Insoles aren’t just an accessory for your shoes. They can be a gateway to enhanced comfort and improved foot health. Unfortunately, high arches can often make it challenging to find the right fit. Yet choosing the best insoles for high arches is a worthwhile endeavor.
You may be looking at insoles for relief from foot pain caused by plantar fasciitis or metatarsalgia. Or you may be looking at improving athletic performance. Or perhaps you just want your feet to feel more comfortable when running on hot, hard surfaces. Maybe you simply need daily comfort, especially if you spend long hours on your feet.
Sports, overuse, and spending long days on your feet can put a lot of pressure on your arches. Because we evolved to walk and run, which put a lot of strain on the feet, the arch naturally supports the weight and cushions our steps. In other words, the arch absorbs shocks and helps improve balance and stability as we stand and walk.
Having a higher or lower-than-average arch can increase the risk of discomfort, pain, and injury in the lower body and back. Age, physical stress, weight gain, overuse, and neurological conditions can all affect our biomechanics and gait. And the arch is often a weak point.
Understanding the Need for Arch Support
The human foot evolved to walk on soft, natural terrains long before pavement was invented. Sadly, it’s uncommon to walk on soft dirt, grass, or sand today. Instead, most of us journey over artificial, hard, flat surfaces like sidewalks, asphalt, and concrete or tiled floors. We often come home to hard, flat surfaces from tile to hardwood. So, arch support is more crucial now than ever.
While most people choose footwear for aesthetics, the right fit, including arch support, helps the body maintain good posture and a healthy lifestyle. Arch support can help compensate for the mismatch between how our feet evolved and our current walking surfaces and chosen footwear. The right insoles can significantly reduce the amount of stress the feet endure. They can protect the feet, add cushion, and reduce the shock that travels from the arch up through the body.
Unfortunately, finding the right fit for high arches can be more difficult. This less common foot structure requires specific support to help distribute the pressure evenly on the foot. This can then help prevent the foot from rolling, which can lead to not only discomfort but also an increased risk of injury.
The right insoles for high arches provide relief from both immediate discomfort and then help maintain overall foot health and prevent issues in the future. While the journey to find the best insoles for high arches requires effort and patience, the payoff in terms of comfort and foot health is immeasurable.
Determining Your Arch
No two people have the same foot structure. In fact, even our own feet differ from each other. It’s not uncommon for people to have feet that are different sizes. And there are differences in arches as well. This can make it challenging to find shoes that perfectly fit and provide the comfort, support, and style you want.
To find the right arch support, you first need to understand your own feet. Arches can be divided into three categories:
- Low
- Average (normal)
- High
To determine your arch, take off your shoes and socks, and step your bare foot onto a wet surface, such as damp sand or a tub of water. Then, place your wet foot directly onto a flat, dry surface (such as a sidewalk or piece of cardboard). The shape of your footprint can tell you which type of foot you have.
If your footprint shows a full foot, you may have either a flat foot or a flat arch. This can lead to your foot overpronating or rolling inward.
If your footprint only shows half of the center of the foot, as half doesn’t reach the ground due to the arch, then you have an average or normal arch.
If you can see less than half of your footprint, you likely have a high arch. A high arch looks distinctly hollow when standing and bearing your body weight. High arches are less able to absorb shock or pressure than the other types of arches. This can lead to instability, which can then increase the risk of ankle sprains, muscle pain, joint tension, plantar fasciitis (which causes heel pain), and metatarsalgia (which leads to inflammation and pain in the ball of the foot), and other injuries. In addition, high arches can lead to fatigue as you walk or run.
People on both the low and high end of the spectrum are more likely to suffer from foot pain because the arches aren’t able to fully distribute your weight or absorb shocks. That said, people with all arches can experience foot pain after a long day of being on their feet, playing their favorite sport, or other intense activities.
The Best Insoles for High Arches
Insoles that are specifically designed for high arches offer several benefits. They can distribute pressure more evenly across the foot. They provide additional comfort and cushioning, which is beneficial during extended periods of walking, running, or standing. You can find inserts that are designed for everything from sneakers to sandals.
If, however, you’re looking for the best insoles for high arches on hot surfaces, Blusol insoles stand out for their unique features. For instance, they combine cushioning with structure support to relieve the discomfort common with high arches.
In addition, they’re designed to address heat discomfort by insulating the feet from heat buildup from the sole of the shoe, as is common in heat-intensive environments or from materials like asphalt and turf, which absorb and radiate heat.
Keeping the feet cooler can help mitigate foot discomfort that heat can intensify. In addition, cooler feet tend to be more comfortable when standing, walking, and running, especially for extended periods. Keeping the feet cool and comfortable can help lessen the fatigue common with high arches.
Cooler feet are also less likely to suffer from heat issues in the shoe, like sweating and blisters caused by slippage and friction. Keeping the feet cooler can help protect the skin.
Finally, the insulation found in Blusol insoles also offers extra cushioning and support, which is crucial for high arches. Thus, they provide a dual-purpose solution with temperature regulation and structural support.
The Best Insoles for High Arches Takeaway
The quest for the best insoles for high arches involves a balance of support, comfort, and specialized features to address the unique biomechanics of your feet. Blusol insoles emerge as the innovative solution that not only offers much-needed arch support but also addresses one of the most common discomforts: heat accumulation in footwear. This combination can significantly enhance foot comfort for people with high arches, especially in warm conditions or during activities that produce foot heat.