[arlaurin]

Hi, I am a 22 yr old female college student with a slight running issue. Last year, I injured and caused soft tissue damage to my left foot but have fully recovered from this injury. This year, around mid July I began to experience dull pain in the medial (that means inside) part of my calf halfway between my knee and my ankle. I RICE'd and did not run on my leg for about 3 weeks, and it came back, only if I ran too hard/too far or did exercises requiring jumping (P90X). Around Mid September I began to experience the same pain in my leg.

I went and saw a podiatrist who also does gait mechanics and she informed me that I suffer from "Golfer's Knee" and my knee will bend in towards the other knee when I walk/run really fast. She explained that I have a weak muscle in my gluteus medius and that to fix it I should do leg lifts where I raise my leg out (straight knee, similar to a dog lifting its leg to pee on a fire hydrant) to the hip. I've been doing these and my pain does not subside. She also claims I over pronate my ankle in, I have low arches.

I have a pair of 3/4 length foot orthotics she suggested that I use. I stuck them in my running shoes and now I make embarrassing squeaking sounds when I exercise and they slide around in my shoes. I tried removing my shoes insoles but I did not feel it was a good idea. My orthotics also cause the muscles in my arches to cramp from all the sliding around. Can you help me?

[kemplr]

Try talcum powder in your shoes to prevent the squeaking.

If the orthotics are moving around, are you sure your shoes are suitable? It's usually best to remove the shoes insole as the orthotic will fit much better into the shoe. Or you can try adhering the orthotic into the shoe with velcro and still be able to transfer it to other shoes.

HTH, Lauren