Custom orthotics for Foot Pain Relief
pain-free movement starts with your feet
Life has us on our feet all day and our day-to-day activities which can cause strain on our feet and other parts of our body.
While occasional discomfort may be normal, you may want to consider taking preventative measures to not cause yourself any long-term problems.
Live an active life
Your feet take you in all sorts of directions and your knees and hips follow their lead.
When you think about how many steps you take on a daily basis, multiplied by weeks…months…and years.
It comes at no surprise that 48-75% of people will experience foot pain throughout their lives.
Orthotics are used as a preventative and long-term solution to Foot and knee problems
Each foot has 26 bones and 30 joints in total.
Giving you the ability to move in many directions and making the foot one of the most complex parts of the body.
Your feet constantly absorb the pressures of your body weight in each step you take.
Resulting in pain in the weakest areas of our bodies.
The simple motion of running increases ground forces up your body chain by 2.5 times your body weight.
This can place an overload on your feet, ankles, and knees all the way up to your back.
Common conditions treated with orthotic shoe inserts include:
Corns and calluses are simply areas of thickened skin that the skin develops as a protective mechanism. The skin thickens to be able to withstand high-pressure areas around the foot.
The difference between corns and callus is simply in how the hardness and thickening of the skin develop.
Corns develop when a very small area is affected by a rubbing type of friction.
Callus develops when a larger area of the skin is affected by a high amount of pressure.
When the pressure areas to the skin are more focal, a small rock-like formation of the skin is produced, commonly referred to as corn.
Corns can appear in the form of hard or soft corns.
Hard corns: Usually occur on the top of toes and under the balls of the foot. They appear in areas where there is bone pressure against the skin.
Soft corns: These corns are whitish/grey. Like your skin has been soaked in water. They have a softer, rubbery texture. Soft corns appear mostly between the toes. They are most commonly described as a little rock stuck in your skin.
Commonly, Podiatrists will remove corns and calluses in the clinic typically every 6-8 weeks.
If the underlying causes that cause the callus are addressed. You will not need to see a podiatrist so often.
Our Podiatrists create an orthotic device for you to insert into your shoes.
The heel takes most of the shock due to being the first structure to make ground contact.
The heel is also an area that many muscular structures attach to. In particular the plantar fascia.
When the pressures exceed the amount the structures can handle, it can result in micro-tearing. If these small tears to the connective tissues cannot heal they can turn into a spur. Heel spurring occur when the micro-tears become calcified.
The body’s response to these traumas causes inflammation, pain and sometimes swelling.
The main goal is to relieve the pain by correcting the biomechanical cause. Whether it is excessive force when the heel strikes or the stretch to the plantar facia caused by flat feet.
The irritation causing pain to the heel area needs to be relieved. When the damaged structures are not constantly irritated and can relax. Then the tears can start healing.
Custom orthotics do this in 2 ways.
- By decreasing excessive shock taken by every step.
- Creating a high enough arch support to avoid the plantar fascia from overstretching.
We could get technical and call it Hallux Abducto Valgus. But this deformity is better described as a bulge, bunion or partial dislocation of the big toe joint.
The cause of this deformation can be many reasons. Genetics, footwear, biomechanical pressures and arthritis, are the more common causes.
The most common mechanical reason a bunion develops is due to the big toe joint. We all need a minimum of a 65-degree angle bend in the big toe joint. When the joint is unable to bend enough to pass on the force of walking to the tip of the toe the joint is forced to absorb the stress.
When a joint is under stress it deforms.
Podiatrists prescribe custom orthotics to treat bunions by correcting your walking pattern and weight loading. This makes sure the joints are free and unlocked. Ensuring every part of your foot functions the way it should.
The knee is a hinge joint. Meaning it has a fairly limited range of motion.
Mainly flexion (when you bend your knee) and extension (when you straighten your leg).
There is also medial (inward twisting motion) and lateral (outward twisting) rotation. But these movement ranges are far less and are also where most injuries happen.
Damage to ligaments and structures can occur inside the knee when there is excessive twisting at the knee joint. Common injuries include:
- ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) tears or rupturing.
- Patellar tracking syndrome/disorder.
- Meniscus tear/strain
We can help support the stability of the knee by correcting the position of your feet.
Directly reducing shock to the knees.
Reducing wear and tear at any age.
A hammer toe is a deformity of the foot where one or more toes are curved towards the ground.
There can be many causes of hammer toe, ranging from wearing shoes that are too tight over a long period,
or arthritis-related deformities (caused by osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis).
The most common hammer-toe-related foot problems that are seen by podiatrists include:
1. A building up of calluses on the tips of the toes. If left untreated this can cause the area to become sore and painful and can even lead to blisters and ulcers.
2. Due to the toe being excessively curved,
the toe loses its flexibility and can become difficult to move.
This more often leads to the large joint (the ball of the toe joint) hitting the ground and taking a lot of the weight of the body pressure.
3. The most progressive foot problem associated with hammer toes
becomes the excessive pain more often under the 2nd and 3rd metatarsal heads being exposed to the ground pressure for a long enough time where the fat padding under the metatarsal heads starts to move and no longer protects the joints from pain.
To combat these specific changes in the toes. Podiatrists often create custom orthotics that will offload the specific pressures to the toes that cause pain.
This is commonly achieved by correcting the ankle position to optimise the overall foot function as well as adding a “met-dome” to the specific area under the affected joint that helps straighten out the toes or offload the pressure by absorbing it externally to the foot itself.
6 Signs You Need Custom Insoles
- You get sore feet from standing on your feet all day
- The soles of your shoes get worn down on one side more than another
- You experience foot pain in the morning.
- You have experienced pain or injury in the feet, ankles, knees, hips or lower back
- If you frequently see a physio for pain in your lower limbs
- You are highly active or would like to increase your sports performance
While you may consider off-the-shelf insoles for these issues, they will need to be replaced frequently and are not designed to work for your specific structural needs.
Investing in custom orthotics can help prevent ongoing problems which can save you on physio, chiro and even surgery.
Getting Orthotics from a Podiatrist has never been easier
Complete our smart form
Using the information from your smart form our Podiatrists will be able to create your custom orthotics to suit your needs.
Take Your Scans
Within the Smart Form, our unique technology allows for easy scanning from your smart device.
Record Your Gait
Attach Your Recording for analysis from your device. When you complete the form Our Podiatrist will analyse your walking pattern and your foot scans.
Get moving again
Within 3 days of receiving your order your custom Unisoles will be manufactured and sent to your doorstep.
Orthotics are best at treating:
- Arthritis
- Achilles tendinitis
- Hammer toes
- Flat feet
- Heel spurs
- Pronation and Supination
- Ankle pain
- If you have foot deformity from Rheumatoid of Psoriatic Arthritis
- Plantar fasciitis
- Heel pain
- Knee pain
- Bunions
- Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome
- ACL pain
- Aching feet
- Lower Back Pain
- High Arches
Ready to step forward?
Are Orthotics Right For You?
If you’re not sure if you can benefit from orthotics, one of our friendly Podiatrists can help you with any questions you have.
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