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Best running shoes for wide feet

11 best running shoes for wide feet

  • by Pete Colagiuri - Sports Physiotherapist

Trying to find the best running shoes for wide feet is a long held frustration for anyone gifted with a broad forefoot!

Wide feet, defined as having an increased width (across the ball of the foot) relative to its length, require a shoe with slightly different proportions.

Who has wide feet?

Feet will naturally widen over time, and this happens faster with excessive body weight or poor ankle/leg stability.

Looking at cultural differences, wide feet are more common amongst Asian cultures (source).

Who needs wide fitting running shoes?

Some surveys found that up to 50% of people need a wider fitting shoe. So they should be pretty common, right?

Oh so wrong unfortunately…

Side note: we look in detail at the best running shoes for wide feet below. We’ve created a dedicated post for women’s wide fitting running shoes, link TBA.

Where do you find running shoes for wide feet?

Looking at the 800+ men’s shoes available on runningwarehouse.com, less than 15% of running shoes are for wide feet. If you need a trail-specific running shoe, less than 10% have options for wide feet.

In considering the best running shoes for wide feet, there is no “best” shoe because everyone’s needs are different.

It would be like trying to recommend a “best” car – some people need a station wagon for the kids, others need a sports car for the look while some prefer an off-road vehicle for, well, off-road.

What to look for in a wide fitting running shoe?

The two key features of a shoe that are needed to narrow your selection are the heel to toe offset (aka heel to toe drop) and the amount of support it provides.

Road shoe without support

If you prefer a lower offset shoe (anything under 6mm) and you don’t needs support, the HOKA ONE ONE range now includes a selection of wide fitting shoes. Runners love HOKA because of their generous cushioning and smooth ride.

In a mid offset shoe (around 6-8mm) without support, your best options are in the Saucony or New Balance range. Saucony’s wide fitting running shoes are a little bit heavier than the New Balance options but accommodate a higher volume foot (nice way of saying a “fatter foot”).

For your high offset wide fitting running shoes without support, you’ll be looking at Brooks, Mizuno or Asics shoes (although there are some options in the New Balance range as well).

Road shoe with support

If you need support in a wide fitting road running shoe, the best options are:

  • Hoka One One Arahi (low-mid offset)
  • Saucony Guide (mid offset)
  • Asics GT-2000 (high offset)
  • Brooks Adrenaline GTS (high offset)
  • Mizuno Wave Inspire (high offset)
  • New Balance 860 (high offset)

Trail running shoes

If you’re looking for trail running shoes for wide feet, the options are even more limited.

Trail running shoe with support

First point, THERE ARE NO SUPPORT OPTIONS FOR TRAIL SHOES!!!

Your only options are to go for a supportive road shoe or to add a supportive orthotic to a well structured neutral shoe.

Trail running shoe without support

For a trail shoe that fits a wide foot and doesn’t have support, the favourite options are:

  • Altra Lone Peak (zero offset – ie. dead flat)
  • Hoka One One Speedgoat (low offset)
  • Saucony Peregrine (low offset)
  • Brooks Cascadia (mid-high offset)
  • Salomon Speedcross (high offset)
inner ankle pain

3 common causes of inner ankle pain while running

  • by Pete Colagiuri - Sports Physiotherapist

We asked our Physiotherapy team about the most common causes of inner ankle pain while running. This was their three most common causes and, more importantly, their most effective treatment for inner ankle pain.

Inner ankle pain while running is typically due to some form of overload. That may be muscles being overloaded beyond their capacity or it might be joints that are sustaining higher loads due to a lack of muscle bracing.

Once the overload begins, it generally causes the area to become sensitive which makes further episodes of inner ankle pain more likely.

What are the most common causes of inner ankle pain? And what are the best fixes for each injury?

Cause 1: Tibialis Posterior Tendinopathy

The Tibialis Posterior muscle, also known as Posterior Tibialis, is a muscle that runs down the inside edge of the shin, around the inside of the ankle and connects on to the arch of the foot.

As you can imagine, its main job is to control the position of the arch as you run. As you impact the ground during foot strike, the Tibialis Posterior must slowly lower the arch and control the rate of pronation.

