Orthotics

Orthotics are shaped insoles placed inside shoes with the purpose of restoring natural foot movement to help with posture and extremity pain. Orthotics also known as insoles or shoe inserts, are designed to correct foot posture and abnormal or irregular walking patterns. More than the typical arch supporters or shoe cushions you find at your local pharmacy, orthotics help users to perform functions that make everyday activities more comfortable and efficient, by altering the angles at which the feet strike the ground.

Many chiropractors use orthotics for their patients in order to help correct serious issues in joints; along with regular chiropractic care, orthotics can be very effective. Many chiropractors are trained to help fit orthotics for patients. Knowing whether you need them is often left up to the diagnoses of a doctor of chiropractor. Chiropractors treat the whole body and can determine how the use of orthotics can help with a specific issue.

Customized orthotic insoles are shaped to accommodate and align your feet and to correct and realign your foot and anklebones to their neutral position, restoring natural foot function.

Orthotics are often one part of a treatment regimen for many foot and ankle concerns.

Doctors often recommend orthotics in conjunction with these treatments because orthotics can correct feet that aren’t ideally positioned. For example, when feet roll slightly inward or downward this is a condition called pronation. This is usually the case for those with very flat feet. Wearing orthotics can help provide additional arch support to try and prevent this.

Orthotics may also provide additional support and cushioning in key areas of the feet, such as the heel or ball of the foot. Because orthotics are custom-made, the person making them will consider the individual’s footwear needs. Ideally, orthotics and other treatments can help a person avoid more invasive treatments, such as surgery.

Orthotics can be recommended to assist with several conditions:

• Arthritis: Rheumatoid arthritis is a painful systemic condition that attacks all of the body’s joints, resulting in inflammation and swelling, cartilage and bone breakdown, and joint dislocation that orthotics may help to correct.
• Back pain: Sometimes poor positioning of the feet, such as arches that roll inward, or lack of cushioning can cause pain that orthotics can lessen.
• Bunions: Bunions are a bony bump that forms on the joint at the base of your big toe. It occurs when some of the bones in the front part of your foot move out of place. They are a painful condition that also cause foot deformities. Orthotics with a wide toe box can help to reduce pressure on the big toe.
• Bursitis: Inflammation of fluid-filled sacs in the heels and toes can cause pain and discomfort otherwise known as bursitis. Orthotics with heel and arch support can help to reduce bursitis discomfort.
• Diabetes: Sometimes, a person with diabetes can lose sensation in their feet, a condition known as diabetic neuropathy. When this occurs, orthotics can help to reduce excess stress and pressure that can lead to foot ulcers.
• Flat feet: Flat feet can cause foot, ankle, and back pain. Orthotics can help to support the feet and promote proper foot positioning.
• Hammer toes: Hammer Toes often occur as a side effect of bunions on the big toe. It often develops on the second, third, or fourth toe, and there is frequently a callus or corn on top of the affected joint because of the way it rubs against your shoe. Orthotics can provide additional support to the feet and reduce the likelihood that hammer toes will worsen.
• Heel spurs: Heel spurs are conditions where excess bone grows on the back or bottom of the heel. Orthotics can support the foot and reduce inflammation.
• High arches: Very high arches can stress muscles in the feet and lead to a number of conditions, such as shin splints, knee pain, and plantar fasciitis. Orthotics can help prevent a person’s feet from rolling excessively inward or outward.
• Injuries” People who’ve experienced trauma to their feet and ankles may require extra support during the healing process with orthotics.
• Plantar fasciitis: Plantar fasciitis is a common cause of heel pain and if you have ever had it you know it is painful and makes walking difficult. There are many approaches to remedying this condition and there is no one solution fits all. For example, Dr. Jantz’s wife had plantar fasciitis and had used a variety of techniques until she found that having her foot adjusted regularly and running a massager over the outer edge as well as the back of her calve muscles every day for approximately 4 weeks, is what did the trick for her. Recommending orthotics to support the heel and foot are common practice and may be what is needed for you.
• Headaches as they relate to posture.

In short, orthotics can be the solution for many painful conditions as well as the preventative care needed to avoid such conditions.

Here at the Alternative Health Care Center we use Sole Supports, which differ from most orthotics available on the market today. Most orthotics are flat, which don’t really do anything to support the foot. You need an orthotic that cups the arch of the foot in its ideal position, not the position it falls to.

We have found that most orthotics are either not truly custom or are cast from a dysfunctional flat foot not supporting optimal biomechanics. This of course defeats their original purpose. With Sole Supports you are receiving a true custom fit orthotic, one that cups the arch of the foot and supports optimal biomechanics.