Is Buying Shoe Insoles Worth It? [Pro vs. Cons]


Is Buying Shoe Insoles Worth It_

Workouts and healthy activities are great for your health, but they can be extremely tough on your feet. Therefore, to look after your feet, you may want to consider buying shoe insoles.

Shoe insoles are worth buying in some circumstances such as for comfort, cushioning, arch support, and to prevent blisters and irritation. Thick and or more rigid insoles may also be helpful for improving your foot alignment and body posture, reducing muscle, foot, knee, and back pain, and treating/preventing foot disorders such as bunions and plantar fasciitis.

However, if you have mild foot problems they may be as useful. For example, relying on insoles for arch support can make the muscles in your feet weaker and more dependent on them in the long term.

Shoe insoles come in a variety of designs and sizes. They are supportive devices designed to match your foot shape and length and can be fitted into any type of shoe. But first, let’s see what shoe insoles are.


What Are Shoe Insoles?

Shoe insoles are pieces of material that you can place inside your shoes to improve support, comfort, and fit. They are also known as “shoe inserts” or “footbeds.” 

Some are thin, others thick and shock absorbing. Some have arch support and others are flat.

There are different types of shoe insoles, such as:

  • Cushion Foam insoles
  • Memory Foam insoles
  • Leather insoles
  • Gel insoles
  • Air insoles

Is Buying Shoe Insoles Worth It or Not?

Every product has its benefits and drawbacks, including shoe insoles. Likewise, shoe insoles have pros and cons of their own.

Buying shoe insoles will relieve you from foot, leg, knee, and ankle pain. Moreover, they keep your feet aligned in a healthy position while standing, walking, and running. Let’s discuss the pros and cons of shoe insoles in detail.


Pros Of Shoe Insoles


Shoe Insoles Treat Your Foot Problems

Buying shoe insoles can help you minimize foot, ankle, leg, and knee pain. Shoe insoles can also help you prevent other lower body issues. In addition, using shoe insoles will help you improve your foot and body postures, which will improve your walking.

Shoe insoles provide your feet with the necessary support for a good walk and improve your overall body movement. In addition, shoe insoles are comparatively inexpensive than other therapeutic devices to treat your lower back issues and knee pain.

Insoles can help treat foot pain and discomfort that you may experience regularly. They are beneficial for treating plantar fasciitis, Achilles pain, and knee and toe pain. If you need insoles to treat your foot problems, though, I recommend you consult your doctor or physiotherapist as they can help you choose the right one.


Shoe Insoles Prevent the Development of Foot Issues

Shoe insoles keep your feet comfortable and prevent foot conditions from developing. They absorb the foot pressure while standing, walking, or running. You can lead a healthy lifestyle without worrying about foot problems developing by using shoe insoles.


Shoe Insoles Protect Your Feet from Long-Term Injuries

Running with shoe insoles provides your feet an even footing, thus protecting your feet from long-term injuries. These long-term injuries may include shin splints, Achilles tendonitis, and stress fractures. Additionally, insoles protect your feet from plantar fasciitis, which can occur from overworking your feet.

Plantar fasciitis can be treated more effectively with shoe insoles. They keep your foot arch in place and prevent it from collapsing while you move.


Shoe Insoles Keep Your Feet Flexible

Shoe insoles keep your feet flexible. Without insoles, your feet are constantly under pressure causing your heel to inflate, resulting in foot pain and decreased flexibility.

Wearing shoe insoles protects your feet from extra movement and maintains foot flexibility. They also give your feet enough support for natural movement.


Shoe Insoles Keep Your Feet Comfortable

Shoe insoles provide your feet with enough comfort. They help to keep your feet a lot more comfortable. Wearing insoles in your shoes will keep your feet from getting sore after a long workday. They help to improve your overall foot health and comfort level.


Shoe Insoles Make Your Shoes Last Longer

One of the significant benefits of shoe insoles is that they make your shoes last longer. Shoe insoles reduce the chances of wear and tear, so your shoe will last longer, and you won’t have to spend on buying new shoes. Also, using worn-out shoes can cause you backache with time. This can also affect your posture and cause an imbalance in your lower back.


Shoe Insoles Provide You with Enough Support

When you run, your body absorbs eight times its total weight. As a result, your feet won’t get enough cushioning if you run without shoe insoles.

If you wear shoe insoles, they will absorb some of that shock, thus protecting your feet from long-term foot, leg, and spine injuries. In addition, shoe insoles adjust to your foot shape providing support to your feet and entire body.


Shoe Insoles Protect Your Feet from Blisters

Sometimes running shoes aren’t as smooth as they need to be, which can rub against your feet, causing blisters. Wearing insoles in your running shoe can protect your feet or toes from getting blisters. Shoe insoles are beneficial during long runs.


Shoe Insoles Provide Support to Your Foot Arch

Shoe insoles are specially designed to provide maximum support to your foot arch and keep your feet from flattening out. Wearing shoe insoles is also helpful for treating flat feet. To treat your flat feet, you need a combination of shoe insoles with arch strengthening exercises. [Best Insoles for Flat Feet]

Insoles support your foot in its ideal position, strengthening your arch muscles and improving efficiency.

“During walking, the shoe insole increases the contact area between the medial foot and the ground. This increased contact area is especially beneficial for people with flat feet, supporting their medial arch”. [The arch support insoles show benefits to people with flatfoot on stance time, cadence, plantar pressure, and contact area]

If you have flat feet, walking with shoe insoles can help you restore almost normal motion to your feet. It will also prevent the development of painful foot disorders like bunions and plantar fasciitis. In addition, insoles provide a therapeutic effect to your foot ligaments that may have been damaged due to improper foot movement.


