By Dennis W. Dillard, C.Ped, CTO, Comprehensive Prosthetics and Orthotics
Pedorthics is a relatively young profession — in name anyway. Making, fitting, and modifying footwear, however, is an occupation as old as the human race. While modern health care practices may have added layers of complexity to the field by developing credentials and certification, in essence what a pedorthist does is make, fit, and modify footwear. It’s pretty simple and it works.
Like most medical professions, Pedorthics is as much of an art as it is a science. The human foot is a complicated and delicately balanced mechanism. When feet are functioning normally, they are amazing. And, of course, we mostly ignore them when they do what they are supposed to. Unfortunately, however, many of us know from experience that our feet are susceptible to many potential maladies.
Why? Unless we spend all our waking hours on the couch, our feet are subject to repetitive wear and tear every day. Time is not kind either, and systemic diseases such as diabetes target the feet. And it’s true what that old song tells us; the foot bone is connected to the ankle bone and the ankle bone is connected to the knee bone, and so on. When our feet are unhappy, they can make the rest of our bodies somewhat unhappy as well.
The practice of pedorthics continues to evolve. Over and over, patients find relief from pain and improvement in function with seemingly simple devices. For example, people with leg length discrepancies are suddenly functionally level again with an unnoticeable heel elevation placed inside their shoe. Patients with painful and calloused joints in the balls of their feet resume daily walks after being fit with custom foot orthoses. Similar devices provide relief for others suffering from tendinitis. Properly fitting shoes and inserts protect the feet of a person with diabetes from damaging pressure and friction.
In the field of pedorthics, there is a high percentage of unhappy feet that improve substantially with the appropriate footwear that fits their shape and is properly sized. Simple is good, and what works, works.
Dennis Dillard is an ABC certified and Illinois licensed Pedorthist at Comprehensive Prosthetics and Orthotics, located in Peoria, IL.
For more information, contact him at 1-888-676-2276 or visit
www.cpousa.com.