FOOT ORTHOTICS
Foot Orthotics are prescription medical devices that you wear inside your shoes to correct biomechanical foot issues, such as problems with how you walk, stand, or run.
They can also help with foot pain caused by medical conditions such as diabetes, plantar fasciitis, bursitis, arthritis, and many other foot problems.
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WHAT ARE FOOT ORTHOTICS?
Feet are the very foundation of our bodies and when our feet work the way they are supposed to, they will give you many trouble-free miles. But, when there is a biomechanical problem or instability, symptoms may start in the foot/feet, and this can create any number of complications and knock-on effects higher up the leg and in the spine.
Our feet are designed to stay in contact with the ground for a certain amount of time, with specific pressure intervals and specific pressure zones. Often symptoms elsewhere that seem to be completely unrelated to the feet have their origin in biomechanical foot problems.
Foot orthotics may help control the alignment and function of your foot and will treat or prevent abnormal motion or rolling of the foot.
HOW DO YOU TELL IF YOU NEED FOOT ORTHOTICS?
A pressure-plate gait scan gives specific data and information about the relationship between the ground, feet, and ankles to understand and assess if there is a problem with or coming from the feet. Once the data has been gathered, it can be interpreted, analysed, and compared to the normal values to see if and where the problem/s originates. A clinician will then recommend the best course of action.
At times, no intervention is required, but the scan will be kept to use as a benchmark for comparison to a scan done at a later stage (much the same as an eye exam where no glasses are required, but the results of the test/s will be used in the future to see if the eyes are deteriorating or if a new problem has arisen).
If the data interpretation indicates a problem, then either that needs to be corrected or it needs to be accommodated. Correcting a problem is not always possible, but can be much easier in a growing adolescent than in a fully grown adult. In cases where correction is not possible, accommodating the problem usually solves the issue. Much the same as a pair of glasses for your eyes – the glasses do not “fix or correct” the eye problem, but they make up the deficit caused by the underlying problem.
One can also try to assess the problem by clinically looking at or watching how someone walks, and then try and (guess) where the incorrect pressures are being applied under the feet. Without a pressure scanner, analysing a foot problem is much more difficult though, and relies on the clinician’s expertise and subjective view. The same applies to the design of the orthotics (where indicated). The scanner data is used to calculate the precise placement of the structures of the orthotic and optimises the best results.
The scan record can also then be used in the future when a follow-up is done to assess if the orthotics are working, or if the problem is deteriorating. Much like dental and eye records, the foot scans and orthotic designs are stored securely in the cloud and are available to the practitioner anywhere in the world!
CAN FOOT PROBLEMSCAUSE SCOLIOSIS?
A diagnostic foot scan can also detect issues that may lead to spinal deformity (such as scoliosis).
Idiopathic scoliosis is the most common type of scoliosis. And, although a difference in leg length does not cause idiopathic scoliosis, a leg length discrepancy can aggravate an underlying or existing scoliosis. Leg length difference can be due to a real shortening – where one bone is longer or shorter than the same bone on the opposite leg, or the pelvis can rotate and will ‘pull’ one leg higher than the other, known as an apparent leg length difference. Underlying scoliosis can also cause the pelvis to tilt, which will lift one leg higher than the other and this may cause scoliosis to start or progress.
It is important to establish if there is a true leg length difference, which can be done clinically using a tape measure or more scientifically, by doing a Scanogram. A simple diagnostic foot scan can detect a leg length difference by measuring the pressure distribution under each foot while standing on the pressure plate. The clinician will then decide if (and what) further investigation needs to be done, or if the problem may be resolved using foot orthotics.