Shoe Insoles Promote Healing

Insoles are helpful in the treatment of heel, toe, and arch pain. They are also helpful if you experience prolonged foot pain. By encouraging equal weight distribution on your feet, shoe insoles reduce your foot pain.

Also, shoe insoles reduce the pressure and extra stress placed on your painful foot areas, aiding foot recovery and healing. I recommend wearing shoe insoles if you have bunions since they shift less weight to the big toe joint, limiting bunions’ growth and reducing their pain.


Shoe Insoles Aid Flat/High Arches

Your feet may need extra support if you have flat or high arches. Shoe insoles provide you with that adequate support as a treatment. Shoe insoles are Specially useful for treating high arches since they require a custom insole.

Even though strengthening and stretching exercises offer some relief, shoe insoles are far more effective. Since you spend most of your day on your feet and they are under constant pressure, shoe insoles protect your feet from that pressure.


Cons Of Shoe Insoles


Softer Shoe Insoles Are Useless

You might think walking in insoles would feel like walking on cushions, but that is not the case. Overly soft insoles are not only useless and ineffective; rather, they pamper your existing problem.

Initially, you may feel nice slipping your foot in those shoes with soft cushiony insoles; however, they would do nothing for your foot problem. Softer insoles do not address the root problem, such as misalignment of feet.


Shoe Insoles Take Time to Be Comfortable

Insoles do not feel comfortable the moment you put them in your shoes. Shoe insoles take time to feel comfortable. They have a breaking-in period since they are designed to realign and reshape your feet to their ideal position. [Should Insoles Hurt At First?

Shoe insoles apply adequate pressure to specific areas of your feet to move them to their correct position. However, it may feel uncomfortable at first since they make your tendons, muscles, and bones work together to align your foot.

I would recommend gradually building up the wearing time of shoe insoles. You can start with 30 minutes on the first day, and maybe an hour on the second day. Then, gradually increase the timing by 1 hour each passing day until your feet get used to the insoles.


Shoe Insoles Provide Only Arch Support

Despite providing adequate support and stability to the arch of your foot, shoe insoles fail to pay attention to the front and back of your foot. For the natural movement of your muscles and tendons, shoe insoles provide support and cushioning. 

Walking and running require an anatomically-ideal foot movement pattern. When you walk or run, movement is initiated from the rear part of your heel to the center of the arch and finally to the inside of your big toe. In order to support this movement, your insoles must provide the right level of flexibility and arch support.


One Pair of Shoe Insoles Is Not Enough

While going for shoe insoles, you might think only one pair of shoe insoles would be enough to move from one pair of shoes to another. However, that’s not true for shoe insoles because they won’t be as effective as they should be.

To see the actual effect of shoe insoles, you need to invest in two to three pairs of shoe insoles. To realign and reshape your feet and posture, I recommend that the shoes you wear often should have their separate insoles.


Custom Insoles Work Better

Custom insoles work better for medical conditions than regular insoles. However, they are more expensive than regular insoles. Customer insoles cost about $500, which is a lot of money. In addition, you’d need custom insoles if you suffer from severe foot issues since regular insoles wouldn’t work.


Shoe Insoles Costs You a Lot

Custom insoles are pretty expensive. In fact, you need several pairs of insoles, and each pair costs you a lot; you have to spend a lot on buying insoles. However, they are made of good quality and durable material, so they last longer and often won’t have to replace. In contrast, over-the-counter insoles are less expensive, but they do not last long, and the constant wear and tear will often require you to replace them. In any case, you have to spend money on buying insoles.


Shoe Insoles Restrict Your Feet’s Adjustment

If you don’t wear shoe insoles, every part of your feet will somehow learn how to regain its strength and balance on its own. It includes your ankles, toes, foot’ ligaments and tendons, etc.

Shoe insoles reduce the chances of your feet realigning and reshaping themselves. They make your feet less likely to work hard. With shoe insoles, your heels, feet, and arches are dependent on them, thus losing their strength. With time, they may lose the ability to manage your body weight.


Shoe Insoles Make You Feel Heavier

When you walk or run with shoe insoles, you may feel heavier. There is some weight to the insoles that you feel. It may affect your walking or running because your shoes will feel heavier on your feet. They will put some restrictions on your feet.


New Shoe Insoles May Cause Blisters, Ankle, or Arch Pain

When you buy or replace shoe insoles, you may develop foot ache, ankle/arch pain, or blisters. In addition, wearing your new shoe insoles may cause blisters on your heels, toes, and balls of your feet, even if it is the same model you’ve been using for some time.

Your ankle may begin to hurt while walking. You feel like having shin splints on the inside or outside your ankle. It can hurt from your ankle up to your knee. New shoe insoles can also cause discomfort to your arch. It may be because they provide too little or much support to your foot arch. These foot issues will fade away; however, stop wearing insoles if they persist.

ProsCons
Shoe insoles treat your foot problemsSofter shoe insoles are ineffective
Shoe insoles prevent the development of foot issuesCustom insoles work better
Shoe insoles protect your feet from long term injuriesShoe insoles cost you a lot
Shoe insoles keep your feet flexibleShoe insoles make you feel heavier
Shoe insoles keep your feet comfortableShoe insoles take time to be comfortable
Shoe insoles make your shoes last longerOne pair of shoe insoles is not enough
Shoe insoles provide you with enough support
Shoe insoles protect your feet from blisters.New shoe insoles may cause blisters and ankle or arch pain.
Shoe insoles provide support to your foot arch.Shoe insoles provide only arch support.
Shoe insoles promote healing.
Shoe insoles aid flat/high archesShoe insoles restrict your feet’s adjustment.
Pros And Cons Of Shoe Insoles

Thanks for visiting helpshoe.com


References

bauerfeind.com

mass4d.com

journals.plos.org

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