As you walk your heel swings from side to side very slightly, like the pendulum on a clock. If, however, your heel swings too far when you walk or run, your foot may be overpronating, or flattening too much. This incorrect movement stresses and weakens parts of your foot. Over time, you may develop symptoms in your feet ranging from a change in shape to pain when you walk.
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Custom-Made Orthotics
WHY YOU MAY NEED ORTHOTIC SUPPORT
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Custom-made orthotics are medical devices that support and gently reposition the heel, arch, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and bones in the feet, enabling these structures to work together as nature intended, to make each step you take pain-free. Unlike shoe inserts bought over the counter, custom-made orthotics are built from molds of your feet to meet your unique needs. They’re typically made with comfortable thermoplastic materials, which are guaranteed to last for years, and can be designed to fit in dress shoes, athletic shoes, boots, and skates.
Custom-made orthotics can relieve many different types of foot pain including heel pain and plantar fasciitis; arch pain; pain caused by running, walking, and other athletics; pain related to diabetes; pain experienced by senior citizens; and many other kinds of foot pain related to bunions, trauma, sprains, and other disorders.
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WITHOUT ORTHOTICS |
WITH ORTHOTICS |
During midstance, the ankle and heel are misaligned, and your foot has no arch. |
At heel contact, orthoses limit the swing of your heel so your heel strikes the ground correctly. During midstance, your orthoses support your foot so it can regain its arch, allowing the ankle and heel to align. |
Dry Skin & Cracked Heels
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Dry skin on any part of the body can be annoying and can cause flaking and cracking of the skin, redness due to scratching, and unsightly patches of thick/hard skin. However, when dry skin occurs on the feet, the symptoms of discomfort are magnified due to shoe wear, the stretching of the skin on the feet each time we step down, and by certain synthetic materials in the socks and shoes that dry the skin out even more. Because of the confining nature of the shoes we wear and the lack of fresh air that hits the skin of the feet due to our socks and shoes, dry feet need specialized care in order to prevent pain.
Flat Feet
The normal arch functions as a shock absorber for our entire body. Each time we step down, we place up to 5 times our body weight on the foot, depending on whether we are walking, running, or jumping. If there were no shock absorber in the foot, the force of each step would eventually fracture or dislocate the bones of the foot, leg, and lower back. When the arch is flat (a flat foot), it cannot function properly. If left untreated, this will lead to a completely collapsed foot which cannot function as a shock absorber at all; and, this in turn can cause constant pain in the foot, and eventually the knee, hip, and lower back.
Supination
Description
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Supination is a turning inward of the foot at the ankle, so that one has a tendency to walk on the outer border of the foot. |
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Chief Diagnostic Sign: You can test for supination by looking at the leg and foot from the back. Normally you can see the Achilles tendon run straight down the leg into the heel. If the foot is supinated, the tendon will run straight down the leg, but when it lies on the heel it will twist inward. This makes the outer ankle bone appear more prominent than the inner ankle bone.
Because supination is a twisting of the foot, all of the muscles and tendons that run from the leg and ankle into the foot will be twisted. If left untreated, supination may be the cause of heel spurs, plantar fasciitis, hallux limitus and rigidus, ball of foot pain (metatarsalgia), shin splints, high and painful arches, and eventually knee, hip, and lower back pain. Supination can also predispose to ankle sprains due to the excess stress applied to the lateral ankle tendons and ligaments.
Pronation
Description
Pronation is a turning outward of the foot at the ankle, so that one has a tendency to walk on the inner border of the foot. (Pronation is the opposite of supination). When a foot and ankle pronates to a great degree, we call it over-pronation. During the normal gait cycle, we all pronate and then rapidly recover. It is over-pronation 
that patients are concerned with. This is a static deformity associated with flat feet and sometimes with foot and arch pain.
Chief Diagnostic Sign: You can test for pronation by looking at the leg and foot from the back. Normally you can see the Achilles Tendon run straight down the leg into the heel. If the foot is pronated, the tendon will run straight down the leg, but when it lies on the heel it will twist outward. This makes the inner ankle bone much more prominent than the outer ankle bone.
Because pronation is a twisting of the foot, all of the muscles and tendons that run from the leg and ankle into the foot will be twisted. If left untreated, pronation may be the cause of heel spurs, plantar fasciitis, frequent ankle sprains, shin splints, weak and painful arches, and eventually knee, hip, and lower back pain.
Plantar Fasciitis
Overview
Heel pain affects over 2 million Americans each year and can be responsible for mild discomfort or even debilitating pain.
The two most common causes of pain in the bottom of the heel, the arch, or both the heel and the arch, are plantar fasciitis and heel spurs.
Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the plantar fascia. The plantar fascia is 
a thick ligamentous/fibrous band on the bottom of the foot that is attached to the heel, and runs forward to insert into the ball of the foot. Plantar fasciitis is a painful inflammation of this band, which usually occurs at its attachment to the heel; however, the inflammation and pain of plantar fasciitis can occur anywhere on the plantar fascia.
A Heel Spur is a piece of calcium or bone that sticks out from the bottom of the heel bone, and lies within the fibers of the plantar fascia. When walking, the spur may apply undue pressure to the plantar fascia. This produces inflammation and pain in the heel, which at times may radiate into the arch
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