If the muscle isn’t performing its task, either due to weakness or another deficit, it will rapidly stretch the tendon which wraps around the inside of the ankle.

This leads to an injury called Tibialis Posterior Tendinopathy, which causes inner ankle pain and some swelling around the inside ankle bone (medial malleolus) with a rope-like appearance.

Best treatment for Tibialis Posterior Tendinopathy

For a Tibialis Posterior Tendinopathy, the best treatment is to reduce the loading on the muscle while increasing its capacity.

You can reduce the loading on the muscle by using orthotics, supportive shoes or foot taping called Low Dye taping.

In order to increase the capacity of the muscle and tendon, you can perform eccentric (slow lowering) exercises.

The simplest example of this type of exercise is leaning against a wall on the same side as the leg (this puts the leg on an angle) and then raise and lower the arch.

Cause 2: ankle joint synovitis

Another common cause of inner ankle pain is due to overstretch of the joint capsule around the inside of the ankle.

This joint capsule has a very sensitive lining, known as synovium, which is prone to inflammatory reactions if it is overstretched or compressed.

The most common mechanism behind ankle joint synovitis for inner ankle pain is an overstretch mechanism. Essentially the inner part of the ankle stretches on impact due to poor muscular or physical stability at the ankle.

This diagnosis can be associated with some ankle swelling, although it tends to be localised around the ankle joint in a donut-looking pattern.

Best treatment for ankle joint synovitis

The best treatment for ankle joint synovitis is to attack it in three ways simultaneously.

Anti-inflammatory options, including anti-inflammatory medication and ice packs, can reduce the inflammatory response after each run.

Increased physical stability around the ankle, using orthotics, supportive shoes or even just new shoes, reduces pressure on the synovium.

Then you can add stability exercises to improve the ankle’s ability to brace itself on impact. These exercises should focus on bracing the ankle on solid ground while the body is pulled away from the centre of mass using a resistance band or a one sided weight.

Exercises using a Bosu ball or similarly unstable surface are almost useless as they train the ankle to continually follow an unstable surface rather than bracing on solid ground as we do in running.

Cause 3: subtalar joint pain

The last of our top 3 causes of inner ankle pain is due to subtalar joint overload.

This is an overload injury but that isn’t to say that you’re putting too much force through the foot.

It’s just that the subtalar joint, which is responsible for tilting the foot, is not able to move through the range of motion required of it when you’re running.

With each foot strike, the subtalar joint is forced beyond its tolerable range of motion due to a lack of stability or a lack of range or both.

As the subtalar joint becomes more painful, it becomes harder to stabilize the ankle in light of the inner ankle pain.

Best treatment for subtalar joint pain

The best treatment approach for subtalar joint pain is twofold.

You can improve the range of motion by doing lateral movement exercises or by receiving hands-on joint mobilization from a therapist.

The other treatment is to improve your ability to stabilise the ankle, which can be done through drills such as plyometric lunges, walking lunges or small hops (if they are pain free).

Other causes of inner ankle pain

Plantarfasciitis

Calcaneal bone stress

Tibial bone stress

Talar Dome lesion

Peripheral nerve irritation

Why is my sprained ankle not getting better?

Why is my sprained ankle not getting better?

  • by Pete Colagiuri - Sports Physiotherapist

You have sprained your ankle, assuming you have just torn some ligaments. But there’s so much more that can go wrong and delay your recovery.

Read on to understand why your ankle sprain may not be getting better. Don’t make the mistake of delaying your recovery.


See our FREE Injury Diagnosis App

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SPRAIN YOUR ANKLE?

THE ANATOMY OF THE ANKLE

Firstly you’ll need to visualise the design of the ankle joint. It’s essentially a square-shaped bone (the Talus) sitting in a square-shaped space (formed by the Tibia and Fibula).

Radiography, Diagnosis, Anatomy, Injury

The main function of this joint is forward/backward movement (known as Plantarflexion and Dorsiflexion). There’s a little bit of room on either side of the joint which accommodates some sideways tilting as well.

Where the bones touch, they have a smooth surface (joint cartilage) designed to allow easy movement under load.

