Having a good pair of insoles in your shoes make a MASSIVE difference to the comfort of your shoes and your foot health. When buying a new pair of shoes more often than not you will have to replace the standard insoles inside them because these insoles simply wont do because they will often be poorly made and will not provide your feet with sufficient support. Just by replacing your insoles you will see a whole range of different benefits. A good pair of insoles will help to:

  • Increase comfort! With a good pair of insoles you should have no aches and pain at the end of a busy day on your feet at all!
  • Improve the balance and stability in your feet which will in turn help to reduce foot sprains
  • Corrects bio-mechanical imbalances in your foot by realigning your foot into the correct position Prevent over pronation or under pronation when you walk.
    Support the arch of your foot. By supporting the plantar fascia there will be less tension and tightness around the arch of the foot and less chance of developing plantar fasciitis
  • Prevents heel pain through getting rid of the build up of pressure from under the heel by spreading this pressure evenly across your foot rather than it being focused in one areas causing damage.
  • Stop your feet from constantly slipping around in your shoes.. which is GREAT NEWS if you want to reduce the likelihood of blisters, corns and bunions!
  • Custom insoles vs off the shelf insoles

If you are thinking of buying a pair of insoles for your shoes it is important to understand the difference between a custom pair and an “off the shelf” pair of insoles.
Custom insoles are made specially for you and are designed and created using your foots exact foot measurements. These insoles are very expensive (usually costing anywhere between £100-£300). There is evidence to suggest that custom insoles are no better for your feet than off the shelf insoles. Some podiatrists even think custom insoles can be bad for your feet because they can over support your feet causing them to become weak and dependent on the insoles.

Off the shelf insoles however are pre-made and are a lot cheaper than custom ones. Off the shelf insoles have been made using average proportions an measurements to fit as many people as possible. Wearing a pair of insoles can also help to prevent a number of foot injuries from arising for example plantar fasciittis! If you suffer from flat feet or high arches you are at a much higher risk of developing plantar fasciittis which is painful and very hard to get rid of if the underlining causes are not dealt with. Having flat feet or high arches causes the plantar fascia (which is the stretchy ligament that makes ups the arch of your foot) a lot tight than usual.. this means that it is far easier to over stretch it which is by the way the number 1 cause of plantar fasciiitis! Having flat or high arches can also affect your gait and the pronation of your foot which can also cause even more tightness in the arch. To help prevent all of this you can give your arches a helping hand by replacing your current insoles with a pair of arch support insoles that have been made specially to support and ease tension in the arch of your foot and correct pronation problems that having high or flat feet can cause.

What are the best insoles to buy?

1. Orthotic arch support insoles by FootReviver™

Made form carbon fiber these insoles are super light weight and will give your feet extra support in the places that you need it the most. They are idea for people with flat feet and high arches and the arch support will help to realign your feet into a position that places the least amount of strain and pressure on them helping you avoid injuries such as plantar fasciitis.

2. Sport insoles from NuovaHealth

If you do a lot of running or sport then you really should think about buying a pair of these insoles for your shoes. They will help massively helping to better protect your feet from shock as well as support them in a natural and comfortable position helping to stop your feet and lower limbs from getting injured whilst playing sports.

3. Massaging gel insoles by FootReviver™

Our third pick of the best insoles are these Massaging gel insoles from Footreviver. These are perfect for anyone who is always busy on their feet but suffers from foot and heel pain. They will mold to your foot shape helping to give you support and shock absorption in the places where you need it the most.

What Insoles to AVOID!

Over the years I have worn a lot of different insoles and have found that some can really help but many others aren’t that good and can actually cause more harm to your feet, so here is a list of the good, the bad and the ugly ones!

Scholl massaging gel insoles Useless and doesn’t do what its meant to do!

On the scholl adverts scholls says that these insoles will mould to the shape of your feet and provide you with all day comfort however I have found that this isn’t true at all.. these insoles are really bad and DO NOT MOULD TO YOUR FEET.. the gel is super hard and your feet just end up resting ontop of them getting no support at all! What is more these insoles are SUPER bulky to wear and despite being said to absorb shock you can feel all the little shocks and bumps when you have them on. So If you ask me I say AVOID AND SAVE YOUR MOENY!

Superfeet premium green insoles – very expensive and pushes your feet into all sorts of weird position’s.
Whilst the scholl gel insoles did not support my feet at all these insoles actually over supported my feet and not in a good way! I find that the super feet green’s push my feet into a weird, unnatural and uncomfortable position. After having worn these for a day I found that my feet felt a lot tighter and aches liked crazy afterwards! These insoles are also not cheap at all and will cost you over £30 for a pair (they aren’t even that well made!).

Spenco cross trainer insoles are cheap and really nasty
These insoles do not cost much at all however they are really low quality and my pair actually fell to bits after only a week wearing them. The support that these soles provide is also pretty bad and the plastic shell underneath them is really hard digs into your feet when you walk. Dont waste your money I say!

New Balance insoles just because they can make good shoes doesnt mean they make good insoles!
Even though new balance makes some pretty cool shoes.. they really do not know what they are doing when it comes to making insoles. THE arch support on the insoles is just odd and really uncomfortable.. I’m not sure who’s feet they designed these on but who ever it was definitely was not human! These insoles are also really hard on your heels and do not spread pressure.. so if you wear them for some time your heels start aching.

Powerstep Pinnacle orthotic insoles
These are a little bit better than the other ones but not by much. The arch support on these is okay however there isnt much of it. The worst thing about these insoles is that you need really wide shoes with a lot of height in them because they are huge and very bulky… this means that they are no good for sports and running shoes.
Scholl orthaheel insoles JUST SHEER TORTURE DEVICES!
Ortheels are probably the worst insoles on this list IF NOT THE PLANET. They are really really bad! When I wore these insoles I started wearing these after my feet started to get a little bit inflamed but having worn these for a day out to the shops I ended up getting plantar fasciitis! The reason for this is that the arch support is totally messed up and stretches out your arch and and then makes everything very tight and uncomfortable when you walk. So basically you are paying £20 to get plantar fasciitis if you buy these.

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