Orthotics are a great way to help with issues related to walking and alignment, including knee, foot, and lower back pain. They can help to realign the bones in the foot and ankle, and take stress off other parts of the body, such as the back, neck, shoulders, and hips. Custom foot orthotics also cushion your feet, provide comfort, support your arches, and evenly distribute your body weight to eliminate pressure on your feet.
How Do Orthotics Work?
Custom foot orthotics are specially-made devices that fit inside most shoes. They match the contours of your feet precisely, and are designed for the way you move.
Orthotics can help anyone with discomfort relating to walking, or imbalances in the body that are known to cause related pain. A tremendous benefit of custom orthotics is that they can be worn on a daily basis and utilized during most activities.
Custom orthotics can be prescribed by your chiropractor, and last well over a year in most cases. While over-the-counter shoe inserts are available at most drugstores, they lack the custom-built precision of a prescription orthotic. These ‘one-size-fits-all’ inserts rarely match your feet well, or provide the customized support you need.
Interested in incorporating orthotics into your treatment plan? Contact your trusted chiropractor and schedule an appointment to discuss how custom orthotics might ease your discomfort.
With the use of custom fabricated orthotics patients have shown clinically to be more compliant and pain free when they are made following adjustments to the joints of the feet. 'Reported at the Miami Florida Podiatric Convention in 2002.' Making an orthotic to a foot when it is in a painful and compromised position may not be effective.
The use of orthotics alone with out the application of simple strengthening exercises to correct the alignment may not ever adequately restore normal biomechanics. Knee, hip and spinal degenerative changes resulting from improper foot mechanics may still continue.
There is a comprehensive approach available. It includes the following procedures:
- Gait evaluation
- Diagnosis of the soft tissue structures involved with the pathomechanics
- Myofascial release of muscles, ligaments and fascia
- Manipulation of the involved joints of the foot
- Orthotic fabrication in a non-weight bearing neutral position
- Exercises for strengthening weak and poorly functioning muscles
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