Along with the great website that has recently been revamped, the Pedorthic Association created videos to help explain various topics of Pedorthics. I have posted the video for, What is an Orthotic? Many people have the misconception that orthotics are the ones you can get at the drug stores from Dr. Schols when in actuality, those are just insoles that the brand Dr. Schols has claimed them to be "orthotics".

A true custom made orthotic is fabricated from an impression of both your feet. Click on the video to learn more!

The Pedorthic Association of Canada (PAC) has recently revamped and re-energized our professional website. It was redesigned to change who we as pedorthist were speaking to.  Originally our PAC website was designed to educate physcians and healthcare providers about the benefits of Pedorthtics but now the association has switched gears and made their focus on reaching out and talking to you!

We are all guilty of it, going online and trying to self diagnose the signs and symptoms of where our pain is coming from. Now, with our newly designed website, PAC covers all topics on Pedorthics and has added a new media gallery to give a better sense of how we as certified pedorthists practice.

I have many patients who come to see me with bunions. The most common comment I hear is how ugly they think their foot looks but there is such little education on what is exactly is developing under the skin.

My colleague has a severely developed bunion on his left foot and recently had an x-ray to rule out any osteoarthritis that may be developing over the years. He sent me his x-ray of his foot that I thought I would share with everyone to explain what exactly is happening under the skin with the bones in the foot once a bunion has fully developed.

My massage therapist friend thought I would enjoy this x-ray of a lady wearing a very aggressive high heel shoe.  This x-ray drills home the damaging effects of wearing high heel shoes can actually do to your foot.

While looking at the x-ray, you will notice how there is extreme extension of the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joints.  The cuneiform, navicular, talus, tibia and fibula are all in direct alignment of each other. The heads of all five ray bones and bearing the pressure of our whole body weight as we are propelling though stance phase of the gait cycle.

American pedorthist and Canadian certified pedorthist work a little differently in their health care professional models and this article is a great example of how American pedorthist have pushed the many benefits of the toning shoe fad - or lack there of. Claims such as: "28% more strength and tone in the buttocks muscles, 11% more strength and tone in the hamstring muscles adn 11% more strength and tone in the calf muscles than regular walking shoes," have all caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission and fined Reebok $25 million for the false claims to the consumer.

As I look back on my week, there is one client that stands out that I thought I should share. “Kate” was my last client of the day. This petite woman walked into my office limping on her right side. As she began to tell my what she had done, I knew right away this wasn’t the typical plantar fasciitis case.

I have numerous people come into my office asking my what kind of shoe I recommend for their feet or what is a good shoe in general. I have my favorites and wanted to post them so that I could share with everyone. When it comes to shoes and the best quality, there are so many on the market that it can be completely overwhelming and extremely discouraging if you have absolutely no knowledge of good quality footwear. Like my mom tells me in the decorating world, KISS: Keep It Seriously Simple and this statement holds true even in the footwear industry: Find one shoe in each category and thats more then enough to work with!

I find the best part of what I am trained to do is not only be able to help people get back to their active lifestyles pain free but the best part is when I see them come back for another pair because they have found success with the treatment plan I have designed for them. In this particular case, I have seen this individual go from a very severe infection where three toes were lost to being able to properly ambulate with comfort. Without his orthotics, “Carl” would not be able to walk without pain.

As we go through our training to become certified pedorthists, we learn the difference between structural and functional leg length discrepancies (LLD). When dealing with a functional LLD, there is a muscle imbalance in the lower limb and when dealing with a structural LLD, there is a true anatomical difference in the bones of the lower limb. The rule of thumb when treating a structural or functional LLD (errs on the side of caution if there is a concern of some amount of functional LLD) is to add a heel lift only 60% of the actual LLD. Trauma induced or post surgery LLD can be corrected 100%. This is because an external force has developed this LLD and the body has not adapted to this sudden shortened limb. The end result can be asymmetric problems of the lower back and on the side of the longer limb. In the past, I have treated many LLD.

For all the different pathomechanics we as certified pedorthists learn while in training, we are taught what the most common and least common pathomechanics are and this week in clinic I was lucky enough to see a foot type that is somewhat uncommon. I was fortunate enough to witness a biltateral hallux varus. You may be familiar with its opposite - hallux valgus: the great toe migrates toward the 2nd toe. A hallux varus is a deformity of the great toe joint where the hallux is deviated medially away from the first metatarsal bone. This can sometimes be a surgical, over-correction of a bunion but in this case “Fred’s” bilateral hallux varus were congenital and he was experiencing a lot of pain in both his 1st MTP joints and both great toes.