Understanding Custom Orthotics
You may not ever really think of it, but the way your feet are positioned and how they move means a great deal. Your feet are very complex. Each one contains 33 joints, 26 bones, and over a hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments. These all work together to help you move around, stay balanced, and more. Any changes in your foot structure or alignment can have significant consequences. This is where custom orthotics are used.
Custom orthotics are medical devices that are worn inside your shoes to correct structure or alignment problems. The important part to focus on is the custom aspect. These are not one-size-fits-all devices. They are tailored specifically for your feet and your situation. Designed for you and your needs, can help align your foot or ankle and correct imbalances. This helps alleviate pain and discomfort as well as resolve other issues.
It’s important to note that custom orthotics aren’t the same as insoles that you can buy in stores. Generic insoles aren’t designed for your specific needs and your feet, which severely limits the help they provide. In addition, your custom orthotics are created after a consultation with our experienced team, so not only are they made for your unique feet, but they’re also made for your situation and condition.
Conditions Treated by Custom Orthotics
Your feet go through a lot. They have to support your body whenever you’re standing, and they need to allow you to move around in various different ways throughout the day. Take a moment and look at how your foot moves as you walk around, go up and down stairs, turn, and move about. There are a lot of complex movements there and, unfortunately, that means there are a lot of things that can go wrong. Add to this, the fact that many surfaces you walk on in a day aren’t level or even, and you can start to see the potential problems.
If your foot is out of alignment or if it’s not properly supporting your body, this won’t just cause pain in your feet. It can cause issues in your legs, hips, back, and the rest of your body. Custom orthotics provide consistent support and a stable surface for your feet. This doesn’t just correct potential issues, it also reduces your risk of future injury.
There are many ways that orthotics can help and many conditions that they can treat, such as:
- Arch problems
- Both high arches and “flat feet” can be an issue. Your arches are the flexible part of your foot that’s located between your heel and the ball of your foot. As the name suggests, they usually have a slight arch. However, some people have arches that are considered high, meaning the middle part of your foot never touches the ground. If you have mildly high arches, you may not experience any negative effects. However, if your arches are quite high, this puts additional stress on the rest of your foot. That leads to pain in your heel, the ball of your foot, or both.
- On the other end of the spectrum are flat feet. In this situation, your entire foot touches the ground at all times. There simply isn’t much of an arch at all. This can cause pain or make walking difficult.
- In either case, custom orthotics can help. They can provide support to your foot and help put it in a more comfortable position.
- Corns and calluses
- These are usually caused by friction or irritation on your feet. Corns are small, raised bumps of hardened skin while are larger and usually more flattened. Both cause pain.
- Walking with improper posture or changes in your foot shape can cause your foot to rub against your shoes and create calluses or corns. Orthotics can help as they help your foot bear weight more evenly, reducing friction or pain.
- Foot tendonitis
- This is a condition caused by inflammation in the tendons in your feet. It most commonly happens due to overuse but can also be caused by injury or misalignment. Tendonitis can occur in any tendon in your foot and there are several tendons in your feet.
- Wearing custom orthotics can help reduce stress on your tendons, which in turn reduces the risk of inflammation.
- Plantar Fasciitis
- Your feet can get overused. They go through a lot in the day and deal with a ton of stress. The plantar fascia runs along the bottom of your foot from the heel to the ball. It forms the arch on your foot and connects the bones in your foot together. If your plantar fascia is overused or stretched too far, it can cause pain and inflammation. This is called plantar fasciitis.
- Custom orthotics can provide extra arch support, helping to not only reduce your risk of plantar fasciitis but also help reduce pain and treat its symptoms.
Getting Custom Orthotics
As mentioned, there are serious benefits to custom orthotics when compared to the similar insoles you can buy in stores. However, that means you can’t just buy them off a shelf. Instead, you need to have a medical professional complete an examination to determine your condition and properly fit you for your orthotic.
When you come into our clinic, we will do a full exam and let you know if custom orthotics are right for you. We’ll go over your physical health situation, your lifestyle, and talk about any issues you may be facing. In some cases, you might be experiencing pain elsewhere in your body (such as your knees or lower back) and not even realize that you’re having foot alignment issues. We’ll help get to the root causes of your pains and find solutions to help you feel better.
We’re not about treating just symptoms, we want to resolve the underlying issues. This approach helps create lasting relief and improves your overall life long term. Get started by scheduling an appointment to come in for an examination and consultation. If you have any questions, we’d love to help you. Please contact us today.