Holding all that together is a wall of connective tissue surrounding the whole joint (the joint capsule). That capsule has a sensitive, water-tight lining (known as the synovium).

Bracing that capsule is a number of ligaments, strong bands of connective tissue that connect bone to bone and restrain movement.

THE ACTION OF SPRAINING AN ANKLE

When the ankle rolls, the square bone rotates inside the square joint space. That potentially causes bones to bump into each other. As it rolls, it rapidly stretches the joint capsule, its sensitive lining and the bracing ligaments.

The most commonly known injury from an ankle sprain is a torn ligament. This usually involves ATFL (Anterior Talofibular Ligament) and CFL (Calcaneofibular Ligament) on the outside of the ankle. They are the primary restraints of that movement and the first to go.

After each sprain, the ligaments recover but they don’t heal back to 100% capacity. You’ll likely get about 50-70% of their pre-injury function.

So with each subsequent sprain, the primary restraints are less capable and the rest of the joint structures may take some of the sudden overload. This can also happen in a first time sprain but it takes a lot more force.

If the primary ligaments don’t effectively restrain the joint, the bones bump into each other. This creates a bone oedema (aka. bone bruise), much like a kick in the shin. This causes swelling inside the joint and a constant dull ache with prolonged activity.

The joint capsule will also overstretch, along with its sensitive joint lining. The capsule is typically undamaged but the lining reacts, creating an inflammatory response (known as synovitis) that is painful to stretch or compress.

As the joint surfaces moved rapidly off alignment, the smooth cartilage can be bruised or gouged. This creates bone bruising and swelling inside the joint, which further stretches and aggravates the joint lining.

Joint cartilage damage occurs in around 7%, or 1 in 14, ankle sprains.

With strong force of the bones that form the square space over the ankle, the bones can get forced apart, damaging the ligaments above the ankle. If the ligaments hold, the bone on the outside of the ankle may fracture.


Here’s a list of injuries that can occur with an ankle sprain.

DESCRIPTIONDIAGNOSIS
Simple ligament damage after rolling an ankle, causes bruising and swellingAnkle ligament injury
Cartilage damage inside the ankle causing recurrent swelling and a deep ache on weight bearingTalar dome lesion
A reaction around the joint, it causes sharp pain and ongoing ache. It doesn’t like stretching or compressionJoint capsule reaction
Impact to the bones inside the ankle, this is felt as a deep ache and some swellingBone oedema (aka “kissing lesion”)
Damage to the ligament/s above the ankle joint, this causes pain with dorsiflexion (knee moving forwards)Syndesmosis injury
A complication of a sprain, the bone on the outside of the ankle can fractureFibula fracture
The soft tissue or bones around the joint can pinch together on movement, causing a sharp pain and residual acheTalocrural (ankle) impingement
The joint below the main ankle joint, it’s often strained in the same incident and causes pain on impact or uneven groundSubtalar joint irritation
Retrocalcaneal bursitis - the cause of heel pain

Retrocalcaneal bursitis – the cause of heel pain

  • by Pete Colagiuri - Sports Physiotherapist
  • Retrocalcaneal bursitis is an inflammatory condition of the bursa (pad) between the Achilles tendon and the heel bone
  • Pain is worse while walking uphill and can be aggravated by direct pressure from footwear
  • This condition often feels better in high heels or when walking on toes

TIPS

  • Wear shoes that have a 2-3″ heel and that doesn’t put direct pressure on the painful area (due to a firm heel cup or strap). For those who don’t wear heels, add a 6-8mm heel wedge into your daily footwear (available from physio & chiro clinics)
  • This condition can respond reasonably well to topical anti-inflammatory gel and ice cube massage
  • This condition is often misdiagnosed as Achilles tendinopathy and gets worse with heel raise exercises

MYTHS

  • You don’t need to rest completely with this injury – try running slower on flat terrain and add a heel wedge to your shoes if needed
  • Classic calf strengthening exercises can make this condition worse
  • Although this condition can occur in any age group, be wary of bony involvement from Sever’s Disease (growing pains) in 10-14 year old adolescents and Hagglund’s Deformity in older populations

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