Just curious. Have they helped/made a significant difference? Are they worth the cost?

www.footsmart.com they are quite expensive on there about $ 99.95
hope this helps.

I like my arch-supports. I got Dr Scholl supports put in for about $50 Canadian because I am very high-arched and was falling into my arches because of that.

What I don't like is the space they take up on my skate boot which now has a much snugger fit than before. My feet also now have a tendency to cramp up if I'm not careful with my skate laces and tie them too tight.

I have custom made arch supports... they were made my a doctor who makes orthotics and he made me a set of tiny ones to fit in my skates. They took a while to get used to but they did help my knee and back a bit. (I don't use mine anymore though because right now my skates are most comfortable without any insoles at all)

Just a suggestion... if you do add another type of insole to your skate you can take out the insoles that came in your skates and then put the new ones in... that way they won't make your skate much smaller.

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* Marcoux & Buntin * Miller & Moram *

My boots were fine when I got them, but after a knee injury and 4 surgeries I was discovering that I needed the extra support in my skate boots. I tried some Dr. Scholls ones, but I found they took up a lot of space and I the ball of my foot wasn't hitting the right part of my boot, and I kept rolling up to my toe pick way too often. I called SP Teri just to see what, if anything, they could do for me (mine were stock boots purchased several years earlier), and they made me an insole with extra arch support that I could put in my boots. The cost was around $45 but very well worth it. It really helped my knee, and it also helped my backspin and loop jump, because before I had the arch insoles I kept falling to the inside edge (blade placement wasn't the problem). I'd recomend calling your boot manufactors and see what types of arch supports/insoles they can make for you.

LOL thats nothing! Mine were $250!!! Unbeleivable But definetly worth it. I had terrible foot/arch pain before i got my inserts. I went to a physical therapist and got them costum made. Im pain free now!

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~Sk8Bunny~
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"I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?"

I really did know what they wereuntil I searched them on Google so I don't really know much about the price ranges.

I have custom-orthotics in my Jackson boots and they have made a tremendous difference. I have extremely flat feet and this caused me to have trouble learning my loop & backspin (which, if you recall, requires that outside edge!). I had a hard time holding the outside edges so the orthotics picked my feet right up and voila! I was learning my backspin much better. Luckily for me, my insurance covered the $400 cost of these orthotics + the office visits.

Keep in mind that if you have severely flat feet and are learning your single jumps, the constant pounding of the jumps on those feet can cause your knees to twist inward and cause shin splints (these are tiny cracks in your shins). Continuing to skate without the proper care can result in a shin fracture and that WILL keep you off the ice for almost 2 months till it heals. I know a young skater who this happened to in my club. She was landing axels & lutzes when she suffered a shin fracture. She got custom orthotics and now, 2 yrs later, is landing double sal's, dloops, dflips, and dtoes with no shin problems.

So see a foot specialist who deals with figure skaters if you sense there is a problem. Don't wait.

Kristin

Kristin, did your insurance paid for one of those orthotics that you slip in and out of your skating boots, or did they also paid for the ones that is built into your boots? (Just curious. I do know of a couple of doctor around my neck of the woods that specializes in figure skaters.)

I'm in a similar situation and I'm dying to get new boots w/custom orthotics, but given my financial situation, I'm barely able to afford lessons w/my coaches now (and they are NOT expensive coaches either...) It's not that I won't get it b/c I don't have money. My health is more important, but my health insurance can pay for it, then hey....

And yes, I suspect that my current injury is equipment related. I've been trying to figure out why I injured myself via landing my waltz jumps (which is probably my easiest jumps!!!) I'm now out for two weeks b/c of that "landing." (Also, my chiro and my secondary coach both think I need orthotics too!)

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Hi Jazzpants,

My orthos are the ones you pull in and out of your boots. So I can use them in regular shoes too (which I occasionally do, when I have to be on my feet for a long period of time).

And you brought up a good point about going to a chiro for injuries....that is certainly one more thing that can go wrong when you need the orthos and don't have them.

Chiros can definitely be a skater's best friend!!!

Thanks for the reply. I'll take the ones you pull in and out. Better than what I've got now!

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

got mine for an orthopedist for $295. If you saw the bags of flesh on the end of my legs I call feet, you'd know why! Fixed my spins though.

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Champagne in 2005, 2008, 2009 - who's next out of the pre-bronze club...?

Wang chung!