What are Orthotics?

Orthotics are medically prescribed foot devices that fit inside your shoes to help stabilize and correct poor foot posture. They are custom made and specifically designed to help realign the foot structures into their correct position. Walking and standing with the feet, legs, hips, and spine constantly out of alignment can contribute to back pain. Orthotics provide stability for the foot and corrects injury-causing imbalances. They help reduce the stress and strain put on our feet, legs, knees and lower back.

Faulty foot mechanics can result in long- term damage not only to your feet, but also to other structural and muscular components of the body. Orthotics can theoretically help patients with back pain as it can help realign how the feet articulate themselves on the ground, which in turn can affect the body’s entire overall posture and gait.

At Chiro & Sports Med, your orthotics treatment start with our chiropractors following the treatment all the way through from casting, cast modifications, fitting and reviews of the custom orthotics.

How do orthotics work?

It’s important to know that the foot is made up of twenty six bones, thirty three joints and more than one hundred muscles, tendons and ligaments. Biomechanical problems affecting the feet can increase stresses within the foot structure creating pain. An Orthotic works by forcing your foot into its most anatomically aligned position. Medical research has shown that prescribed orthotics correct the abnormal position of the lower limb – bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments – thereby allowing correct functioning of the joints, improving balance and posture. Therefore enhancing performance and prevents further wear and tear of the joints, helping avoid injury.

Improving the kinetic chain

Orthotics can help manage low back pain by improving and stabilising the position of the feet, which in turn improves every aspect of a person’s gait. The medical term for this phenomenon is the kinetic chain. The feet represent the base of this chain with each subsequent joint above the feet considered a “link”. The link goes all the way up the trunk of the body to the neck. During the process of walking, if the feet are pronated or rolled inwards at each step the rest of the kinetic chain is negatively affected.

Pronated feet cause the knees to come together into a knocked-knee stance, medically known as genu valgus. This affects the angle of the hip thus forcing the femur (thigh bone) to angle inward from the hip (medically known as coxa vara). The faulty angulation of the hips and knees then destabilizes the pelvis, which also affects overall posture and the spine.

Use of orthotics can theoretically correct the foot pronation which can destabilize the knees, pelvis, and low back.

The aim for our chiropractors at Chiro & Sports Med with Foot orthotics is to help correct dysfunctional biomechanics and therefore:

  • Reduce pain
  • Provide support
  • Provide better positioning
  • To relieve pressure and improve the overall biomechanical function of the foot
  • Improve pelvic alignment

Orthotics can assist and improve many types of conditions and symptoms, including:

Chiro & Sports Med

The orthotics prescribed by our chiropractors at Chiro & Sports Med have been designed to meet your specific foot and body requirements. Our mission is to help reduce or eliminate pain and to prevent future problems and injury. To improve your quality of life, your well-being and your ability to live and active healthy lifestyle.

If you would like to make an appointment with one of the chiropractors at Chiro & Sports Med simply call our office on 9817 2005 and one of our friendly staff will organise an appointment for you.

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