Healthy, well-cared-for feet allow you to do everything from walking around your home to exercising with ease. They can even lower your risk for chronic pain in other body areas, such as your knees and hips.
If you’re dealing with bothersome issues associated with poorly positioned feet or wish to prevent common problems in the future, custom orthotics may be your best bet.
The expert team at Concord Podiatry in New Hampshire, led by Dr. David E. Biss, can fit you for custom orthotics that improve not only your foot function but your overall well-being.
Here’s a look at five essential benefits of custom orthotics:
A range of common issues in your knees, hips, feet, or ankles can lead to an abnormal gait and poor foot mechanics, which can also cause or worsen pain in those areas. Similar problems can stem from wearing narrow or high-heeled shoes.
Over time, gait and foot mechanics problems can easily fuel chronic pain. Custom orthotics improve how your feet move, leading to a better gait, weight distribution, and less pain.
Staying stable on your feet lowers your risk for spills, injuries, and related complications. Custom orthotics keep your feet and ankles aligned to keep you more stable. This is especially important if you play a sport or are over age 65, when falls become a leading cause of injury.
Nearly one-third of musculoskeletal medical visits involve tendon problems. If you’re prone to them, custom orthotics can help by absorbing shock and reducing stress on your lower legs due to a condition like tendonitis. The devices can also raise your heel to shorten the tendon, which helps prevent and relieve pressure linked with overuse injuries.
Custom orthotics keep your feet stable and prevent pronation when your feet roll too much inward as you walk. This also means a reduced risk of injuries associated with ankle rolling, such as foot and ankle sprains, fractures, and sprains.
As a bonus, reduced pronation means that the soles of your shoes won’t wear out as quickly and unevenly.
While you can pick up shoe inserts at pharmacies and some grocery stores, no insert can address everyone’s unique needs. Basic inserts, for example, aren’t designed to reduce bunion or plantar fasciitis pain.
Your provider will take detailed, 3-D images of your feet for your custom orthotics. Once sent to a lab, the images are used to create inserts that address your specific needs and preferences. Because of that precision, you’ll notice the benefits quickly.
To learn more about custom orthotics benefits or get started with personalized footcare, call or text Concort Podiatry today.
