...Better orthotics through – lipstick?
(well-- lipstick, and grinders, and heat guns, and 30 years experience)
Inserts made to go inside a shoe are called by many names. The word orthotics podiatrists usually reserved for a custom-made device designed to change the way you walk. The problem with any type of shoe insert or orthotic is that there is theory, and there is reality.
Many of the things that are taught in school about orthotics resulted in something patients couldn’t wear or were very uncomfortable wearing. What good is something if someone doesn’t use it?
The reality is that shoe inserts or custom-made orthotics often need to be modified so a person is comfortable using it. The person who made the insert or orthotic must be prepared to adjust it.
In my office I have a little room with a grinder, heat gun and an assortment of pads and materials to customize and fine-tune orthotics and shoe inserts. The phrase, “I need my lipstick ” is actually a common thing to hear around my office. It turns out that lipstick is the perfect thing to mark pressure points on the bottom of your foot. We then transfer that marking to the device we are making for your shoe. By marking the point with lipstick that is causing extra pressure on your foot I can modify the device by grinding away certain areas and adding pads in certain areas to reduce pressure on those areas of your foot.
I use the analogy of balancing a tire on a car. During college one summer I had a job balancing tires all day in a hot and sticky garage. As you know if a tire is out of balance it can cause the whole front end of the car to shimmy. The same thing with your foot. If your feet are out of balance it can cause problems in your ankles, knees, hips and lower back. Fortunately, balancing your foot by marking the pressure points, and grinding and modifying shoe insoles is a whole lot easier than removing tires from a car, balancing them and putting them back on!
We offer customized shoe inserts from well under $100 a pair all the way up to customized orthotics made to molds and measurements of feet for about $500 a pair. Anything that we make for you we will customize as long as you don’t mind a little lipstick on the bottom of your feet! Call us at 505-299-4487 and see how wonderful your feet can feel!