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Dr. Brandon Macy
Podiatrist - Clark, NJ
1114 Raritan Road
Clark, NJ 07066

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February 21, 2018
Category: Orthotics

All Orthotics Are NOT Created Equal!

Patients come in all the time asking about or carrying in some form of orthotics that they received from another office, bought in a drug store, supermarket, sporting goods store, shoe store or even a Dr. Scholl’s display—and sometimes from a television infomercial.  What they all have in common is foot pain that hasn’t been resolved and they wonder why their orthotic hasn’t fixed their problem as advertised.

While orthotics are not the answer to every foot problem, more commonly what has gone wrong is in the construction of the orthotic.  Let me show you what I mean:

The goal of most orthotics is to do one of two things:

  1. In an unstable foot—one that flattens out or pronates too much—we’re trying to stabilize/support or control the foot so that you can walk or run more efficiently. This results in less fatigue, less stress and strain on joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments.
  2. In a more rigid foot, we’re trying to increase the surface area of contact and improve shock absorption.

Most inexpensive OTC orthotics look good in the package but are too flimsy in their construction.  Being way too flexible, they can’t support much of anything and the cushioning is too cheap to improve shock absorption to any significant degree.

For some problems, using an off the shelf orthotic can be very good.  We dispense a ‘one-style fits all’ type which works well in many cases.  Patients are individuals, however, and we tend to categorize feet into one of 6 basic foot ‘types’ and we have specialized off the shelf orthotics based on your foot type.

For a number of reasons, we’ll often recommend custom orthotics.  How are these different?  For starters, they are custom made for your particular feet, important for the very common situation where one foot flattens out more than the other.  Your particular needs regarding your foot conditions, activities, shoe styles and structural abnormalities can often best be addressed by customization instead of an off the shelf  product.  There are many different materials and modifications to orthotics that are used based on your specific needs.

At Clark Podiatry, we make custom orthotics from 3-dimensional digital images of your feet, the most accurate method available.  Foam impressions often don’t capture the foot in the proper position; plaster impressions can be excellent but can be inconsistent depending on who is taking the casts.  Digital images are very accurate and are transmitted to the lab in minutes after scanning, allowing for a faster turnaround time, meaning that they’re available for you to use and get relief from your foot pain so much faster.

For more information about orthotics, any other foot problem or an appointment, contact us at 732-382-3470 or visit our website at www.clarkpodiatry.com. 

#ClarkPodiatryCenter #NJCFHI #footorthotics

At Clark Podiatry Center, we want to keep you walking!

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1114 Raritan Road
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Podiatrist - Clark, Dr. Brandon Macy, 1114 Raritan Road, Clark NJ, 07066 732-382-3470