Tag Archive for: Custom Orthotics

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Foot Pain? Your Flip-Flops May Be the Culprit!

Foot Pain? Your Flip-Flops May Be the Culprit!

Ah, summertime splendour. Nearly everyone’s favourite time of year in Victoria is met by longer days, lighter clothing and more casual footwear — namely, the all-too-common flip-flops. Unfortunately, while flip-flops may seem like a comfortable choice at first step, they can cause foot pain and exacerbate the following conditions. So, if you’re noticing aches and pains this time of year, and if flip-flops are part of your summertime routine, here’s what you need to know.

Why Flip-Flops Cause Foot Pain and ProblemsFoot Pain Caused By Poor-Fitting Foorwear

Flip-flops lack support: and even if you don’t realize it, wearing flip-flops creates tension in the muscles of your feet and toes as the foot grips the flip-flop to prevent it from sliding off when walking. 

Absent elevation: In addition, the lack of a slight heel elevation can cause excessive strain on your foot, calf muscles, and Achilles tendon. While, depending on your feet, not everyone requires a lot of support in their footwear, flip-flops’ complete lack of arch support and cushioning means your whole body absorbs the shock each time your feet strike the ground. 

Standing and walking for long periods in flip-flops can cause or exacerbate underlying foot and postural conditions and cause pain that can interfere with your usual activities. 

The Most Common Conditions Exacerbated by Flip-Flop Wearing

Plantar Fasciitis: Quite possibly the most common condition triggered by prolonged flip flop wearing, plantar fasciitis pain is often described as a burning or stabbing pain that’s felt in the heel or midsole of your foot. Plantar fasciitis pain results from inflammation of the plantar fascia, which can be caused by footwear lacking adequate arch support.

Flexor and Extensor Tendonitis: When you walk in flip-flops, your feet tense the muscles of your toes to stabilize the sole of the flip-flop. In addition, it’s also common to push off the ground from your big toe when walking in flip-flops. Over time, this can lead to strain and inflammation of the tendons responsible for flexing and extending your toes. The first signs and symptoms of flexor tendonitis and extensor tendonitis include pain along the top of the foot, under the big toe, or under your inner ankle when you walk, run, bend or straighten your toes. 

Bunion Pain: If you have bunions, you know they can make a lot of different footwear off limits. And while flip flops appear as though they’d offer a reprieve from bunion pain caused by friction from narrow and enclosed footwear, the lack of cushioning under the big toe joint and ball of your foot can lead to inflammation, redness and pain. 

Achilles Tendonitis Pain: Achilles tendonitis is caused when the tendon that runs between the back of your ankle and heel becomes strained, which can be triggered by wearing flat footwear without a slight heel elevation.

Knee, Hip or Lower Back Pain: Footwear that lacks adequate cushioning and support places unnecessary strain and impact on your ligaments and joints, which can cause inflammation and pain most commonly felt in the knees, hips and lower back. 

Gait Issues, Postural Issues and Muscle Imbalances: Gait issues are prevalent and often go unnoticed until body aches and pains (or a sports injury) bring someone in for an assessment. Unaddressed gait issues can lead to muscle imbalances such as glute tightness that can cause an uneven tilt to the pelvis resulting in lower back and hip pain, nerve pain and joint issues. In addition, flat footwear such as flip-flops can interfere with the natural biomechanics of your feet, which, when unimpeded, help protect the body by absorbing shock, ensuring balance and maintaining body alignment.

Perhaps You Could Use a Little Support

Proper body alignment starts from the ground up: and sometimes something as minor as adjusting heel elevation and providing adequate arch support can make a big difference in helping to improve posture, relieve pain and correct movement patterns. 

You don’t necessarily have to ditch your flip-flops altogether: reserve them for beach or short strolls in the yard. Even your most expensive running shoes or workboots may need a little tweaking to best support your feet and prevent foot pain and other complications. 

Custom orthotics that are tailored to your specific needs following a thorough GAIT analysis: can be easily inserted into different types of footwear. Adding orthotics to your everyday shoes and boots can help alleviate foot pain and correct gait issues by giving your feet the right amount of support where it’s needed. Custom orthotics can make a big difference in relieving foot pain and body aches caused by gait issues and suboptimal body alignment, resulting in more comfortable days on your feet.

If Foot Pain Persists

How Orthotics are Made

It never hurts to have things checked out by a health professional, and addressing the cause of foot pain early can prevent further injury and result in better overall outcomes.

At Diversified Health Clinic, we use state-of-the-art GaitScan technology to accurately assess foot function and identify any imbalances, biomechanical issues and causes of pain. If faulty foot mechanics are found to be the cause of your pain, our practitioners can fit you with custom orthotic inserts that are specifically tailored for your feet. You can learn more about our comprehensive process here.

