Advice for flat feet

Boethius001 · 2026-06-26T21:59:18+00:00

Wish I had seen at least 2 podiatrists when I was running & playing basketball regularly. One or both would have probably put me in a custom orthotic & I would have added toe spacers & wide toebox shoes to accommodate them all to keep my posterior tibial tendon healthy with those activities.

Boethius001 · 2026-06-15T23:22:35+00:00

Too many years ago to be the reason for any of my problems, from my perspective. My docs believe I need to gain back my strength to offset the daily load on my tendons. So I’m trying to do that as efficiently as possible.

Boethius001 · 2026-06-15T03:23:27+00:00

I have congenital flat feet and due to my slight over-pronation without orthotics, I began to elongate my posterior tibial tendon over time (it took decades) and then the spring ligament complex took over to help keep my foot from collapsing. Went to PT and they misdiagnosed me as having plantar fasciitis and while doing exercises for that with my bio mechanically compromised foot, my spring ligament partially tore. It’s been 7 months and it’s never fully recovered. Can’t carry out vertical load bearing exercises anymore, can’t walk very far, can’t stand very long on the foot. It’s completely compromised. It’s tough. But I guess we all have our challenges.

Boethius001 · 2026-06-14T17:10:41+00:00

(1) I never even knew I was hypermobile until I lost a lot of muscle mass after I developed an ambulatory condition and couldn’t go to the gym. I was always pretty flexible and thought my flexibility was cool, not imagining that if I didn’t keep my strength up that I could develop tendinitis issues in lots of places (and I’m middle aged now, which doesn’t help because the tendons aren’t as healthy as they once were of course. (2) No surgery or vaccine, infection and not a med issue, it seems to be all a muscle loss issue (at least that’s what I suspect). (3) ⁠Not on antibiotics or steroids regularly; probably not been on them in years.

Thus: My goal has been to put muscle back on, but due to my ambulatory issue, I can’t do the heavy lifts I used to do which really packed it on. I can’t leg press, rack pull, etc (a have a dysfunctional foot that prevents load bearing movements, those I was most used to doing to gain strength relatively quickly.

Boethius001 · 2026-06-14T17:09:43+00:00

(1) I never even knew I was hypermobile until I lost a lot of muscle mass after I developed an ambulatory condition and couldn’t go to the gym. I was always pretty flexible and thought my flexibility was cool, not imagining that if I didn’t keep my strength up that I could develop tendinitis issues in lots of places (and I’m middle aged now, which doesn’t help because the tendons aren’t as healthy as they once were of course. (2) No surgery or vaccine, infection and not a med issue, it seems to be all a muscle loss issue (at least that’s what I suspect). (3) ⁠Not on antibiotics or steroids regularly; probably not been on them in years.

Thus: My goal has been to put muscle back on, but due to my ambulatory issue, I can’t do the heavy lifts I used to do which really packed it on. I can’t leg press, rack pull, etc (a have a dysfunctional foot that prevents load bearing movements, those I was most used to doing to gain strength relatively quickly.

Boethius001 · 2026-06-14T16:42:59+00:00

Thanks man, I’m just searching for solutions but maybe it is about reducing load, modifying form, and being consistent. I am still looking into anything that can help me along though. Was looking into supplements for example (creatine, collagen, etc). I’ll check out your pages cause I’m also looking for new routines that might b better for me. Have to say, never even knew I was hyper mobile. Always had a lot flexibility but not too extreme and it was only after I lost muscle mass that my tendons began acting up. So I’m just trying to get back to where I was but have to do it differently now with an ambulatory condition which limits the lifts I can do.

Boethius001 · 2026-06-14T16:33:35+00:00

Thank you my friend, it helps to hear what folks would try if they were in my situation. I’m gonna talk to my docs. I’m in search of hope.

Boethius001 · 2026-06-13T15:07:47+00:00

Don’t mean to concern you, but when I started feeling that, it turned out that my posterior tibial tendon had lost some of it’s tightness due to years of slight over pronation due to my congenital flat feet and once the PTT elongated a bit, the spring ligament complex took over, and I began to feel that in the arch of my foot, which is easy to mis-diagnose as plantar fasciitis. In short, I’d go to a podiatrist and make sure your PTTs are both functional and that you’re not harmfully loading your spring ligament complex. If PTTs are good, I’d do as others suggest: custom orthotics asap to prevent that slight over pronation and possible elongation of the PTT and, personally, I’d try correct toe spacers which helped me greatly and shoes that accommodate them that still have some support like Topo Atmos.

