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Take Care of Your Feet

Most people take thousands of steps each day and would traverse the globe several times over the course of a lifetime. A 150 pound individual’s heel hits the ground with nearly 500 pounds of force with each step they take. This averages out to about 3.5x your body weight with normal walking. Our bodies have been equipped with an amazing mechanism to deal with these stresses. The foot is a complex structure made up of 26 bones and 33 joints. The foot help absorb this shock to our bodies by pronating or flattening the arch as our body weight passes onto the foot. This is a normal physiological motion that is important and necessary to long term musculoskeletal health. If pronation occurs too soon or for too long during the gait cycle than problems can begin to develop. This is referred to as over-pronation. When the foot over-pronates, the leg rotates inward causing undue stress on the knee and hip, forces the pelvis to rotate forward and the lumbar spine to compensate. Although some degree of pronation is normal and needed for shock attenuation, if it occurs in excess it can start to cause knee, hip or back pain. A collapsed arch can change leg length as much as ½ inch which can create long term wear on joints. Imagine the body as a stack of blocks. Proper alignment of those blocks is necessary for stability but if the blocks shift slightly, alignment is lost and the tower of blocks becomes unstable and will eventually fall.

What is an Orthotic

An orthotic is a supportive device which is placed inside footwear to change the mechanical function of the foot. It works dynamically during weight bearing activities such as walking, running and standing. An ideal orthotic will provide full, custom and corrected arch support so that the foot works in a biomechanically correct way. The orthotic industry has abused their privilege to take care of the public over the years by escalating costs and touting orthotics to be the next “magic pill” that will cure everything. Although there are subtle adjustments that can be made in addition to correcting pronation that your doctor may find useful, orthotics as a whole are not for everyone and should be prescribe only to compliment traditional medical intervention.

How Do I Get a Pair?

Dr. White works with a few labs to make sure the specific needs of patients are met. Most often either a custom made orthotic by Dr. White or a lab orthotic c by sole supports work best. Selection of either orthotic will be dependent on Dr. White’s evaluation and your needs as an individual. If needed, orthotics can be made in as little as three days. Please contact our office for more information on pricing, insurance reimbursement and our satisfaction guarantee.