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Customized Orthotic Insoles Podiatry

Patients that have

  • poor foot mechanics
  • leg-length discrepancy
  • muscle imbalance causing compensatory movements

can experience discomfort and pain when they stand and walk. You see, our human feet has 26 different bones which are kept stable together AND able to move, jog, sprint, jump using our ligaments and muscles that serve as joints and pulleys.

Biomechanical problems in our feet can lead to poor alignment which causes unnecessary and unbalanced load/weight on specific bones. This will lead to a chain-effect to pain in other joints such as the ankle, knee, hips and even back pain due to the uneven weight distribution.

A customized-to-your-feet orthotic insole is a device that can quickly improve and restore the natural function of your feet, posture and movement.

Customized Orthotics Insoles VS Regular Off The Shelf Insoles

There is a big difference between off the shelves insoles versus customized orthotic insoles.

Off the shelf insoles are mass produced, and produced for generic use. They're mean for general cushioning which includes shock absorption. These are great for just every day use and if you don't have any pains or biomechanical issues leading to pains.

However, if you do have back pains or knee pains, our senior physiotherapist will assess your feet and gait pattern, and where necessary, they will refer you to our podiatrist to create customized orthotic insoles to correct your foot mechanics directly.

Untreated foot mechanics issues will lead to irreversible damage if not diagnosed and treated quickly.

Customized orthotic insoles are medically designed to correct and optimize the function of our feet, to evenly distribute weight and pressure across all joints and remove any pain that are caused to our feet from problems such as corns, bunions, heel spurs or ankle pains.

Customized Orthotics Insoles
Types of orthotic insoles

There are few types of customized orthotic insoles, and they all solve different problems.

An example that requires the need for customized orthotic insoles is excessive pronation or also commonly known as flat feet. What causes flat feet can be

  • weight
  • trauma (once off or repeated)
  • genetics

Flat feet can lead to other health problems such as knee pains and back pains. If you know someone who is flat footed, it'd be wise to suggest to them to see our senior physiotherapist for assessment, evaluation and treatment of flat foot through the prescription of

  • specific foot and arch strengthening exercises
  • customized orthotic insoles (podiatrist)

Customized orthotics are insoles that are designed and custom-made to meet the requirement of a specific problem. What the podiatrist will do is to assess the range of motion, do a gait analysis, identify the core issue then the podiatrist will fabricate it for you, catering specifically to your foot.

Insoles come under five different types, these are:

  • Rigid insoles - control movement
  • Semi-rigid insoles - for athletes and physical activity, providing balance
  • Soft insoles - to provide pain relieve and ease pressure
  • Calibrated (customised) insoles - to help flexibility, weight and activity levels