No Fooling – Orthotics Really Can Help Your Heel Pain!

Sunday has the distinction of being both Easter and April Fool’s Day – which gives plenty of opportunity for parents who want to be mischievous in either putting together or hiding Easter baskets! We aren’t going to play any tricks with you, however – a pair of orthotics might just be what it takes to get rid of your heel pain. The most common condition—at least, with regard to musculoskeletal issues—podiatrists treat is plantar (underside of the foot) heel pain. In fact, over 1 million Americans seek treatment every year on account of hurting heels. Why is heel pain such a common problem? Well, there are a couple of different factors at play: Anatomical structure. You have two very important connective tissues—the Achilles tendon and plantar fascia—that are used with remarkable frequency and anchored to the heel bone. The Achilles connects to the back and the plantar fascia to the underside. Depending on which tissue is injured, you can easily develop pain in either the back or bottom of your heel. Physical force loads. Our feet are structured and perform in such a way we don’t typically realize this, but a foot landing while taking a step sustains up to twice our bodyweight in force – and that’s just while walking. If you jog or run, that number jumps up to four times! Various causes. If we are being technical, heel pain isn’t actually a problem. Rather, it’s a symptom of a problem. In this case, it could be the symptom of Achilles tendinitis, plantar fasciitis, Sever’s disease, bursitis, heel spurs, or heel bone fractures (even though those tend to be rare). That said, the location and type of pain (sharp vs. dull, etc.) will differ based on which condition is present and in need of treatment. Due to these factors, many people suffer from heel pain. It would be great if this wasn’t the case, but there’s at least some good news in the fact this problem can often be easily resolved with professional treatment. Even better, when we say “professional treatment” we don’t mean “surgery.” Sure, there are some severe cases that benefit from surgical intervention, but these tend to be rare. More often, we can help you find the relief you need with conservative care. There are different kinds of nonsurgical options we may include in your treatment plan. Physical therapy, medication, and even good old-fashioned rest and icing can be quite beneficial. The specific approaches we utilize will depend, naturally, on your case. For many patients, one that tends to work quite effectively is orthotic therapy.

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As you can likely imagine, this is a matter of using orthotic devices to target the root cause of your heel pain. So what exactly are orthotic devices? Well, let’s start with addressing what they are not – and by this we mean to say they are not the shoe inserts you can pick up at the grocery store. Those mass-produced inserts do have some value—for example, providing extra cushioning or a certain degree of arch support—but they are not intended to actually treat a medical condition. Now, when it comes to actual orthotics, there are both prefabricated and customized options. We mention prefabricated orthotics because some people think they are the same as the inserts you can grab off-the-shelf at stores and nationwide pharmacy chains. This isn’t the case! In fact, we provide certain kinds of prefabricated models in our office – which means you know they are doctor-approved (and this isn’t necessarily the case with inserts sold at retail outlets). If we’re establishing a hierarchy, off-the-shelf inserts are the bottom level, prefabricated orthotics are above them, and sitting at the top are custom orthotics. Custom orthotics are the absolute gold standard in podiatry. Why is this the case? That first word – “custom.” When we prescribe a pair of custom orthotics for you, they are crafted to work specifically with your unique foot structure and gait pattern. Let’s talk about that for a moment. You can probably picture a typical foot pretty easily, even without taking off your shoes! You’d expect to find five toes, an arch, a heel, etc. From an internal perspective, however, things are way more complicated than that.

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Feet contain just over one-quarter of all the bones in our bodies. They have over 100 different muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Bones and connective tissues work together to form 33 different joints. And, of course, there ae blood vessels to supply nutrients and nerves for sensation and motor function purposes. We are talking about seriously complicated structures. With all of those parts, there’s a lot of room for variation. Even the slightest variation in structure can, in turn, lead to variation in movement. For this reason, everyone’s gait pattern is a bit different. If you think about that, it probably makes complete sense as to why mass-produced inserts cannot be effective in properly addressing potentially complex issues. Custom orthotic devices, on the other hand, can relieve heel pain on an immediate, intermediate, and long-term basis. From a podiatrist’s perspective, it is important to monitor how an individual responds to orthotic therapy. For this reason, we don’t just watch you walk out the door while saying “good luck.” Instead, we follow up and make sure everything is progressing in the way we hope to see. For more information on orthotics and how they can help with heel pain, call Wilks Advanced Foot Care by calling (541) 673-0742. Remember, you can also connect with our Roseburg office through our online contact form. Either way, our team will be happy to answer any questions or assist you in scheduling an appointment.

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