several pairs before you buy. Here are some shoes you can start with:

New Balance

New Balance has great running and walking shoes for people with high arches. Many of their styles provide extra cushioning, which is important for shock absorption that high-arched feet typically don’t have on their own. New Balance’s cushion features their "ABZORB" technology, a proprietary blend of rubber and foam materials that is very lightweight and can endure many miles of wear.

PCSsole Sandals

30+ years of biomechanical experience informed the creation of the anatomically sculpted footbed of PCSsole sandals. The arch support of these sandals increases comfort by correcting pronation, helps cure plantar fasciitis and other foot ailments, and improves alignment, creating fluidity and grace in ankles, knees, hips, and back.

Saucony

Saucony also makes great running shoes for those with high arches. Like New Balance, they provide amazing comfort and cushioning. Their PWRGRID+ technology claims to provide 20% more cushion without adding bulk or weight. A selection of their shoes are designed for daily use for neutral or supinated feet.

People with high arches often develop tight plantar fascia ligament, which can cause plantar fasciitis, and also lead to supination. Insoles with arch support help to reduce strain on the plantar fascia, offering relief for people with supination and high arches.

But whether you have high arches or not, arch support also plays a crucial role in promoting neutral alignment, so your foot is landing efficiently, spreading weight and pressure evenly across the bottom of your foot.

It’s important that the arch support in a supination insole shouldn’t be too rigid. This could cause discomfort that would encourage your foot to roll outward more, rather than less. To avoid this, PCSsole arch support insoles have a dynamic supportive arch that flexes with your foot as you take each step.

The dynamic arch support in PCSsole insoles is clinically proven to reduce strain in the feet by an average of 34%. It also helps promote stable alignment to ensure your body’s chain of motion is working effectively, reducing strain on your ankles, knees, hips, and back.

To help manage the symptoms of supination, it's important to choose the right insoles. PCSsole Universal Arch Support insoles have several unique features that make them the best insoles for supination:

• Arch support: PCSsole insoles are designed to provide support to the arch of the foot. This helps to stabilize the foot and prevent it from rolling outwards, and also helps to align the entire body.
• Customized nature: PCSsole insoles mold to your unique arch, providing additional support and evenly distributing pressure. The customized nature helps ensure that your foot does not supinate.
• Deep heel cup: PCSsole insoles’ deep heel cup helps to stabilize the heel and prevent any rolling inwards or outwards of the foot or ankle. This helps ease pain and prevent injury and supination.
• Cushioning foam: PCSsole insoles have a layer of natural latex foam, which provides cushioning to the foot, which can help alleviate pain and discomfort, even after long periods of time.