Orthotic Help for your feet from Senior Health Stores: How Does Wearing Orthotics Help Feet?

Orthotics help the feet by supporting the basic structure of the foot. Many people suffer from an uneven weight distribution when they walk. As they age, their feet begin to suffer the the consequences of this imbalance. As a result, they may feel ankle pain, suffer torn calf muscles, have knee and hip pain, as well as a sore back. By using an orthotic, the wearer corrects imbalances in the foot, correcting biomechanical issues that cause pain in the rest of the body.

Our educational information pages and health aide stores will be focused on your foot-pain, hand-pain, Joint-pain, back-pain, hair-skin-nails, fitness, and mobility-aids just to name a few.

How To Fit Orthotics In Your Shoes & Sandals

Try these orthotic help tips:

1. Remove existing insoles or footbed first.
2. If your orthotic is too long, you can trim the soft topcover at the "toe end" with a scissor. Use the existing insole or footbed as a template.
3. Choose shoes with extra depth, not longer or wider.
4. Choose shoes that have adjustability. For example, shoes with laces, adjustable hook and loop closure strap or buckles.
   

What are Orthotics?

The term "orthotic" can refer to almost any device which is worn inside a shoe to help correct imbalances in the feet. There are three very different types of “orthotics” – custom, off the shelf, and ankle foot orthotics (AFO).

Orthotics help provide protection against ankle pain, suffer torn calf muscles, have knee and hip pain, as well as a sore back.

Custom orthotics can be specially designed to match your foot type, foot condition and activity level and are made by a podiatrist or other healthcare professional. Orthotics are not meant to fit in all shoes. You should select a shoe that has extra or added depth and a removeable insole. The shoe should also offer a stiff sole. Most shoes on our site offer removeable insoles.

In order for your orthotics to provide you the best protection against pain and injury you should wear them as much as possible. But during sandal season, what can you do?

Yes, you can wear orthotics and wear sandals too!

For comfortable feet and "freedom from shoes" choose sandals that have removeable insoles. Orthotics for sandals allow you to enjoy custom-made comfort—even when you don't wear shoes. Sandals are perfect after being on your feet all day, out on the job, or at the office. But, when you don't wear your shoes, you don't wear your orthotics either!

In fact, clinical surveys have shown that orthotic patients may gain as much as 33% or more additional orthotic therapy time by wearing sandals or clogs with custom orthotics.

Off-the-shelf orthotics (often called arch supports) are usually found in retail stores—including sport stores, shoe stores online stores and pharmacies. They are non-custom devices designed to provide gentle support to the arch of the foot and help spread weight more evenly along the bottom of the foot. They are sometimes called "prefabricated orthotics."

There are many different arch supports on the market. Like everything else, some are better than others.