Take The Next Step Towards Happy, Healthy Feet

If foot pain, body aches or gait issues are slowing you down, our practitioners at Diversified Health can help. Take the first step on your road to recovery by booking an appointment with one of our practitioners today.

Call (250) 382-0018 or book an appointment online. We offer direct billing and weekday and weekend appointments. Please view our hours of operation and location details here.

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Step Into The New Year With Less Foot Pain

Step Into The New Year With Less Foot Pain

Life is too short for uncomfortable shoes, but even the cushiest shoes can feel like bricks at the end of a long day on your feet (especially if you’re already prone to foot pain). While you can’t always put your feet up when you want to, the good news is that there are things you can do to prevent and alleviate foot pain. Continue reading to learn about the most common causes of foot pain and what can be done to treat your feet. 

Common Causes of Foot Pain 

Everyone will experience sore feet at some point, but what happens when foot pain is recurring or, worse yet, persistent? Recurring or constant foot pain often comes down to one or more of the following:

  • Poor-fitting or uncomfortable footwear
  • Wearing inappropriate footwear for an activity 
  • Strained foot muscles caused by occupation, prolonged activity, or excessive body weight
  • Untreated gait issues resulting in excessive supination (rolling outward of the ankles and raising of the arch), pronation (rolling inwards of the ankles and collapsing of the arches) and other biomechanical faults
  • Hereditary conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis that affect the bones and joints of your feet and ankles 
  • Arch pain from fallen arches and poor arch support 
  • Heel spurs, hammertoes and bunions 
  • Past injuries to your feet, ankles, knees or hips that displace more weight to one foot, reducing foot flexibility or causing pain during certain activities
  • Heel pain caused by plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendon pain caused by Achilles tendinopathy
  • Metatarsalgia, causing pain and inflammation in the bottom balls of (one or both) feet, triggered by poor arch support or shock absorption
  • Shin splints pain caused by training on hard surfaces and footwear with poor shock absorption
  • Gait issues that negatively affect your body’s alignment and posture, resulting in knee, hip or lower back pain

Choosing the Right Shoes

Foot Pain Caused By Poor-Fitting Foorwear

In our efforts to be fashionable, we often make footwear choices based on form over function by paying more attention to a style than whether or not our footwear choices properly support our feet. Common blunders include toe boxes that are too tight, heels that are too high or soles that are too flat, resulting in constrained feet and overtaxed foot muscles after a few hours of wear. The ideal footwear considers the activity you’re performing and supports your feet by helping to distribute your weight as evenly as possible and absorbing some of the shock when your feet strike the ground. 

Proper Footwear for Your Occupation and Sport

If your occupation has you on your feet all day, your footwear needs to be more shock-absorbing and offer good stability and arch support to prevent muscle strain and inflammation. 

Selecting the proper footwear for your sport is just as important (if not more) as choosing the rest of your equipment. For example, a good weightlifting shoe will offer drastically different types of support than the ideal shoe for hiking, trail running, CrossFit or field lacrosse. So carefully consider what kind of support your feet and ankles need during the activities you perform. 

Some Feet Need a Little Extra Support

Some feet require extra TLC, and that’s okay! When we consider how much our feet support us every day, it only makes sense to return the favour. 

Some Feet Need a Little Extra Support

Did you know? 

Besides causing pain, improper footwear and unaddressed gait issues can have a detrimental and compounding effect on the rest of your body. For example, Shin pain, knee pain, hip joint pain and lower back pain are sometimes caused and exacerbated by issues that start in your feet. 

Protecting your health from the ground up!

If we compare our bodies to a tower, the strength of a tower’s architecture significantly depends on a solid foundation. The same is true about our bodies. The optimal alignment of our joints (and posture) starts at our feet – our foundation. This is where custom orthotics come in.

How custom orthotics mitigate foot pain

Most foot pain is caused by biomechanical faults of the feet that can be corrected using custom-made orthotics. Even foot pain caused by genetic factors can benefit from having custom orthotics that help reduce foot strain. Custom orthotics are tailored to the exact ergonomics of your foot, taking into account any pain and biomechanical faults caused by foot malformations, fallen arches and other foot muscle imbalances. Properly fitted orthotics improve how your body’s weight is distributed to your feet, improving overall body alignment and shock absorption while standing and during activities.

Custom orthotics add an instant upgrade to almost any pair of shoes

Custom orthotics are made to fit neatly into most types of footwear, and depending on your lifestyle, can be tailored to suit the activities you partake in most. For example, it’s not uncommon for athletes to have more than one pair of custom orthotics – one that is specifically designed to be used during training. 

Custom-made orthotics support your feet where they need it most

Custom Orthotics and Gait AnalysisUnlike off-the-shelf insoles and inserts, custom orthotics are created from exact molds of your feet that are taken after a thorough biomechanical assessment and Gait Analysis that examines your feet and posture when standing and walking. Making orthotics from an exact mold ensures the correction offered by your orthotics is just enough, providing support specifically where your feet need it without interfering with the healthy dynamics of your feet.

