How Custom Orthotics Can Help Relieve Your Foot Pain

Unlike the mass-produced shoe inserts in your local store, custom orthotics correct foot and ankle problems rather than simply cushioning and masking them. This is important because it will relieve your foot pain and help you function better.

The process starts with casting your feet, usually in a non-weight-bearing position. The cast is then sent to a lab specializing in custom orthotics.

Reduces Pressure on Your Knees and Hips

Misalignments in your foot structure put extra strain on other body parts, including your knees and hips. Custom orthotics can help reduce pain in these areas by correcting biomechanical imbalances.

Unlike the generic insoles you can buy in a drugstore, you can get relief with custom orthotics for your foot pain because they are made for your feet using state-of-the-art diagnostic technology. A podiatrist can also observe your feet while you walk to determine if your foot structure requires specific corrections. If your foot tends to supinate, for example, this can cause your ankles to push inward when you take a step. This creates excess pressure in your knee joints and can trigger a chain reaction that impacts your lower back and hips.

Relieves Stress on Your Ankles

The right pair of orthotics supports your feet and ankles. This helps to correct the kink in the kinetic chain caused by unsupportive shoes and improper foot mechanics. This relieves pain and reduces the risk of injury.

Many common foot problems like flat feet, hammertoes, bunions, and arthritis can worsen by wearing shoes that don’t fit well. This causes your feet to shift their weight to other areas of your body, such as your knees and hips.

Custom-fit orthotics from your podiatrist can alleviate pain from these and other conditions. 

Reduces Pressure on Your Lower Back

Back pain can be debilitating and can significantly reduce your quality of life. Many of these problems can be traced back to issues with your feet.

Your feet absorb shock and distribute forces during movement throughout your body. Abnormalities in foot mechanics can cause imbalances and excessive stress to other body areas, including the lower back.

Custom orthotics can help correct these imbalances and alleviate back pain by distributing pressure evenly across your feet. They can also support and stabilize your knees, hips, and spine.

Rigid custom orthotics are made from hard materials like plastic or carbon fiber and are designed to support your feet, ankles, and the rest of your lower body as you move. On the other hand, soft custom orthotics are softer and designed to cushion your foot as it hits the ground and reduce impact force when you walk or perform physical activities.

Increases Mobility

Orthotics change how your feet impact the ground, addressing structural problems that often cause foot and ankle pain. This can lead to improved mobility and a more comfortable daily life, allowing you to achieve your physical goals. Over-the-counter shoe inserts may help relieve some of your foot and ankle pain, but they usually are not designed to treat underlying conditions like metatarsalgia or Morton’s neuroma. These problems can lead to increased pressure on the ball of your foot, which is where custom orthotics come in.

Reduces Pain

Custom orthotics may be the answer if you suffer from foot, knee, or hip pain. Your podiatrist can examine your feet, watch how you walk, and see if the misalignment of your feet is also impacting other parts of your body.

Your feet are a complex structure with 26 bones and hundreds of muscles, ligaments, and tendons. It’s easy to see why they can cause other issues in the ankles, hips, back, and knees if they aren’t supported properly.

Custom orthotics can relieve your foot pain by evenly distributing the pressure of your weight across the entire bottom of your foot. They can reduce the inflammation of your plantar fasciitis or reduce your pain from pinched nerves or flat feet. They can even help you walk better.

My name is Wojtek and I am very happy that you came to my healthy lifestyle blog. In human life, health is probably the most important factor needed for happiness, so I thought I will make a contribution to this and try to promote healthy eating and sport.

If you liked this article, be sure to leave a comment and read some more!