Custom Orthotics
Flat feet, horoscopes, valgus feet, valgus thumbs… When you are troubled by these foot problems, have you ever thought about buying a pair of custom orthotics to correct them? Search the Internet for a complete range of varieties and affordable prices. I wish I could get a lot of custom orthotics that can cure all diseases. Just pick one with more promotional effects. The professional technician tells you, You can’t do it! Custom orthotics are far more professional than you think. Just buy one on the Internet. Whether it is effective or not, it may cause more damage to your feet, and even affect your knees and hip joints, along with pain in your waist and neck. Diao Zilong, a technician at the Assistive Device Adaptation Center of Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital, Capital Medical University, tells us about the doorway of choosing custom orthotics.
Custom orthotics just like wearing glasses
In daily life, the body’s weight-bearing and walking rely on the normal biological force lines of the feet. Studies have shown that abnormal foot function will directly affect the knee joint, hip joint, spine, and related muscles, ligaments, and other soft tissues.
Diao Zilong, a technician at the Assistive Device Adaptation Center of Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital, said that the “custom orthotics” we mentioned here are not warm and odor-proof insoles sewn by my mother. It is a corrective aid customized to restore the normal biomechanics of the human body based on the characteristics of the ankle anatomy. Its function is much like wearing glasses for nearsighted people, by restoring your feet to the correct posture, to reduce physical stress and prevent sprains.
Orthotics insoles s can be divided into prefabricated orthotics insoles, customized orthotic insoles, and custom-molded orthotic insoles according to their manufacturing methods. Prefabricated insoles can also be divided into heel pads, arch pads, full footpads, and so on. According to the main purpose, it can be divided into two categories: one is the adaptive orthotic insole, which is mainly used to accommodate, adapt and protect the deformed or risky foot, such as patients with chronic diseases such as arthritis or diabetes; the other is the function orthotic insoles mainly control the foot by providing support or stabilization, preventing injury and further deformation.
However, Diao Zilong admits that very few people use personalized custom orthotics based on doctors’ recommendations in China. People’s ignorance and inadequate attention to foot health have caused many people to suffer physical crimes and at the same time increase their financial burden. Many children develop O-legs, X-legs, or scoliosis due to uneven force on their feet. Adults often have ankle, knee, lumbar, and cervical spine diseases.
Professional insoles all take the “private order” route
A reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily searched on major online shopping platforms and found that there are a wide variety of orthotic insoles, including those that correct internal and external horoscopes, flat feet, valgus feet, and O-legs, as well as those that can treat diabetes. Some advertised medical treatment and some did not mention the medical concept. So, are professional orthotic insoles and online shopping insoles the same thing?
Technician Diao Zilong introduced that the main function of custom orthotics is to correct the biomechanical problems caused by the physical structure of the foot. It is a regular product produced by a professional medical team and reviewed by the price department. It is different from the insoles sold on the Internet.
For real orthotic insoles, each pair must be specially designed and tailor-made according to the patient’s specific problems. Clinically, the patient needs to be diagnosed, evaluated, and designed first. For example, a professional doctor will measure the patient’s standing calcaneal rest position, the angle of the neutral position, the torsion angle of the tibia, the tension of each muscle group of the lower limbs, etc., and then order the insole. The most essential difference between orthotic insoles sold on the Internet and custom orthotics in hospitals is that they are mass-produced online, that is, the factory first makes a unified mold and then mass-produces it. It is difficult to meet the individual needs of each patient.
The price of custom orthotics on the market ranges from ten to twenty yuan to several hundred. How to judge the pros and cons of insoles? According to Diao Zilong, the quality of orthotic insoles depends firstly on whether they can solve the problems of consumers’ feet or other parts; secondly, orthotic insoles have very high requirements for materials and must be strong in plasticity before they can be repeatedly adjusted and reshaped; again, durability. It must be strong, resistant to water and chemical erosion; it must also be tasteless and non-toxic and has no adverse effects on the human body. Therefore, the price of orthopedic insoles made of high-quality materials and ordinary materials is somewhat different.
Wrong custom orthotics hurt feet and body
It is worth mentioning that it is often difficult for consumers to correctly judge their diseases or dysfunctions, and they need professional medical institutions for diagnosis. If the orthotic insoles purchased are not symptomatic, it will aggravate the condition or cause pain. If the foot has obvious dysfunction, it is not recommended to buy mass-produced orthotic insoles on the Internet, otherwise, it will be easy to get injured.
“There are quite a lot of shops selling orthotic insoles on the Internet, and there are also some over-promotions. For example, a certain brand of insoles claims that they can treat ordinary flat feet, external horoscopes, bone hyperplasia, osteoporosis, intervertebral disc herniation, and then diabetes, heart disease, dysmenorrhea, etc.” Diao Zilong introduced that orthotic insoles are not a panacea. For some diseases, orthotic insoles can only play a role in the adjuvant treatment and need to be combined with other treatment methods. If orthotic insoles are used for treatment, it will delay the condition and backfire.
Technician Diao Zilong further explained that if the hardness of the insole is selected or the angle of the biological line of force after correction is inappropriate, it will not be able to correct the biological line of force, and it will not be able to improve the flat feet, pronation, supination, and thumb. Symptoms such as valgus may delay treatment; secondly, it may accelerate the development of the “condition”, produce or aggravate sole pain, cause ligament laxity, and habitually “crack the feet”; at the same time, wearing the “wrong” custom orthotics for a long time will cause It can cause muscle tension in the lower extremities, which in turn can cause pain in the knee joints, hip joints, waist, and neck. Teenagers are also prone to scoliosis, and more severely, they may be unable to walk or amputate their limbs, such as diabetic feet.
Taking into account that the wrong choice of corrective insoles online may be greatly reduced in efficacy, and even have side effects. Technician Diao Zilong suggested that patients with obvious symptoms or pain in their feet should go to a professional medical institution for diagnosis and provide customized services for orthotic insoles.
