Did you know that a lot of acute injuries and chronic conditions of your feet, ankles, knees and hips can be traced back to a biomechanical dysfunction of your feet?

A small abnormality in your foot function can have a large impact on joints higher up in the body, causing pain and discomfort to your knees, hips and lower back as the body keeps compensating and adjusting.

You have to understand the relationship between your feet and the rest of your body, because they support you with each step you take. When you are walking, your feet have to withstand pressures that can add up to be more than the sum of your body weight, with the average person taking between 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day. That is an insane 184,000 kilometres in a lifetime, or a foot journey of 4.5 times around the world. And when you are running, playing field sports or simply adding a bit of speed and acceleration, things will only get more tricky, as the pressure can increase to 3-4 times your body weight.

We have found that the cause of a large number of injuries in a patient’s lower extremity lies in in their foot anatomy and biomechanics, with a sagging foot arch (pronation or also known as flat footedness) being the main culprit. As the arch drops, the foot will spread out, the ankle will cave inwards and the lower leg will rotate inwards, causing increased torque on the inside of the knee and shifting the muscle balance on the kneecap. This will result in injuries such as:

GAITSCAN TECHNOLOGY ON-SITE

For the last 10 years, we have been working with the people of The Orthotic Group, a Canada based company with offices in Australia, US, Europe and Asia, with a proven track record of success.

Their Gait Analysis technology (GaitScan™) is well recognised as a valuable diagnostic tool, which acts as a digital casting device with 4096 sensors and a scan rate of 300Hz (frames per second), giving it an amazing scanning capability. The pressure plate with computer software technology allows our therapists to assess your feet passively whilst standing and actively during walking.

With both diagnostic and educational capabilities, the Gaitscan™ provides a comprehensive biomechanical evaluation and the informative reports will give you access to over a million data points to explain the variations of optimal biomechanics.

TYPES OF CUSTOM ORTHOTICS

We have many different types of custom orthotics to suit a wide range of conditions, foot types and activities. Ranging from the simple work or dress shoe, to the serious runner or sportsperson. There are even specialty ones for golf and skiing + snowboarding!