Thanks for that WW. I have a remedial (Sp?) masseur and I will ask the question next visit.
I bought my running shoes from Athletes Foot and they took a pressure reading of my stride to get an idea of how my feet are ( i must note that I think that this is just a gimmick they use to sell more in-soles
). They then told me I needed to buy these in-soles which I did, but they killed my feet on the first run and gave me major blisters on my arches. I took them out and they feel much better now. I thought it was a little dodgy as the girl who was doing the test would not have been older than say 20, definately not old enough to be qualified at anything like that...and even if she was, why would she be working in retail?
Whats "overpronating"?
Overpronating is having a weak arch, and from when your heel strikes the ground, and your bodyweight begins to move forwards onto your forefoot, your ankle and mid foot rolls or collapses inwards. This can overload some of the muscles in the calf, and cause repetitive microtrauma/tearing.
Part of the solution is to get a reasonable arch support and heel stablization. The supports built into some shoes the athletes foot sells is very hit and miss. They might get it right 4 times out of 10. You don't necessarily need a podiatrist's orthotic either. Chemists sell soft orthotics for about $35 which can be heat moulded (with a hair dryer). You want to feel support in the arch, but not excessive pressure that causes blisters.
Regarding the massage, there's a whole procedure of heating and self stretching the calf before deep tissue. Whoever does it needs to
- heat the compartment
- drain the blood
- loosen the superficial gastro
- get into the soleus and tib post and peroneal compartment
- be mindful of the fragility of plantaris
Recurrent pain is often associated with adhesions in the deeper layers of the gastro or soleus and tib post.
If done right, the masseur should find deep hard very tender spots. These need to be broken and stretched. It can be 9/10 pain but the more heat and more gradual pressure applied, the less painful. No more than 6 sessions should be required.
Further, make sure you know how to differentiate gastro, soleus, and hams stretching with training sessions. You might also benefit from stretching the plantar fascia. Ask your masseur how.
