Arch Support is a Myth

There are a few reasons why arch support is a myth.

First of all, there is no such thing as arch support in any of our shoes. Second, even if there was, you don’t want that anyway. Lastly, arch support recommendations are based on no evidence whatsoever of it increasing the height of, strengthening, or stabilizing the arch in any kind of sustainable way. 

The ideas behind arch support have always been based on brittle foundations, similar to what walking with arch supports is like. 

To understand the first point, let’s look at what is normally considered as arch support. If we look in almost any pair of gym shoes, we can find some kind of small bump in the sole that is raised, clearly trying to occupy the space left open under our arches. Already, we have found our problem.

While it might sound sensible at first to have a platform hold up the arch in order to support it, this is the exact opposite of how an arch maintains its structural integrity.

If you had an arch that was made out of weak material and you needed it to make it stronger so it could hold more weight, how would you achieve that? By pinching in the ends of the arch! This makes the curvature in the arch more pronounced and stronger.

If you were to support the curvature of the arch from underneath it, you would be negating the whole purpose of the arch (making it useless). You will not find this type of arch support in any pair of shoes, only the kind that pushes up from underneath it. 

On to the second point; even if there was arch support in our shoes, you still don’t want that. Having just learned what the only way to strengthen an arch is, we should be able to identify what we need our shoes to look like. Or….maybe not.

To pinch in the ends of the arch, we would have to create something that locks our heel in place and pushes it inward and something that locks the forefoot (ball of our foot) in place and pushes it inward.

The next problem is that our shoes already do these things to some extent. The heel is elevated and the toes are smashed together and elevated above the ball of the foot, called the toe spring. The issue is that these features cause massive problems for our feet and the rest of our bodies already, and they would probably have to be even more extreme to actually work for arch strengthening.

Not to mention that the arch is an active feature in our body. It thrives off of continuous, diverse movement like the rest of our body does. So essentially the answer to this portion is that there is no “set it and forget it option”. You have to keep using the arch frequently and put it under stress to make it strong. 

The third and final point is that arch support, as we know it to be, does none of the things we hope it will do for us. In fact, it actually weakens our arches by negating any possibility they had for building strength.

When you stand on a structured platform all day (an arch support orthotic), your feet will become reliant on that orthotic to continue holding the arch in place. When you step out of this orthotic, you will notice that your foot no longer has the strength to maintain itself and its arch.

All that time spent wearing arch supports just tells your feet that they no longer need to do the work of stabilizing themselves so they will never be able to build strength while wearing a supportive platform. 

Find out how you can build your arch height and strength naturally here.