- Orthotic therapy may be advised to treat some injuries. For example, if the injury is related to adverse structural / movement related issues, a corrective in-shoe device (orthotic) is beneficial in addressing the adverse forces associated with adverse structural alignment / movement. Often these types of issues are related to pronation (foot rolling inwards) which could be excessive and /or out of phase (lasting too long in the gait cycle). In some cases the injury may be the result of an adverse degree of supination (foot not rolling inwards enough). The prime structure affecting the degree of pronation & supination is the Talus bone, which contributes to the Sub Talar Joint.

There is no muscle and thus subsequent tendon directly controlling the function of the Talus bone, thus exercises have limited impact on excess degrees of its movement... thus why an orthotic is particularly beneficial in addressing injuries related to these type of movements.

• Pronation and Supination in relation to the right side:




- There are various types of orthotics to suit various lifestyle factors / conditions (i.e. Rheumatoid Arthritis), body type (i.e. weight), sporting activity (i.e. running) and footwear (i.e. women's court style shoes). 

- With the above in mind, orthotics thus can come in varying widths, lengths & thickness to suit the individual's requirements. Thus a custom orthotic is usually more beneficial as it adequately represents the nature of the individual's foot & footwear. A 3D representation (i.e. a mold or impression) must be obtained in the process to adequately aid in conformity, support & fit.

•• However, one factor that is common with the orthotics I prescribe is the flexible nature of the device. I believe the orthotic should have adequate flexion for the individual, as the foot was naturally designed to flex whilst walking and running. In other words, orthotics should not be rigid devices which block the foot with limited motion. Motion (i.e. pronation) is needed to some degree as a natural means to absorb shock / forces.

- There is another variety of orthotic which I call Thermo Moldable Orthotics. This variety is prefabricated according to size but they can be heated with a heat gun to then be molded to the individual's foot whilst in the shoe - thus they are semi-customised. This variety is suitable for milder amounts of correction or for shorter term use (i.e. children going through growth spurts). This variety is cheaper than the custom variety.

••• My objective behind orthotic therapy is to reduce the degree of adverse structural movement which will subsequently reduce the degree of adverse forces directed to various parts of the body (i.e. a joint, tendon or muscle) subsequently limiting a causative factor of injury... or future causative factor.