How Custom Orthotics Help
By Anthony Allen, CPED
“A body is only as good as its individual parts,” not an official quote, but a thought I have often.
As a Certified Pedorthist, I deal with foot problems, and solve them with the use of custom-made orthotics (professionally made medical arch supports).
The feet only make up 2% of your body mass but hold up the other 98%. When your feet (your foundation) start to break down due to aging, injury, aggressive use, or just being born with a congenital deformity, it will start a domino effect, affecting all the other parts of your body that stem from your feet.
If you’re lucky, you may catch some problems early and/or have problems where orthotic therapy may assist in reducing pain and helping your body heal and get better.
I’ve found that examples are often the best teachers when it comes to how custom orthotics help.
Here are a couple excerpts from customer/patient testimonials and a brief explanation of how custom orthotics help solved the problem.
“Within a few days knee and hip pain that had plagued me for almost 2 years was gone.” -B. Noble.
This customer was evaluated for ankles that rolled inwards, causing the legs to internally rotate, stressing out the joint along with ligaments and connective tissues. When your body parts are supposed to work and bend in one way and it changes, the stress and uneven wear and tear of the joint will start to cause damage and with it, pain.
Arches in the feet breaking down caused the ankle to fall inwards and that caused the knees to be out of alignment. Through correcting the position of the knee through the feet, the problem was addressed at its root cause (etiology). Other interventions include anti-inflammatory medication, cortisone injections, and surgery.
Custom orthotics are a great and relatively inexpensive way of solving problems, limiting the chances of bad side-effects you may have with medication and other more invasive treatments.
“I had just come back from the doctor about my bunion. He said the only thing to do was surgery, it was half the size of an egg and very painful to walk, passing by CVS, I walked in (Simply Feet) asking if they could do anything about my bunion. They said yes! I am now 99.9% pain free!” – J Goodwin
As you walk, the act of pronation helps you to absorb step shock. Pronation happens when your foot in total contact with surface on which you’re walking. The forces that your foot absorbs also break down the foots supportive structures causing changes in your bones and causing arthritic pain and uneven weight distribution across the bottom of your foot. In order to help your foot get better, you need a way to help your foot get back to where it was before the problems started. Custom Orthotics help solve this because they are made off casts of your foot in a corrected position.
It’s silly to think that just by adding something inside your current footwear that you could potentially solve and help heel your foot problems.
Stay healthy.