Click here to learn more about our Gait Scan Analysis or visit our article on Custom Foot Orthotics to learn more about our Custom Orthotics process at Diversified Health Clinic in Victoria, BC.

Take the Next Step in Treating Foot Pain

Book a private appointment with one of our chiropractors or physiotherapists at Diversified Health Clinic today at (250) 382-0018 to discuss whether orthotics are right for you, or contact our clinic to learn more.

We’re happy to answer your questions, address the cause of your pain and discomfort, and help you step into the new year with happy, healthy feet!

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Custom Foot Orthotics

Custom Foot Orthotics

Many foot problems can be directly attributed to collapsed/fallen arches or other biomechanical issues such as pronation (rolling in and collapsing of the arches) or supination (rolling outward of the ankles and raising of the arch). Many of these biomechanical faults can be genetic in origin and many patients do not know there is a problem, usually until pain manifests. Orthotics can help to provide relief from conditions of the foot, ankle, knee, hips and lower back including, but not limited to:

  • Plantar Fasciitis
  • Bunions
  • Ankle sprains
  • Achilles’ tendinopathy
  • Shin Splints
  • Low back pain

How are custom orthotics made?

If you are an existing patient, you will come in for the first appointment, a biomechanical assessment that includes a gait scan analysis, that looks at your feet when standing, and walking. Next, the practitioner will take a foam cast of your feet, in the proper “neutral position” which allows the orthotic lab to customize the orthotic to your feet. Then we send out the gait scan analysis along with the foam cast to The Orthotic Group’s lab and in about 2-3 weeks, your orthotics will be delivered to the clinic. 

If you are a new or existing patient, you will need to check with your extended benefit company to get an understanding of the requirements they may have for your orthotics to be reimbursed before booking in for the first orthotic appointment, the Biomechanical assessment.

You would then book a fitting appointment roughly 2-3 weeks after the biomechanical assessment. In this appointment you will receive your new orthotics and will be able to try them in your shoes and the practitioner will ensure they are fitting correctly. They will also be able to discuss how often you should start wearing your orthotics for and holding up to wear and tear. After this, you can book in maintenance/checkup appointments if you have any concerns or issues with the custom orthotics. 

If you are a new patient to the clinic, we would have you book an initial appointment first so that your practitioner can get your health history, do a proper assessment and be able to recommend a treatment plan. If the practitioner believes custom orthotics would benefit your treatment and condition, then they would book you the biomechanical assessment.

How Orthotics are Made

Orthotic Fees

At the first biomechanical appointment, along with your appointment fee we will also collect a non-refundable deposit that goes towards the cost of the orthotics (50% orthotic cost). At the fitting appointment, you will pay your appointment fee and the remaining 50% of the orthotic cost. You will also be given your Orthotic package that will include receipt of payment, biomechanical paperwork, proof of manufacturing and if applicable any paperwork that is required by your extended benefit plan. 

Adjustment Period

There is an adjustment period after you receive your orthotics for your body to readjust to the correct position, generally about two weeks. Your body will have adapted to the ground in a certain way when you did not have orthotics, and now must re-learn the correct position. Accompanying your orthotics, our practitioners will provide you with an instruction sheet that suggests the length of time that orthotics should be worn each day until your body has had the chance to readjust. It is important, once you have gone through the adjustment period, to wear your orthotics as prescribed and on a continuous basis to ensure that your body maintains that correct position and to help alleviate pain. 

Shoes

The importance of shoes cannot be over-emphasized here. The best custom orthotics will be ineffective if you wear them with shoes that are not stable. Custom orthotics can be transferred into different shoes that you may wear, however there may be certain shoe types that do not comfortably accommodate your orthotics. A good quality shoe will provide adequate support for only about 8 months if you wear the shoes daily. While the shoes may appear in good condition, the foams in the mid-sole lose their ability to “bounce back”. Replacing your shoes on a regular basis is on the most important things you can do for your foot health. 

Placing Orthotics in the shoe

The most important thing to do when inserting your custom orthotics, is to remove the insole that is already in the shoe. Most insoles have a lip on the back, and this will prevent the custom orthotics from sitting all the way back in the shoe and may lead to arch or heel irritation. After you have placed your custom orthotic into your shoe, you want to make sure that the heel sits all the way back against the heel of the shoe. If there is a gap between the orthotic and the shoe, this is an indication that the shoe is too narrow for your orthotic and your foot. 

How long can I expect the custom orthotics to last?

