Can the orthotics in your shoes affect your posture, relieve your pain, and improve your health? Poor posture can cause heartburn, incontinence, slowed digestion, headaches, and back pain, and half of all working Americans admit to having back pain symptoms. There’s no shortage of people who deal with posture issues and pain. Can some of these problems be solved by addressing the way we stand and walk?
Are you able to address your posture concerns and aches and pains with a simple pair of orthotic insoles? Let’s take a look.
Orthotic Insoles For Stable Posture
What do orthotic insoles have to do with your posture? They can actually make a world of difference in your alignment. We stabilize ourselves using the soles of our feet. The function of the human foot is incredible, involving all kinds of processes including:
- The distribution of plantar pressure
- Support of the body
- The absorption of impact
- Postural adjustments to maintain an upright standing posture
The way our feet interact with the ground has a lot to do with posture and alignment. The exteroceptors and proprioceptors in the human foot have a great deal to do with postural control. What does this mean? Proprioception refers to a body’s awareness of where it is in space. Your feet take in information about the ground beneath them and adjust your posture accordingly.
Orthotics can impact your overall posture as you move by impacting your body’s lower kinetic chain to stay in better alignment. It starts with the tips of your toes and works its way up through your spine. Orthotics can even improve posture and gait for those with neurological postural issues by stimulating the feet, including those with multiple sclerosis and other ambulatory symptoms. Many kinds of orthotic insoles can impact postural balance for those with neurological posture issues:
- Vibrating insoles
- Textured insoles
- Insoles with spikes
- Insoles with varying wedges and hardnesses
If you sit at a desk for long periods, you may have lots of concerns about your posture. Taking frequent breaks and walks can help correct the damage from extended sitting– but only if you walk in proper alignment. If you’re worried about your posture, you can assure proper alignment on these breaks by using orthotics.
Orthotic Insoles for Back Pain
Sometimes, mechanical problems in the feet can impact the way a person walks or stands which can ultimately lead to back pain. All sorts of common foot issues can cause an irregular posture or walking pattern creating pain points throughout the body:
- Plantar fasciitis
- Nerve pain and/or numbness in the foot
- Bunions on the inside of the foot and bunionettes on the outside of the foot
- Over-supination or over-pronation
When our feet interact with the ground in the wrong way, our bodies do their best to compensate– sometimes in ways that pull them out of alignment. This puts excess pressure on other parts of our body, causing undue stress, pain, and inflammation. A compromised posture can lead to lower back pain, and pain in the knees, hips, and ankles.
How can orthotic insoles help alleviate this pain? Insoles that are designed to manage a particular foot issue can help a patient achieve a healthy posture and gait can take the pressure off the areas of our bodies that work hard to compensate, allowing the soft tissue to heal, which can reduce pain.
An Example: The Domino Effect
Orthotics can make a major difference in your body’s alignment– in a good way. Take for example a person with high arches or flat feet, compared to someone with regular arches. In a person with normal arches, there should be a straight line from their tibia passing between their first and second toes.
A person with high arches or flat feet will have feet that cause the foot and ankle to pronate or roll inwards, creating a domino effect. In this case, that straight line from the tibia veers toward the midline of the body, passing through the big toe instead and placing extra pressure on the major joints of the body and putting the body out of alignment: The knees turn inward creating a knock-knee effect, which also shifts the angle at which the thigh bone meets the pelvis. This, in turn, puts the posture of the hips out of alignment and destabilizes the spine, contributing to back pain. This is the domino effect.
When this person with high arches or flat feet uses orthotic insoles they can realign the foot and stop this domino effect from happening.
Schedule an Appointment Today
If you have concerns about your posture or body pain, let’s talk. Orthotic insoles may be the ticket to pain relief. Schedule your appointment with South Orange Chiropractic Center today and get your posture and your pain in check.
