Advice/Reco needed - at wit's end with flat feet

I'm gay

Get as neutral a shoe as possible. Arch support is one of the biggest scams in running. Your feet, even if having such low arches that they are called flat, connect with the ground and the ball and the heel. In between the two is soft tissue called plantar fascia that is not designed to take the impact of running. What does arch support in a shoe cause? The solution to flat feet is less arch support, not more. Get some well cushioned, very neutral trainers with as little arch support as possible. I found rolling a golf ball underfoot to be a good massage for plantar fasciitis, also

If you were biomechanically unsound, no matter how you love walking and running, it is a very poor choice in case of health and fitness.

I'd rather suggest to reinforce your body first with correct movements. That can be Pilates, appropriate strength and conditioning and functional mobility and flexibility routines..

In the meantime you can learn and practice run schooling drills.

Focus also on life,everyday posture and lifestyle shoes. Diet and sleep patterns, your sleeping mat and so on. Solve your every day movement patterns and posture first !

As CV fitness goes I'd rather choose cycling and swimming till the issues will be solved. Also those though need to be learntand correctly executed .

Find yourself a good DPM (podiatrist). There are tons of bad ones out there, so do your homework. One that is a runner and has runners as patients is pretty much a must.

He or she may recommend orthoses to correct your issues.

I have laughable flat feet with no arches. Quack quack . After five decades of dealing with injuries, doing "strengthening" exercises, stretches, "motion control" shoes, I concur an above post that neutral shoes are the way to go. That and for plantar, stay off your toes. Too much posterior chain (calf) strain. Use your entire foot and try to get your brain in touch with how your hips, chest and shoulders align and move around your spine. Skip everything else. It is complete waste of time. Instead focus on recovery. Let your body rest.

You're misinformed.

Anatomically flat feet (flexible flat feet) don't need arch supports - If even feet with high rigid arches sometimes need arch supports (have arches but are weak from weight or age etc or to help reduce impact on the foot) then flexible flat feet might need them too. Regardless, arch supports do help with plantar fasciitus.

Don't overpronate - Overpronation by itself isn't a problem as long as it doesn't lead to problems. Flat feet without overpronation suggests overcompensation and this will have effects elsewhere. It could be that the left leg is acting like a crutch/pivot and taking most of impact so the right foot finds it easier to act like it's suprinating - mostly pushing off rather than taking its share of the impact.

Get a somewhat firm neutral shoe with a big toe box, take out the insoles, and replace them with Superfeet (may need to get a shoe half size larger or more). I'd recommend the Green Superfeet, although the company now makes sports specific insoles (I haven't tried them because the green ones work for me).

Exercises and stretching never worked for me. Waste of time because the cause is mechanical.

Find a shoe that fits well and run in it. The idea that there is a shoe answer for every injury is just a bunch of BS the shoe companies came up with to sell more shoes to hobby joggers. Shoes won't fix plantar. Find a good chiro who does soft tissue work for runners (Graston, ART, etc.) and work with them on your plantar issues. This should not involve any spine adjustments. If the chiro offers spine adjustments, you are in the wrong place. You should get deep tissue work and some PT exercises/stretches. Plantar also needs some rest to get the inflammation down. Plantar can be a chronic condition so do not expect to be cured after a session or two.

Don't get too worked up over whether you are neutral, supinate, pronate or overpronate. This stuff has been over analyzed and is usually something that you are just born doing and cannot alter much just by trying. The more you run, the stronger you will get and the more efficient your form will become. I have flat and narrow feet. When I first started training for marathons, I had every injury in the book. I tried orthotics and all the different motion control shoes. Nothing really made a difference short term. But as I trained harder and got faster, my form improved significantly and the injuries were fewer and far between until I had a couple of years of injury free running with lots of PRs. Then I got old and everything fell apart. Moral to the story: no short cuts in running. Everyone struggles with injuries when they are new to the sport. It just take time to get through it and figure out what works for you.

Wow! Some great advice and involved responses! Thank you to all that took the time, I really appreciate it. Good to know it's mostly marketing hype. Yes I do have mechanical issues. Right foot is .5 inch bigger, seems toes naturally turn outwards vs left, tight piriformis/ IT pulling it, tight hams, ruptured L4/L5.

Thank you again this is so helpful.