Insoles for heel pain.

I have posted this same note on another forum. I thought I would also post it here in the possibility that someone might benefit.

I tend to suffer from plantar fasciitis and have experimented with a variety of different insoles for relief from the heel pain. I recently purchased a pair of New Balance IPR-3030 insoles and, for me, they provide more relief than any other insole I have tried. I won't claim that they will help everyone but they did work for me.

They don't provide the pronounced arch support as do a lot of other proprietary insoles. For me that is good since I have a fairly normal arch and want to keep it strong if possible. But they have a layer of "memory" foam on the top that really helps to distribute walking and jogging impact over much more of your foot than is the case with the harder insoles.

As I noted above, these may not be the ticket for everyone but they sure worked for me. If you are having chronic heel pain, as I did, they might be worth looking at. Google the "part number" above for online sources. You can get a pair for about $35.00. I have been using them now for about a month and for several hundred miles and they are still in good shape and have helped me a lot.

I was plagued with plantar fasciitis for a couple of years and it caused me to miss more than one race. A couple of doctor's visits and cortisone shots did not clear it up. A course of oral corticosteroids prescribed for a bad case of poison oak did wonders......for a few days.

I didn't want to pop ibuprofin every time I went running for the rest of my life. So I went shopping for over the counter orthotics to address the root cause. I have almost no longitudinal arch in either foot. I tried 3 or 4 different designs with no luck. And then I found a Dr. Scholl's product at Walmart and BAM......my problem was gone in a couple of weeks. I have worn them ever since, all the time. I own 5 pairs or so. I was lucky. I found what works for me.

Is this the relatively new "computerized semi-custom" insert? Or is it one of the more familiar off the shelf products?

I have some semi-custom ones selected by the computerized thing and they are OK. They feel better than any of the superfeet inserts because the "professional fitters" always gave me the green ones "because I was backpacking" but the green ones are "high arch" models, and my arch isn't high.

They're just an off the shelf insert that covers the back half of the sole. They are "U" shaped with quite a bit of support under the arch. Unfortunately I can't find them any more.