Orthotics

How can orthotics alleviate foot, knee, hip, and back pain?

As a chiropractic extremity and foot specialist, Dr. John understands the importance of placing the foot in its most functional position.  For runners, this is even more important.

Runners in particular place anywhere from 3-5 times their body weight on their feet in fast walking to running (walking is 1-3 times their body weight, jumping is 5-7 times).

For a 150 lb. person this is approximately 1250 lbs per foot strike.  Multiply that loading by approximately 2500 foot strikes per mile and the cumulative impact to a runner’s body is incredibly high.  Multiply that loading by 3-10 miles and one gets a sense for just how tough running can be on a body.

A person whose body mechanics are in perfect alignment (especially the feet) can withstand these types of stresses.  For someone that has a foot and/or pelvic misalignment, however, (and almost everyone that I’ve seen does to a certain extent), or a fallen arch, or a variety of other spinal alignment issues, these loadings can cause dysfunction and eventually pain anywhere from the feet, knees, low back, shoulders, and neck.

Make an orthotic for a normal foot, not a pathological foot

Dr. John will evaluate your feet and your gait and will show you exactly what the problem is and how it can be corrected.  Restoring the normal glide and function of the foot is the first step and is done before any casting or molding is done for orthotics.  Casting a mold for a foot in its dysfunctional or pathological condition makes no sense, yet it is done all the time by other doctors and health professionals when they have you step into a mold or onto a scanner. The program then guesses what it needs to modify to correct the dysfunction. Instead, Dr. John will adjust the foot to get it as biomechanically functional as possible, then will hold the foot in the subtalar neutral position to cast the foot in a more functional manner.

There are 26 bones in the foot with 33 joints.  If one or a few of these is out of position, even just a little, the foot will not pronate/supinate as it should, and will not properly act as the body’s primary shock absorber.  This can cause foot/ankle pain, knee and hip pain, low back pain, and even neck and shoulder pain.  Additionally, due to the faulty biomechanics there is a higher risk of osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease) in these areas later in life. 

Let Dr. John show you exactly what the issue is and have him explain to you how adjustments and custom orthotics may be able to help you.