5 Amazing Benefits of Custom Orthotics for Your Feet (and Beyond)

There’s a good case to be made for the fact that your feet are among the hardest-working areas of your body. Day in and day out, your feet support and carry your body, so it’s important to make sure that they’re fully supported and in the best health possible.

A great way to do that is with custom orthotics, which can turn any shoe into one that supports the health of your feet and the rest of your musculoskeletal system.

At Arizona Foot and Ankle Medical Center, our team of foot health experts endeavors to ensure that our patients have access to all of the tools and resources to keep their feet in great health. And custom orthotics are true workhorses in this effort, as you can see by these amazing benefits.

1. Relieving foot pain with custom orthotics

If you have a structural, mechanical, or injury issue in your feet that’s causing pain when you’re up and moving around, custom orthotics are a great way to relieve the pain, in many cases.

For example, between 20% and 37% of the population has some degree of flatfeet (fallen arches), and some people with this issue can struggle with pain. With custom orthotics, we can reestablish the external arch support to relieve the pain.

Or, perhaps you’ve developed painful plantar fasciitis, which accounts for about 10% of injuries in runners. With orthotics, we can help relieve pressure on this damaged, inflamed tissue to allow for healing.

2. Rebalancing your feet

Another great use for custom orthotics is to restore balance in your feet, which are incredibly complex structures that contain 26 bones, 33 joints, and 100 tendons and ligaments in each. 

The most common foot deformities, such as bunions and hammertoes, are caused by imbalances in your feet, and with custom orthotics, we can restore this balance.

3. Improve biomechanics in your feet with custom orthotics

If you have an issue such as overpronation — your feet and ankles roll inward — or oversupination — your feet and ankles roll outward — custom orthotics can help.

With the right shoe inserts, we can correct these biomechanical issues to improve your gait and to prevent injury and premature wear-and-tear.

4. Improve alignment in your joints with custom orthotics

Custom orthotics can also help the alignment in all your joints, moving up from your feet, your knees, hips, and even your lower back. By balancing and aligning the foundation with orthotics, we can promote better alignment throughout your body.

5. Custom orthotics for certain medical conditions

If you have a medical condition that puts your feet in the line of fire, such as diabetes, which affects more than 40 million Americans, custom orthotics can go a long way toward preventing or better managing potentially serious issues, such as peripheral neuropathy and diabetic foot ulcers.

Moving forward with custom orthotics

The list of benefits we outlined above is far from complete, but it illustrates the many different roles that tailored shoe inserts can play in supporting your foot health.

To explore whether you might benefit from improved foundational support in the form of custom orthotics, please contact us at one of our conveniently located offices in Chandler and Laveen, Arizona, to schedule a consultation. You can also request an appointment via the online booking tool.