Orthotic Care
Your feet are the foundation of your body. They support you when you stand, walk, or run. And they help protect your spine, bones, and soft tissues from damaging stress as you move around. Your feet perform better when all their muscles, arches, and bones are in their ideal stable positions.
Your feet are the foundation of your body. They support you when you stand, walk, or run. And they help protect your spine, bones, and soft tissues from damaging stress as you move around. Your feet perform better when all their muscles, arches, and bones are in their ideal stable positions.
The foot is constructed with three arches which, when properly maintained, give exceptional supportive strength. These three arches form a supporting vault that distributes the weight of the entire body.
If there is compromise of one arch in the foot, the other arches must compensate and are subject to additional stresses, which usually leads to further compromise.
It’s a chain reaction.
Healthcare professionals know alleviating pain in one part of your body often requires treating a different part. The pain you feel in your neck could be caused by a misalignment in your spine that is caused by unbalanced positioning in your feet. See? It’s a chain reaction.
By stabilizing and balancing your feet, orthotics enhance your body’s performance and efficiency, reduce pain, and contribute to your total body wellness. Our orthotics complement your healthcare professional’s treatment when you stand, walk, and live your active life.
Postural Effects from Imbalances in the Feet:
- A loss of arch height will cause a flattening and rolling in of the foot— this is termed pronation. Because everything is connected, the bones of the leg also inwardly rotate.
- Excessive rotation of the bones of the leg (tibia and femur) will cause unnecessary stresses on the knee as well as twisting of the pelvis and spine. If the pronation is more prevalent on one side, there can be a resultant unleveling of the pelvis and a functional scoliosis.
- Tilting of the pelvis places tension on muscles and connective tissues, which can eventually lead to chronic back problems.
- High levels of heel-strike shock can result from breakdown of the body’s natural “shock absorbers.” The shock wave then transmits up the kinetic chain causing painful symptoms all the way up to the head, slowed recovery of leg and spine injuries, and aggravation of other conditions.
Benefits of Orthotica:
- Properly fitted orthotics support the foot to control excessive and unwanted pronation and supination. This helps to reduce unwanted stress on the body.
- Improved shock absorption reduces repetitive stress on joints and muscles, permitting smoother function and decreasing arthritic symptoms.
- Use of Orthotics represents a long-term, yet cost-effective intervention for many types of functional and structural problems.
How Orthotics Work:
- Wearing Orthotics inside your shoes is similar to placing a shim beneath the leg of a wobbly table: it adds support to eliminate unwanted motion in the entire structure.
- The foot is formed of three distinct arches, which create an architectural vault. The result of supporting these three arches is improved stability and postural integrity.
- Flexible Orthotics encourage optimal muscle and nerve function by guiding the feet through a more normal pattern with each step taken.
Orthotics Can Help More Than You Think
Your body is an interconnected system of specialized parts, and the support structure which holds everything together is made up of bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Even if your feet don’t hurt, they may be contributing to your overall postural balance. If you’re having pain or discomfort in a specific area of your body— anywhere from your feet to your neck— click on the link(s) below nearest to your area of pain to learn how custom-made orthotics may help bring you long-term relief.
- Whiplash
- Chronic Neck Pain
- Posture
- Lower Back Pain
- Sacroiliac Joint Pain
- Hip Pain
- Knee Pain
- Short Leg
- Shin Splints
- Ankle Pain
- Heel Spurs
- Taking Care of Kids' Posture
- Foot Problems
- Sports Injuries and Performance
Pain Relief Could Be Only Two Feet Away
Even if your feet don’t hurt, they may be a major factor contributing to your health problems. Spinal-pelvic misalignment is the culprit. Pain in various parts of your body may be traced directly to your feet! You may not be as fortunate as you think. A foot problem may be the cause of discomfort or pain in your leg/hip, back, arm/shoulder or even your neck! Custom-made, flexible orthotics, may be part of the solution to your health problems.
Take This Test
- Do you stand or walk on hard surfaces for more than 4 hours daily?
- Do you participate regularly in any physical sport (basketball, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, etc.)?
- Are you age 40 or over?
- Have you had a prior knee injury, back injury, or neck injury?
- Do your shoes wear unevenly?
- Do you have joint pain while standing, walking, or running?
- Is one of your legs shorter than the other?
- Do you have knock knees or bow legs?
- Do you have obvious foot problems (bunions, corns, flat feet, etc.)?
- Do your feet “toe out” when you’re walking?
If you said yes to any of the above, ask your healthcare provider how custom-made foot orthotics, can help.