Pedorthic patients living with arthritis often have the same wish. They want to be able to live active lives without pain limiting them. Canadian Certified Pedorthists can help with this goal by assisting with proper footcare, selecting suitable footwear and creating custom orthotics.
Orthotics can make the world of difference in helping people with arthritis to reclaim their mobility. Custom orthotics support the foot and restrict any excess movements at painful joints to help to ease the pain caused by arthritis when walking or exercising.
Selecting the proper shoes is also imperative for arthritis patients. I often recommend shoes with rigid rocker soles, which means the sole of the shoe is rigid and curved from the ball of the foot to the toe. These rigid rocker soles decrease stress on the ball of the foot and provide a more efficient push off. Perfectly fitting shoes with wide, deep square toe boxes, with no seams over the hammertoes or other sensitive areas, can help to avoid pressure on painful joints. For arthritic patients I also often recommend shoes which have uppers made out of softer, flexible materials that will mold around sensitive areas of the feet.
People with arthritis also need to consider other areas of their bodies as well as their feet when they select their shoes. For example if they have arthritis affecting their backs, they may want to consider slip on shoes that don’t require them to bend over to put them on. Likewise for patients with arthritis in their hands, we can modify shoes to replace laces with Velcro to make the shoes easier and more comfortable to do up.
These orthotic and footwear changes can enable people with arthritis to live more active lives.