Haglund's deformity -- Stability/cushioning shoes with soft heel counter?

Puma faas 350s or puma faas 600s or 500s

Mo Farah trims the heel counter of his shoes down. Not sure if that would help you but you could try some self modification of shoes.

Have you tried heel lifts?

footandanklesolution.com

Ive been looking for the same type of shoe as you.

Hard to tell shopping online. I would go to the local running store(s) and feel/try on there. I cant remember what I found locally, bc I haven't purchased anything yet.

I did surgery on my saucony triumphs, getting that counter out was tough; but the Nike lunar tempo has a pretty collapsible counter, it works for me - and could be cut out easily if necessary.

I had Haglund's bumps on both heels. Had surgery a year ago on the worse one and am leaving the other one be since it doesn't bother me most of the time. Surgery recovery was very long and I still have to be careful about avoiding hard heel collars. Adidas works well for me. I am using the Supernova Glide Boost now and also the Boost Tempo. I was an ASICS fan for years (DS-Trainer mostly) and cannot wear them anymore because they have some hard plastic thing in the heel area that flares both of my heels up immediately. I also like Nikes but most models with the exception of the Free are too wide for my very narrow feet.

gazellerunner wrote:

I had Haglund's bumps on both heels. Had surgery a year ago on the worse one and am leaving the other one be since it doesn't bother me most of the time. Surgery recovery was very long and I still have to be careful about avoiding hard heel collars. Adidas works well for me. I am using the Supernova Glide Boost now and also the Boost Tempo. I was an ASICS fan for years (DS-Trainer mostly) and cannot wear them anymore because they have some hard plastic thing in the heel area that flares both of my heels up immediately. I also like Nikes but most models with the exception of the Free are too wide for my very narrow feet.

I had surgery on my Haglund Deformity 2 1/2 weeks ago after spending roughly 13 months trying to address the situation non surgically with different shoes, heel lifts etc(ran in the DS trainers as well when first experiencing the problem). The prognosis I got from my DR/surgeon who used to be a collegiate runner was since I only had about 5-10% percent of my achilles touched during the surgery, I should be non weight bearing for a month then spend a couple weeks rehabbing. I was just cleared to swim or aquajog and have some mobility in rotating my ankle.

gazellerunner, is this similar to your symptoms and recovery timeframe?

redpowerranger wrote:

I have Haglund's deformity, so my heels are big and boney and tear through the heel counters in all my running shoes. This wreaks havoc on my heels, and they are perpetually inflamed and blistered and bloody. I have seen a couple different podiatrists, and their solutions (heel lift, anti inflammatories, sock with gel padding) only go so far. I'm trying to avoid having surgery. The best solution so far has been to switch to wearing the Nike Free Flyknit, which has a heel counter that is basically just cloth. My heels feel wonderful. My now my knees are a wreck. The Nike Free just doesn't have enough support for my 5'6" 140 pound frame. Any recommendations for shoes that have a soft (or relatively soft) heel counter that also provide at least a little overall support, stability, and cushioning?

Before surgery on your feet, how about surgery on your shoes?

I know someone who cut a round hole in the BACK of their shoe heel that the big, boney, irritated part of their heel could fit into. It worked wonders for them; relieved pressure, and Haglund's went away.

I would suggest doctoring an older pair of shoes first.....experiment a little. Also, determine where on back of heel pain is worst.

I've had the bumps for a long time but they only flared up occasionally and it was always shoe-related. Eventually the bad one go to the point were I couldn't wear any closed shoes on that foot. Achilles was fine and was not touched at all in surgery (done by a top surgeon outside the US). Recovery was long and this was normal for other high-level athletes of his as well. I was in a boot for a couple weeks, then allowed to walk in normal shoes. Nike Frees were the only thing I could wear for a while. I could swim, pool run, stationary bike as much as I wanted and did PT also. It was three months before I was allowed to run and it was only short distances. I probably ramped up too fast and had many setbacks along the way. Wasn't able to run decent mileage until 6 months and was about a year before I really stopped thinking about it. But even now, at 1.5 yrs out the heel is still sensitive to friction and I really need to be careful with non-running shoes. I think part of my problem is very narrow feet and heels that slide around in most shoes. For me it's pressure/friction that is the problem moreso than an underlying achilles issue. Interesting about the DSTrainers. I was wearing the 19s when the surgical heel got really bad. I'm done with ASICS and only wear Adidas or Nike now.

I've had many pairs of New Balance 870 v3 - great shoe, lightweight, mild support and mist importantly a "foamy" heel counter with no plastic, allows the haglunds can make a hole for itself. Slight irritation for a couple of runs but nothing major then completely fine.

Have now been sent a pair of 870 v4 - annoyingly New Balance have now stiffened up the heel counter significantly. One run and I've got a big blister on the heel...

Looking for something similar to the V3 which is proving really hard to find in my size, any suggestions?