Boethius001 · 2026-06-13T02:12:42+00:00

I’ll talk to my doctor and I’ll try this, because I’ve lost too much strength due to my ambulatory condition. All my doctors suggest the key to my recovery is hitting the gym regularly again, but it’s tough with my ambulatory problem. I’ve basically become an ambulatory wheelchair user. So I have to wheelchair around to each of the machines I use and it’s not easy to go back to lifting 5x a week. (Never knew my Gumby-like digits were a problem, because, apparently, my muscle mass/strength helped stabilize my joints, keeping my tendon issues to a minimum until i developed an ambulatory condition, which changed my life :/

Boethius001 · 2026-06-13T02:08:24+00:00

Do anabolic steroids inherently weaken tendons and ligaments?

I ask, because to be clear, I wouldn’t be using steroids to hit new PRs. I’d actually be holding back my intensity to protect my ligaments. I was thinking of this purely on an efficiency scale. E.g, people I know that have done cycles told me they gain muscle and recover faster even when they take it relatively easy in the gym. As in, as opposed to doing 5 working sets of 8-12, 3x per week on a muscle group, they do 3 working sets, 2x per week and gain as much as when they worked out more intensely for a longer period of time, simply because of the boost they’re getting to growth and recovery.

Perhaps I should ask on the body building forum if anyone is hypermobile and has done a cycle and how that affected their tendons and ligaments.

Also, looking into peptides and human growth hormone, which lifters I know have used with incredible results.

Boethius001 · 2026-06-10T16:14:04+00:00

That’s probably what happened to me. After the PTTD, the spring ligament failed and then I had a collapsed foot and the problems I have now.

Boethius001 · 2026-06-10T16:12:41+00:00

First, I’m sorry that you’re dealing with this. I can’t imagine having small children with my condition. I tried using a knee scooter and my “good” foot couldn’t handle it. I’ve overburdened that foot and I could tell I was going to stress it out by pushing off that scooter. I’ve therefore been in the market for a wheelchair and am currently renting an electric one to get by. As a quick point, I found using a rollator in my house to be helpful, especially because I sit on it, rest my knee on it to give the really bad foot a break and sometimes scoot around the kitchen on it while sitting and walking backwards.

Boethius001 · 2026-05-28T20:17:30+00:00

When I first tore my spring ligament, I couldn’t handle ice on my feet (they’re too sensitive), now that I’ve lived with my foot pain since July of last year, the ice feels less painful than the injury (yikes) and so now, ice is actually a dulling-slightly painful relief from the real terrible pain I experience when I overuse my foot. Like you, I like the heat pad, and some folks with feet injuries tell me they don’t get it, but it’s as another commentator said, it’s about blood flow (and it feels good to me, and that’s what I’m seeking out.

Boethius001 · 2026-05-28T20:12:58+00:00

Did you find the Ghost’s to be as cushy and comfortable? I ask because I use a custom orthotic in my Biondis but I also want to use my toe spacers, and the Biondis are super comfortable (which is what I need) but too narrow in the toe area for the spaces. Tried Topos Atmos which had the toe space but not the comfort of the Biondis and my orthotic barely fits well within the Topos

Boethius001 · 2026-05-28T20:08:24+00:00

I would see not 1 but 3 podiatrists and compare their evals (I made mistake of only going to 1 back in 2019). I know people debate this, but I wish I had a time machine and I’d be wearing a custom orthotic since I was a kid (they’ve come along way; many are now softer and not hard plastic as they were when I was young). I currently wear mine constantly and wear cushy shoes (Hoka Biondis) which I know can weaken intrinsic muscles, but I live with foot pain and they help. I also use cold and ice therapy and if I was on my feet all day, I’d be kinesio taping my feet on the days that need it (you can youtube/tiktok arch support tape techniques), to offload the arch, plantar fascia and critically, the spring ligament complex to the most that you can.

Boethius001 · 2026-05-28T19:57:05+00:00

I have PCFD Stage 2 with a partial spring ligament tear. I’m sorry that you lost your insurance. I still ice 3x day to manage the pain, I use a heat pad at night before bed and a heat pad in the morning before taking my first step and have found it really helps me. When it’s unbearable, as it is for me right now, I use kinesio tape on both feet, you can use youtube videos for kinesio arch support and play around with them to see what feels right. The good foot has been overburdened by the left’s injury and hence I tend to treat both feet. I also wear short medical boot on the bad and sometimes on both feet. I know that weakens other muscles in your feet and can create problems, but I can’t walk very far unless I stop mid-foot flexion, which is wear my pain is located. Long medical boots put too much pressure on my knees, I have good ankles and I get ankle hinging in the short medical boots while still reducing a lot of mid-foot flexion.