No orthotics are not indestructible and will wear out eventually or you may even outgrow them. Generally, custom orthotics last 1 to 5 years and determining if they need to be replaced comes down to appearance and how they are used.  Some of the most relevant factors are:

  1. How they are used: if you do a lot of high impact activities, they will wear out faster
  2. How often they are worn: It is recommended to wear your orthotics everyday, and many people choose to get more than one pair to accommodate for dress shoes, running shoes etc
  3. Getting older: Your feet will not be the exact same size and shape, as they will continue to grow and flatten as you get older. 
  4. Signs of damage: scratches and scuffs are fine, but if you notice cracks, creases or breaks in the orthotics, they need to be replaced.
  5. Pain: If your orthotics are working you should experience minimal to no pain.  Any kind of pain is the best indicator that your orthotics need replacing
  6. Lifestyle changes: any kind of significant transformation such as pregnancy, knee surgery, weight gain or weight loss can cause you to need new orthotics. 

If You’re Interested in Orthotics

Contact the clinic to find out more about custom orthotics or to book your biomechanical assessment with Dr. Caitlin Sellan at 250-382-0018 or book online at www.diversifiedhealth.janeapp.com

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Orthotic FAQ | Advanced Health Care Products Victoria

Orthotic FAQ | Advanced Health Care Products VictoriaA custom orthotic is a biomechanical medical appliance designed to align the foot and ankle into the most anatomically efficient position.  Orthotics work by decreasing high-pressure areas, stabilizing foot alignment and cushioning the foot.

Custom orthotics reduce stress and strain on your body by bringing your feet back into proper alignment by re-aligning the foot and redirecting / reducing certain motion that take place during the gait cycle.

The longer you wear your orthotics, the more benefit you will get out of them. If your daily activities require that you change your footwear; you should have a second pair of orthotics designed for that specific activity.  The type of orthotic depends on many factors including lifestyle, athletic activities (i.e., walking, running), foot type, and the problems that are being encountered.  Remember that the orthotics will not permanently change your anatomy and will only “work” when you are standing or walking on them.

Custom orthotics are used to relieve symptoms of common injuries, such as plantar fasciitis, over-pronation, under-pronation,  and various foot and ankle injuries, as well as helping individuals with diabetes or arthritis. Orthotics complement other treatments such as physiotherapy and chiropractic.

The symptoms of poor foot mechanics can include any one of the following:

  • Localized foot pain
  • Bunions, hammer toes
  • Arch/heel pain
  • Leg/knee pain
  • Hip or back pain – even neck pain

Custom orthotics work to realign the structure of your foot, so you may feel pressure in some areas of the orthotic. When you start wearing your orthotics, it is normal for the orthotics to feel strange; however, properly fitted orthotics should not cause any new pain, blistering or redness.

Keep in mind that your shoes act as a foundation for the foot and provide a stable base for an orthotic to sit on. It is important to wear appropriate footwear, as the footwear itself is part of the treatment.  A foot orthotic can be rendered ineffective by placing it in an inferior shoe or runner.

Although symptomatic relief will not occur over night, consistently wearing your orthotics for a period of time will realign your foot, allow healing to occur and help position your foot so you will be using the right muscles at the right time, minimizing fatigue and allowing your muscles to be used more efficiently.

Talk to your health care practitioner and see if you are a good candidate for custom orthotics.

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Do you Overpronate or Underpronate? | Orthotics Victoria

Orthotics are biomechanical appliances, that enable feet to be held in a more stable position, therefore reducing stress and strain on the body.

Over 50% of the population have feet that overpronate or underpronate. This means that the foot turns too much or not enough. Overpronation or underpronation can lead to serious injury and pain.  Orthotics can help this by correcting the problem by adjusting the angles in which your feet touch the ground.

Do you Overpronate or Underpronate? | Orthotics Victoria Orthotics can help with such conditions as plantar fascitis, chronic blisters, shinsplints and back pain. Most problems that occur within your body, are likely caused by too much stress on it. Too much stress causes things to break, rip or tear. In this case, orthotics help prevent these injuries by reducing the amount of stress that has caused the problem in the first place.

Orthotics help restore the normal balance and alignment of your body by gently correcting foot abnormalities. They gently reduce problems associated with pressure points, and muscle strain on knees, hips and backs.

What type of orthotics to use depends on what you are trying to accomplish for the foot. For the over-pronator, generally a more rigid type of orthotic is necessary since you are trying to limit the amount of rolling that occurs. Softer types of orthotics are indicated for under-pronators, to fill the arch and provide increased shock absorption.

The important point to remember when considering orthotics is that they should be customized for your feet and made by someone well-trained in foot biomechanics. While there is a lot of science that goes into deciding upon and making an orthotic, there is some art as well and sometimes adjustments are necessary. The final orthotic product should be something you would not think of going on a run without, not an expensive dust collector in the back of your closet.

Diversified Health’s lead Chiropractor, Dr. Krisjan Gustavson has been making orthotics for over 25 years, and would be happy to meet with you to discuss if you are a candidate for custom orthotics.

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