What are foot orthotics?  How do foot orthotics Work?

Foot orthotics are supportive devices placed inside your shoes to help influence how your feet contact the ground and how force travels through the body.

Custom orthotics are made for your individual foot structure and movement needs. When appropriate, they may help support foot position, improve comfort, and reduce stress through the lower body kinetic chain, including the ankles, knees, hips, pelvis, and low back.

There are many different types of orthotics to treat many different types of foot problems. Accommodative orthotics help to relieve minor foot pain and correct slight misalignments. For more serious foot issues, such as abnormalities and deformities, functional orthotics can be used. Different manufacturers use different materials to make their orthotics, which vary in cost and effectiveness.

Custom Foot Orthotics vs. Ones That I Can Pick Up at the Store

You are probably familiar with the insoles you can pick up at your local drugstore.Store-bought inserts may help with general cushioning or shoe comfort, but they are not designed around your specific foot structure, movement pattern, or clinical needs.  They may be useful for short-term comfort, but they typically do not provide the same individualized support as a custom device.

The biggest reason that store-bought orthotics aren’t as effective is that they are a one-size-fits-all product and as a consequence they do not have much of a correction factor. Custom orthotics, on the other hand, are designed around your individual foot structure, support needs, and movement findings. Everyone’s feet have different needs. In fact, your right foot probably has slightly different needs than your left. Each custom orthotic device is crafted to address the needs of one particular foot.

The first step in building your custom orthotics is for us to take a cast of your feet. This allows the lab technicians to work with an accurate model when creating a computer-modeled version of the orthotics.  The end result is an orthotic device designed to support your feet based on the way they move and bear weight. The final step is making sure that the custom orthotics fit perfectly into your shoes to give you the support that your feet need.

Play The Sole Supports Story Video to learn how these orthotics are custom designed to correct your foot mechanics

 How do I know if I need foot orthotics? 

If you notice any of the signs below, a foot and movement evaluation may help determine whether custom orthotics are appropriate for you.

• Toes that point excessively inward or outward
• Crooked toes or “hammer toes”
• Chronic pain or discomfort in one or both knees
• Lower back pain
• Bunions, corns, or calluses on your feet
• General foot pain
• Low arches or “flat feet” are also associated with foot problems. Can you fit a finger underneath the arch of your foot? If not, your foot problems might be due to low arches. Take a look at the sole of an old shoe that you have worn for a while. Is one side of the sole wearing out faster than the other side? This uneven wear can be a sign of uneven weight distribution that may be corrected with orthotics.

When Custom Orthotics May Be Considered

Before we talk about treating foot problems with orthotics, let’s talk about proper and improper foot mechanics. The most basic foot mechanics involve the two spring-like actions that occur with each step you take: pronation and supination.

Pronation happens when the arches of the feet flatten a little and the ankle tips inward every time the foot strikes the ground. This action absorbs the shock of the heel hitting the ground and helps you you’re your balance when your body is in mid-stance.

Supination is the opposite of pronation. Supination happens every time the foot pushes off the ground to take a step. The ankle tips outward in order to support the foot with every step while providing leverage for your weight while you are in mid-step. Supination also helps the toes form a natural rolling motion at the very beginning of the step when your foot initially leaves the ground.

Everybody’s feet supinate and pronate as they walk, but people with excessive pronation and supination may develop serious foot problems.

Many foot and lower-body symptoms may involve excessive pronation, overpronation, oversupination, or other movement patterns. Overpronation occurs when the ankle tips inward too far, putting excess strain on the inner foot. This action pulls on the muscles stabilizing the lower leg which can pull the knee to the inside.

Overpronation is typically associated with low arches or “flat feet.” Some symptoms of overpronation include:

• Achilles tendonitis
• Heel spurs
• Shin splints
• Knee pain
• Kneecap tendonitis
• Inflammation and wear between the kneecap and the knee joint
• Hip and low back pain due to muscle overuse / compensation
• Degenerative joints due to extra stress on joint

While overpronation is the culprit for many foot problems, about 5 to 10% of all foot disorders are associated with the opposite problem, oversupination. Oversupination occurs when the ankle tilts too far outward and the outer edge of the foot bears an imbalanced proportion of the body’s weight. This action stretches the stabilizing muscles in the lower leg and can lead to ankle injury. One common injury associated with oversupination is ligament injury due to the ankle rolling over.

People with high arches or abnormally stiff arches may develop problems due to oversupination. Some symptoms of oversupination include:

• Osteoarthritis
• Low back pain
• Lateral knee pain
• Hip pain
• Twisted or sprained ankle

Custom orthotics may be considered as part of care for:

• Bunions
• Plantar Fasciitis (heel pain and arch pain)
• Metatarsalgia (pain in the ball of the foot)
• Hallux Rigidus (stiff big toe)
• Knee Pain
• Low Back Pain
• Morton’s Neuroma (sharp pain or numbness in the ball of the foot)
• Shin Splints
• Iliotibial Band Syndrome (pain in the lower thigh or outside of the knee)
• Sports Performance
• Pregnancy-Related Foot and Low-Back Pain
• Pediatric Conditions

A comprehensive evaluation can help determine whether orthotics, chiropractic care, rehab, footwear changes, or another approach may be appropriate.

Because the feet are the foundation of movement, changes in foot mechanics can sometimes influence stress in other areas of the body:

• foot & ankle pain
• knee pain
• hip pain

Why Choose Ravenswood Chiropractic for Custom Orthotics?

At Ravenswood Chiropractic in Andersonville, we look at foot mechanics as part of the whole body. Your foot and ankle motion can affect the way your knees, hips, pelvis, and low back absorb stress.

Our doctors may use SFMA movement assessment, chiropractic evaluation, gait observation, and foot assessment to better understand whether orthotics make sense for your care.

Our office uses SoleSupports custom orthotics, which are designed to provide individualized support based on how your feet bear weight.  In order to achieve this, the models for SoleSupports are cast in a weight bearing position. This allows the orthotics to properly support your feet and correct misalignments at all times.

Call Ravenswood Chiropractic & Wellness Center Today!

The first step is finding out whether orthotics are actually appropriate for your body, your footwear, and your goals.

Many people do not realize that foot mechanics can contribute to stress in the ankles, knees, hips, pelvis, or low back. A foot and movement evaluation can help us decide whether custom orthotics should be part of your care plan.

Call 773-878-7330 to schedule a visit at our Andersonville office on Ravenswood Avenue.