Custom orthotics are shoe inserts designed for your unique foot shape, making them especially effective in treating and preventing many foot-related problems. Made of durable, comfortable materials, custom orthotics last long, providing meaningful relief for pain and other symptoms.
As a top-ranked orthopedics specialist in McKinney, Texas, Dominique Nickson, MD, uses advanced technology to design and create custom orthotics for patients at Next Step Orthopedics to treat current issues and prevent future problems. Here are six ways custom orthotics can benefit your health and your lifestyle.
1. Relieve foot pain
Your feet contain 66 joints, more than 50 bones, and dozens of ligaments, muscles, tendons, and nerves. Considering that every day, all these structures are subjected to a lot of stress and strain, it’s not surprising that plenty of people suffer from foot pain.
Custom orthotics help relieve painful symptoms by redistributing your body weight and optimizing the biomechanics of your feet and your gait (the way you walk). You can have custom orthotics designed for all sorts of foot problems, including bunions, hammertoes, calluses, and plantar fasciitis, a common cause of age-related foot pain.
2. Relieve knee pain
We all know that the skeleton’s bones are connected, but few of us appreciate what that means for our health and wellness. The fact is, when you have a foot problem, the effects of that problem can have a direct impact on your knees. Custom orthotics can help relieve chronic knee pain and prevent wear and tear leading to permanent knee joint damage.
3. Relieve lower back pain
The impact of foot problems doesn’t stop at the knees. Foot and ankle problems can cause your legs to tilt too far in or too far out when you move or stand. This shift results in an uneven distribution of weight and muscle strain in your lower back, and nagging lower back pain.
As with your knees, the uneven strain on your lower spine can lead to cartilage wear and tear, nerve compression, and even arthritis in your spinal joints. Custom orthotics help prevent these problems by correcting the underlying foot problems.
4. Prevent injuries
Every day, your feet are subjected to thousands of pounds of pressure, especially if you spend a lot of time walking or standing at work or elsewhere. Not surprisingly, that pressure can lead to problems with the foot joints and bones, including stress fractures. Custom orthotics are designed on a patient-by-patient basis to provide your feet with the relief they need to prevent injuries. If you’re an athlete, orthotics can help reduce load, absorb shocks, lessen muscle fatigue, and improve your performance.
5. Prevent complications from diabetes
Diabetes causes problems with circulation along with nerve damage in your feet. As a result, even a seemingly minor problem, like a corn or a bunion, increases the risk of sores and serious foot infections that can lead to lower limb amputations. Custom orthotics help protect your feet from excessive wear and tear that can lead to sores while eliminating painful pressure points.
6. Enjoy a better quality of life
Nobody appreciates the impact chronic pain can have on your life until they experience it firsthand. The fact is, pain doesn’t just take a toll on you physically; it affects your emotional health, too.
Because custom orthotics can treat so many causes of chronic pain, they can have a direct positive impact on your quality of life, too. Pain-free movement means you can be more active and more social. And another bonus: Orthotics help you relieve pain without relying on potentially harmful pain medication.
Custom orthotics vs. store-bought inserts
It’s tempting to think you can get all these benefits from a pair of orthotics you buy at your local drugstore or from an online vendor. But because they’re not custom-designed for your feet, over-the-counter shoe inserts may not provide the same level of support and comfort — and they might even make your foot problems worse.
Our custom orthotics are made specifically for your feet, your symptoms, and your lifestyle for greater comfort, better health, and relief. To learn how custom orthotics can benefit you, call us at (972) 547-0047 or book an appointment online with Dr. Nickson and the team at Next Step Orthopedics today.