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Orthotics – What are Orthotics, and what do they do?

Orthotics are medical devices worn inside shoes that are intended to correct abnormal, or irregular walking patterns which have contributed to increased stress through the feet and legs. Orthotics are not just “arch supports”. An orthotic is designed to guide the mechanics of the foot to help muscles and tendons perform more efficiently, making standing, walking and running more comfortable.

If you’re suffering from pain or injury, the orthotics may help with your recovery. Orthotics are specifically designed to correct any biomechanical abnormalities that are contributing to ongoing pain and re-distribute weight away from the painful area. Since foot posture and function vary significantly from person to person, there is no ‘one type fits all’. Think of orthotics like prescription glasses. You’ll need a comprehensive biomechanical assessment done by a podiatrist to determine the type of orthotic or modifications required to get the best results.

There are 2 different types of Orthotics:

Prefab Orthotics: A huge range of pre-made orthotics with specific features such as cushioning, shock absorption, arch support and many more. Prefab orthotics are modified in the clinic to achieve the therapeutic effect identified in the biomechanical assessment. These are great for acute conditions where orthotics will be used for a short timeframe to facilitate healing and repair.

Custom Orthotics: Are designed by taking a mould/impression of the foot. This gives precise location of bones, joints and muscles which ensures the orthotic achieves a specific function.
Custom orthotics are generally for chronic or long-term problems and can last up to 5-10 years.

Each orthotic whether it be prefab, or custom are designed and modified for your foot, to achieve necessary therapeutic effect.

Below are just some of the ways orthotics can be used to help or assist with:

  • Facilitating healing of damaged muscles and tissues – e.g. Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis
  • Redistributing pressure or offloading painful areas of the foot – e.g. corns, callus, ulcers
  • Reducing pain from chronic conditions – e.g. arthritis
  • Supporting foot and leg abnormalities – e.g. leg length discrepancy
  • Improving walking and running techniques/gait.
  • And much more!

Heel pain is a great example. The most common causes of heel pain are excessive strain on ligaments/tendons or poor shock absorption. Orthotics can help to align the foot to redistribute pressure away from the heel, while providing support to the foot and attenuate shock more efficiently. This will help to alleviate pain and make walking or running more efficient.

If you have an issue with your feet or legs or would like to know how orthotics can help you, book an appointment with one of our experts today!

Chronic Foot or Heel Pain? Shockwave Therapy could be your solution!

Do you suffer from chronic pain in your foot, ankle or knee and have tried various forms of therapies, but they haven’t really helped? Well Shockwave therapy may be suitable for you!

Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) is an effective treatment for chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions and tendon pathologies such as Achilles pain or plantar fasciitis. It is a non-invasive therapy which uses ultrasound shock-waves to kick start the body’s natural healing response that may not have responded to medication, rest or other therapies.
ESWT stimulates the release of growth factors and improves bloody supply leading to the repair of tendons and muscles. It also helps to reduce pain through a technique called hyper-stimulation anaesthesia. This is when the nerves send pain signals to the pain which are stimulated to a point that their activity diminishes, thereby decreasing pain.

No anaesthetic or needles are required during treatment. It can be a little uncomfortable during the procedure which is easily tolerated by most people and adjustments to the dose/intensity can be made to make it more tolerable if needed. It is common to experience some dull, achy pain in the treated area over the next few days after treatment. This is a sign that the treatment is producing a healing response in the tissues. It can take up to 3-5 sessions to achieve significant pain relief, with each appointment being about a week apart.

Clinical trials have shown that there is a 90% success rate with ESWT. So, book an appointment with one of our Podiatrist to see if Shockwave therapy is suitable for you!

We will examine and assess your condition to come up with a tailored plan to help manage your pain and minimise the risk of re-injury.

Running tips and advice

Whether you’re a social runner, sometime runner or training for an event such as the upcoming “Round the bridges”, perfecting your run is important. Here is some advice and tips designed to help you and your body enjoy the experience and avoid injury.


Once you have the runners’ bug, it’s hard to ignore. Just getting out and enjoying the blood pumping can be cheap therapy. Enjoying the high of endorphins, while your stress melts away and revel in the atmosphere of the outdoors or gym.


However, injuries and niggles come with the territory of running’s repetitive stresses. Whether you’re a weekend warrior, triathlon focused or elite athlete, little can annoy more than knowing that pain is going to be part of your experience.


Perhaps you have been training for an event, you’re less than 10 days away and that niggle has got worse. And then suddenly you’re still limping two days after your last run. You’re not going to be able to run the event, you’ve got an injury. What could have prevented this common scenario? Let’s take a look at some golden rules, and maybe some silver ones too.

Running is one of the most natural forms of exercise, but it’s also the most prone to injuries and overuse syndromes. The repetitive forces through the foot and all the way up to the shoulders, requires the whole body to work together, to effectively absorb and distribute through our body mechanics.


Let’s break it down. During foot strike, approximately two to four times your body weight travels up through the ankle, knee, thigh, hips and spine, to reach the head only six milliseconds later. The average runner is expected to strike the ground 480 to 1200 times every kilometre. This seems a lot, but the body is perfectly engineered to surpass these loading forces.


However, when the body is not running correctly and therefore shock absorbing as it’s designed, injury hits. The body needs each joint to shock absorb effectively, each leg needs the big muscles to absorb, and small muscles, tendons and ligaments to support and reduce unnecessary rotation torque forces. Then the force will transfer through the upper body to ensure energy isn’t wasted.


Clearly injuries aren’t due to the forces of running, but relate to how the body is being loaded, altering mechanical alignment, muscle function or physiological status.


Get your running assessed to ensure your injury risk factors can be checked and helped.