Orthotics - Do You Need Them?
Let’s face it. Your feet take a pounding. We were created to walk on natural surfaces like sand, dirt, and grass from the earth. We were not created to walk in a concrete world.
When your foot strikes the ground, it absorbs a lot of the force and then that force is transferred to your knees, hips, and back. If your foot hits the ground in an inefficient way, then more force goes up to your knees, hips, and back.
When your feet aren’t happy, your body isn’t happy.
Normal walking, also known as gait, should occur from a heel strike to a foot flat to a toe off position. We naturally should hit the outside of our heel on the ground 1st then start to roll through a foot flat position as we move to push off our big toe. This is normal.
But what happens when we don’t do this?
Perhaps the “what” of that question is the wrong question.
The real question is “WHY” don’t we do this?
The answer may be any of the following:
- Previous injury
- Weak muscles of the foot, ankle, or leg
- Structural changes in the feet like flat feet (pes planus), high arches (pes cavus), bunions, or hammer toes
- Poor shoe wear or the wrong shoe type for an individual’s foot type
- Poor posture
- Inactivity or sedentary lifestyle leading to deconditioning
- Obesity
Knowing The Answer To “WHY” Someone Does Not Have A Normal Gait Or Walking Style Is Key To Determining The Solution.
What is the purpose of an orthotic?
- Create a neutral foot
- When you look down at your feet or in a mirror, your ankles look even instead of rolled in or rolled out
- When you look in a mirror, your knees face forward instead of facing inward or “kissing”
- Create arch support
- Create better alignment of foot and ankle
- Ease joint and muscle pain through improved alignment and equal weight distribution
Not everyone will require an orthotic but how do you know if you do?
I encourage you to watch this video “How Do You Know If You Need An Orthotic?" from my YouTube channel.