State of the art diagnostics
At The Physicaltherapy Centre, we use Gait Scan Technology. This is a state of the art diagnostic tool and digital casting device that allows practitioners to analyse patient biomechanics and order custom orthotic products. It has been developed by The Orthotic Group in Canada and eliminates any human error that is typical during traditional orthotic fittings. Rather than using dated plaster of Paris castings as the mould for orthotic design, Gait Scan Technology designs an orthotic using digital data gathered during a dynamic assessment of the patient’s foot biomechanics.
This is an important distinction between Gait Scan Technology and other digital orthotic design technologies. Other technologies typically have the patient standing stationary on a footplate whilst a digital scan of their feet is taken. By comparison, Gait Scan technology has the patient walk or run across a gait plate analysing the biomechanics of the feet whilst in motion. The design of the orthotic is thus better tailored to the movements of the feet most likely during a patient’s chosen activity.
Will I need orthotics forever?
The answer is a complicated one. Nobody has a perfectly functioning foot. There will be many people out there who have excellent foot biomechanics, with seemingly less reason to use them, but it’s unlikely those people have feet which function 100% problem-free under load. Conversely, there are many people who suffer foot pain, knee pain and other lower limb conditions related to aberrant foot joint biomechanics. Expert manual therapy combined with intrinsic foot muscle exercises can negate the need for orthotics, although this requires a lot of commitment. There is always the risk, that aberrant joint biomechanics will return in the event of self-management falling by the wayside.
Wearing well-designed orthotics may be a great way to keep your foot, ankle, knee, hip or even lower back pains at bay. People are no more dependent on wearing orthotics, than they are dependent on wearing shoes. If you find wearing orthotics to be beneficial in providing relief, so long as you plan to use footwear in the future, you may as well wear them in your shoes all of the time.
Take advantage of an orthotic to enhance your foot joint biomechanics.
Get scanned today!
A scan takes about two minutes to complete and ten minutes to run through the results. Don’t wait any longer to walk pain-free. Our readily available, flexible payment plans make it convenient for you to begin your journey to improved mobility. Committed to your wellbeing, we strive to make our service accessible to everyone. Enquire today to discover the difference our orthotics can make in your life.
