My Fitness Edge

Your feet are the bedrock for balance and alignment of your body. Structural problems with the feet can affect the way that you walk and cause many discomforting issues. These include foot pain, bunions, hammer toes, discomfort in the arch of the foot and heel pain – all of which might be effectively treated with custom orthotics.

Less well known symptoms that may also be treated with orthotics may also include leg discomfort, knee pain, issues with the hip, back pain and even neck stiffness. After all, your feet support your whole weight, so defective foot mechanics can change the even distribution of your body weight, while standing, walking or running, and contribute to an increased load on joints and muscles somewhere else in the body.

Foot orthotics help to fix any imbalance by exerting mild, consistent pressure to stabilize the bones of your feet and bring muscles and bones back into proper alignment. Prescription orthotics look like insoles, but are bio mechanical medical appliances customised to fix your foot imbalance.

Orthotics fit into your shoes as comfortably as an insole – and they have the advantage of having been made from exact imprints of your feet.

Orthotics may be recommended for a few reasons, including:

• aligning and supporting the foot or ankle
• preventing, correcting or accommodating foot deformities
• enhancing the overall function of the foot or ankle

Here’s a reference list to offer you an idea of which orthotics might be right for you. Be certain to get a biomechanical gait analysis by your physiotherapist before using an orthotic device on your own:

Bunions and/or bunionettes are helped with Shoes with a wide toe box; soft, continuous uppers, stretchy shoes; “bunion shield” type pad

Corns and calluses. If located on or between the toes, a toe separator might be beneficial.

Cavus foot (stiff high arch) can be helped with soft orthotic cushions to distribute pressures uniformly

Hammer toe or claw toe require shoes with a wide or deep toe box to deal with the malformation; toe crest.

Forefoot pain (metatarsalgia) is helped by wide shoes, pads or bars under the bones of the forefoot (metatarsals)

Limb length deformity will require customized full-contact orthosis

Neuropathic ulceration (such as with diabetes) : Full-contact cushioned orthosis (orthotic), extra-deep or custom shoes, rocker bottom sole to reduce force on foot

Plantar fasciitis (heel pain or heel spur) : Use p refabricated heel insert made of silicone, rubber or felt

Runner’s painful knee: Full-length, soft, prefabricated sport orthotic inlay to reduce stress and turning inward of the foot (pronation; flatfoot).

MedRehab Group specializes in a variety of rehabilitation therapies, including physiotherapy, massaging therapy, chiropractic, orthotics, and acupuncture.