You may think that orthotics only benefit the feet. But this is not the full picture of the benefits of orthotics. Wearing orthotics in your shoes can benefit almost anyone, even in those where issues with their feet are not the primary concern. Orthotics have the benefits of improving balance, back pain, posture, athletic performance and more. When you have an issue with your foot, Dr. Anthony Lo and Dr. Rodney Yen from Podiatry Associates Northwest may recommend trying orthotics in Redmond, WA. But after wearing them, you will undoubtedly discover that problems in other areas of your body improve.
What Are the Benefits of Orthotics?
Orthotics can work wonders for your feet. But their benefits aren't limited to feet. Listed below are benefits both to the feet and other parts of your body.
- Improve foot pain: Orthotics distribute the pressure from body weight more evenly. This is beneficial so that one area of your foot does not absorb the brunt of the load from walking. Uneven distribution of body weight can lead to imbalances in the muscles and other structures of the foot, which can lead to injury.
- Help injuries heal faster: Orthotics can take the pressure off injured areas of your foot and redirect that pressure to other areas of the foot that are healthy and can handle it. Distributing weight in a way that helps your specific injury allows overworked structures to relax and heal.
- Normalize leg length discrepancy: Sometimes the legs of a patient are different lengths, wreaking havoc on your skeletal system and causing back pain and other pain in your body. Getting orthotics in Redmond, WA will often prove to solve this problem. Using one orthotic in the shoe of the shorter leg may even things out. But if more adjustment is needed, another strategy is to try different thicknesses of orthotics in each shoe, evening out the asymmetry.
- Decrease back pain: Wearing orthotics in your shoes will improve posture and gait. A straighter spine will result, possibly decreasing back pain.
- Improve confidence and comfort: Improved comfort will lead to standing up straighter and standing taller will improve your confidence.
- Improve balance: Balance will improve with your body weight being more evenly distributed on the foot.
- Shock absorption and support: The repetitive pounding of walking and running produces great loads on your feet. Orthotics absorb these pounding forces before they can transfer to the feet themselves. Orthotics provide greater support to your feet over shoes alone. Future injuries may be prevented due to this shock absorption.
- Improve athletic performance: All of the above benefits may make you run faster and jump higher.
Contact Us
Schedule a consultation with Dr. Lo or Dr. Yen at Podiatry Associates Northwest in Redmond, WA to discuss orthotics. We have locations in Bellevue Commons, Swedish Issaquah, Swedish Redmond, Swedish West Seattle, and Cabrini, which can all be reached by calling (206) 420-3119.