In the Personal Best column in Tuesday’s Science Times, Gina
Kolata asks Benno M. Nigg, a professor of biomechanics at the
University of Calgary, whether orthotics, those inserts that
athletes and others slip in their shoes, really help to prevent
injuries and improve mechanical alignment. Do they help or harm
athletes who use them? And is the huge orthotics industry — from
customized shoe inserts costing hundreds of dollars to over-the-
counter ones sold at every drugstore — based on science or on
wishful thinking? Dr. Nigg’s overall conclusion: Shoe inserts or
orthotics may be helpful as a short-term solution, preventing
injuries in some athletes. But it is not clear how to make
inserts that work. The idea that they are supposed to correct
mechanical-alignment problems does not hold up. Read the full
column, “Close Look at Orthotics Raises a Welter of Doubts,”
then please join the discussion below.