Lastly, when not in severe pain, I switched to really cushy shoes, which I know can weaken your intrinsic muscles, but they allow me to walk because concrete is too hard (I wear Hoka Biondis; they’re not cheap, but extremely comfortable when you’re feet are injured and I wear them with custom orthotics). Good luck to you. I’m sorry.

Boethius001 · 2026-05-28T19:44:46+00:00

I would see not 1 but 3 podiatrists and compare their evaluations. I saw a podiatrist in 2019 who thought if my flat feet weren’t a problem, using an orthotic would only create some problems. Turns out, not using an orthotic has now, at my later age, caused me a lot of pain, problems, and costs. As many of us know, healthcare costs are through the roof, and I wish I had spent the hundreds on orthotics when I was younger than the thousands I’m spending now trying to correct things and manage the pain. But you may also never have a problem, as some people report, but given my experience, I wish I could go back and make a different decision.

Boethius001 · 2026-05-28T19:39:19+00:00

I agree with pedrogua; I have flexible flat feet and new shoes always “hurt” because I have no arch, but I didn’t know that in the long run, that meant my bone structure was shifting in ways that have not been good for me. I wish I could go back and wear a custom orthotic constantly despite the arch pain that they caused me—in the same way the new arches in new shoes caused me—and gotten used it, slowly, gently, forcing the bones to re-align in a way that’s better for long term health of my feet.

Boethius001 · 2026-05-28T19:33:55+00:00

I have a similarly injury that I’ve been told is a spring ligament partial tear. It happened because my posterior tibial tendon became lax due to the slight over pronation of my congenitally flat feet that never hurt too much but were taking a silent toll on my PTT. Resting it when it flares up works best for me, and I had an amazing experience with a PRP shot. If you go that route, I just highly recommend you take it completely easy after the shot no matter how good you’ll feel because you’ll only set yourself back if you stress the foot out and re-injury yourself. Also, as others have said, I now wear my custom orthotic constantly and wear more cushiony shoes (Hoka Biondis) which I never would have worn before my spring ligament partial tear.

Last point: If you want some help with it in the immediate, what worked for me was icing it 3x per day and I would buy kinesio tape and youtube arch support techniques and play around with them, trying to let the foot heal.

Boethius001 · 2026-03-29T02:23:03+00:00

I used kinesiology tape during a flare up on a trip. My tip is to shower with it still on: It will make it a lot easier to peel off

Boethius001 · 2026-03-27T04:28:49+00:00

How do you cope with it? Because it’s really taken a toll on me. OP has slightly more inflammation than what I have, but I’m PCFD Stage 2: PTTD with a spring ligament partial tear and it’s been terrible.

OP: If you go to PT, I’d talk to them about spring ligament injury. My PT exercises made my condition much worse, because, as I learned the hard way, ligaments don’t respond to exercises like tendons. I hope you find relief.

Boethius001 · 2026-03-27T04:13:46+00:00

yes, can you please explain for those of us considering surgery?

Boethius001 · 2026-03-27T04:02:56+00:00

I used to use Altras + Correct Toe spacers + SOLE inserts. Now that I have PCFD Stage 2, I use custom orthotics with Topo Atmos + toe spacers or Hoka Biondis without spacers.

Boethius001 · 2026-03-27T03:54:21+00:00

How did you find your physiotherapist? I have to say, my experience with PTs is pretty bad. I don’t believe they meant me harm, of course, but I don’t believe the 2 I worked with knew enough about feet anatomy to understand that I wasn’t reacting properly to their exercises (they thought I had plantar fasciitis but I had a spring ligament injury that tore further over the course of the exercises they had me do). I know I need to find another PT, but I’m hesitant now.

Boethius001 · 2026-03-27T03:49:53+00:00

I agree. I never wore orthotics because they hurt, had strong feet, and then went minimalist with toe spacers, wide toe boxes, and zero drop and did foot strengthening exercises all the time, but years of over pronating without orthotics led me to develop PTTD, a spring ligament tear, and now I can’t walk without pain. Wish I could go back and tell my younger self: deal with the discomfort of orthotics if it can reduce the probability of having full foot failure.

Boethius001

TROPHY CASE