Orthotic insole for Leg Length Discrepancy
Before talking about the orthotic insole, let’s start with a self-examination of long and short feet (leg length discrepancy), only five minutes is enough!
Step 1: Sitting posture check
Step on the ground barefoot in a sitting position, and lean back to the end, and sit the chair deeply behind the back buttocks. Feel whether the force on both sides of the back is the same, or check if there is a special point of obvious pressure.
You can do simple forward bends and backward to see if the symptoms will increase! (If there is a special tenderness point on one side of the hip, it may mean that the pelvis is tilted behind this side).
There is no sensation and may not be without pelvic torsion. Note: For detailed testing, you still need to consult a professional therapist and physician.
Step 2: Standing inspection
Stand barefoot with your feet open and shoulder-width apart, and then stare straight ahead to feel whether the force on your feet is the same (not only the center of gravity, but also whether the pressure on the soles of the feet is evenly located in the same position).
Are there any feelings of heavy or lightweight? When standing, you should be barefoot and wear loose clothing, or you can check whether the elastic bands on both sides are asymmetrical when wearing pants, or the pants will be deformed and skewed (one side is too tight) One side is too loose)!
Reasons for the formation of long and short feet
There are many reasons for long and short feet. There are five most common types of long and short feet:
First category: Scoliosis
Scoliosis accounts for 80% of young women, and it is also the culprit of long and short feet. In scoliosis, the spine is bent or deformed, compensatory torsion or bending of the lower limbs and pelvis, resulting in abnormal bending of the joint between the pelvis and the lumbar and sacrum.
Both the pelvis and the curved spine are the focus of treatment. Mild to moderate scoliosis can be improved without surgery (in severe cases, a back brace and surgery may be required to improve the angle). For patients with scoliosis, almost all patients will have problems with long and short feet, so early treatment will have better results.
Second category: pelvic tilt (false long and short feet)
Long and short feet caused by tilted pelvis are also very common. Most of the tilted pelvis will have some uncomfortable symptoms, such as swelling on the front side of the thigh or soreness on the backside.
In patients with pelvic tilt, most people who like to wear high heels and tilt their legs, abnormal postures in life can also cause pelvic tilt. Long and short feet caused by pelvic tilt are easier to treat, but treatment should be done as soon as possible. Avoid abnormal tissue proliferation causing difficulties in future treatment!
If there is no treatment for a long time, it may cause the body’s wrong balance and affect the waist and spine injury, and severely cause nerve damage!
Third category: long and short feet after lumbar and lower limb surgery
Such patients also complained to the doctor in the outpatient clinic, saying that the feet are not painful but there seems to be a high and low feeling. Most doctors will say that this is a normal phenomenon, but they neglect the disease itself, so that the patient often feels me. It’s only half better, which seems weird. There are usually three reasons for long and short feet after surgery:
Fusion: Bone injury or fracture before the operation, the bone is fixed in the correct position after the doctor handles it, but the bone fusion will make the affected foot longer, even if it is almost different, there will be differences (biomechanics will be different)
Muscle: After the operation, the painful muscle is improperly used or not daring to exert force. The affected side muscle is passively elongated but loses the contraction force. This causes the postoperative limb to sag. This reason is easy to treat, but it needs a thorough evaluation!
Fixation: Long-term fixation is often required after surgery. In addition to soft tissues, there are joint bones and so on.
All these will shorten a lot of ligament and joint capsules, resulting in long and short feet after fixation. The treatment principle of this is that the sooner you can move, the mobility should be made first to avoid the continuous atrophy of the tissue!
Fourth category: lower limb bone injury
Long and short feet caused by pain in the hip or knee joints are also common.
Hip joint injury: unable to use normal hip flexion forward gait. Using pelvic depression or waist twisting to walk, walking down a few times, in addition to muscle weakness and persistent pain, the hip joint also causes abnormal tilt of the pelvis, which is very common in elderly people who have fallen.
Knee joint injury: Pain due to degenerative arthritis or kneecap disease (patella softening, knee varus or collateral ligament strain) will deliberately avoid knee flexion (the patella pressure increases when the patella is flexed and the ligament torsion becomes stronger), so it will be passive This makes the ankle and hip joints make excessive motion compensation, which causes muscle fatigue and pain, leading to more problems.
Ankle injury: Flat feet and high arches can cause long and short feet. If necessary, use insole protectors to support and protect!
The fifth type: congenital structural diseases
Long and short feet caused by congenital diseases or major diseases. In such long and short feet cases, physical therapy can train muscles that lack muscle strength, promote muscle balance, and avoid sequelae and injuries caused by long and short feet!
Most of the long and short feet can be treated or improved. If the long and short feet are not handled properly, it will affect the lower limbs and trunk and cause overall structural damage, such as systemic muscle pain caused by long and short feet, long-term backache, and even scoliosis! You must pay more attention, if you have symptoms, you must be treated as soon as possible!
Orthotic insole for Leg Length discrepancy
The advantage of the orthotic insole is that it can reduce and disperse the local pressure on the sole of the foot, support the arch of the foot, correct the line of force of the lower limbs, reduce the risk of injury to the joints and spine, and protect the body.
When it is confirmed that there are long and short feet, how to use the orthotic insole is quite important.
There are many joints in the foot, so when you want to raise the height of the foot, you must also consider the changes in the shape of the arch after the elevation, as well as the relative relationship of weight transfer during dynamic walking.
In summary, what should an ideal orthotic insole do?
First of all, consider that the feet will naturally make a supination angle after being raised. This is a natural movement of the ankle joint. Therefore, you must observe your gait after the pad is placed, and you must not have the feeling of turning your feet. If the heightened insole is matched with arch support, try to support it on the midfoot so as not to let the midfoot collapse downward. The length of the arch support should start from the starting point of the metatarsophalangeal joint, do not back too much, and do not support under the ankle joint, otherwise, you will feel uncomfortable. If possible, avoid forward rotation of the calcaneus to reduce the pressure on the heel.
Below orthotic insole is quite suitable for the leg length discrepancy, check more detail on
Heel lift – Adjustable Orthopedic for Leg Length Discrepancy
Material: Natural leather + High-quality rubber construction
Size: S M L
Fob Xiamen/China Price: US$1.70/piece
Feature:
1)1 lift for 3 heights, adjustable height by two removable 1/8″ thick rubber layers, self-adhesive glue between each layer.
2)helping absorb shock at heel strike
3)Natural leather guarantees excellent durability and Latex-free
