5 Problems Custom Orthotics Can Resolve

If your feet are sources of pain, and the pain limits your mobility or changes your gait — the way you walk — there’s no question that your overall quality of life and ease of movement are highly compromised. 

Don’t try to power through the discomfort or ignore getting treated. Your podiatrist can offer you critical relief so you can be active again and regain your zest for life.

The talented podiatry team at Premier Foot & Ankle, with five convenient Texas locations, is ready to approach your foot discomfort with expertise and care. Not only do we offer the most advanced treatments for a host of painful foot and ankle conditions, we create a customized treatment plan especially for you. 

Custom orthotics: A solution for diverse foot conditions

Orthotics are ingenious medical devices designed to relieve a wide range of painful foot challenges or mitigate problems with the way you move. These shoe inserts can be soft, semi-soft, or inflexible, and they’re made from materials like carbon, plastic, and felt. 

Custom orthotics are just that. They’re produced using a mold of your own foot. Accommodative orthotics help with ankle and foot problems and relieve pain — even foot pain caused by a birth defect or a congenital foot problem. Functional orthotics help with mechanical problems of the foot and prevent injuries. 

Podiatrists rely on custom orthotics extensively, simply because they treat so many foot problems successfully. 

Here’s a top five list of some of the peskiest foot issues that plague many people.

1. Flat feet

If you have flat feet, you have no natural arch on the bottom of your foot. This can lead to pain along the bottom of your foot, foot or ankle pain, inflammation, and limited motion. Custom orthotics offer critical arch support and help prevent overpronation, where your feet roll a bit downward or inward. 

2. Gait challenges

When you walk improperly, foot pain is a frequent result. Custom orthotics can help you deal with an altered gait by addressing injuries, painful conditions like arthritis, calluses, and other types of foot sores that can cause you to accommodate when you walk, so you don't hit your sensitive spots. 

3. Plantar fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is a painful condition that affects the plantar fascia, the supportive tissue that runs the length of the bottom of your foot. When this tissue becomes inflamed and irritated, the pain can be debilitating, making it difficult to walk, often when you first get up or if you’re on your feet a lot. 

Custom orthotics redistribute your weight in a way that provides relief from the pressure usually placed on your plantar fascia and helps prevent overstretching of your arch. 

4. Bunions

This is usually a visually obvious problem where a bony growth emerges at your big toe joint. A bunion grows sideways, juts out, and can lead to pain, inflammation, and other foot problems like hammertoe, an abnormality of the joints of your middle toes, as well as corns and calluses. Genetics, ill-fitting footwear, and arthritis can all cause bunions.

Custom orthotics help distribute your body’s weight more evenly and redistribute pressure providing relief for bunion discomfort while improving your balance. And as we mentioned before, your custom orthotics can improve the way you walk, which is compromised by bunions. 

5. Diabetic foot wounds

Those living with diabetes must constantly be on the lookout for foot sores since they can lead to grave complications — even amputation — if not treated promptly and properly. 

Custom orthotics play an important role in diabetic foot care by relieving pressure points, so rather than an ulcer being continually aggravated by rubbing on the hard surface of your shoe, your wound is protected and cushioned by your orthotic, allowing it to heal better. The corrective nature of orthotics can also help prevent ulcers and help with circulation issues. 

Our team favors the use of custom orthotics in these and other situations. They provide a versatile solution that not only treats and soothes foot conditions but also helps prevent other issues from emerging or worsening. 

Call Premier Foot & Ankle to see if custom orthotics might be able to offer you relief and increased mobility. Patients often describe getting their orthotics as the beginning of being able to move more easily and be free from worries about developing unpleasant foot symptoms.

Schedule a consultation with us today by calling the Premier Foot & Ankle office that’s most convenient for you or requesting an appointment online.