Orthotic Therapy

• Chiropody & Podiatry
• Nail Surgery
• Verrucae
• Fungal Nails
• Biomechanics & Gait Analysis
• Orthotic Treatment
• Children & Biomechanics
• Referrals

What is an Orthotic Device and how can it help?
Orthotics act a lot like eyeglasses, they are precisely calibrated devices designed to correct any areas of poor function within the foot and optimise the performance of your body. Like eyeglasses your prescription must be based on an accurate diagnosis of any pathology and an assessment of how your body functions.

Orthotics are used for:

• Alleviating foot pain.
• Controlling or correcting abnormal gait patterns.
• Improving the shock absorbing properties of a foot.
• Providing padding (cushioning) to rest sore areas on the foot such as corns and calluses.
• Helping the older foot with support.
• Reducing symptoms from lower back, hip, knee, ankle and foot that may be generated from foot abnormalities.
• Controlling of lower limb function in competitive athletes.

Orthotic devices can:

• help to reduce fatigue in the foot and lower limb.
• support feet that have collapsed.
• help to control feet for a person with a Gait related problem.

What Conditions Can be Treated with Orthotics

There are many conditions which can be treated successfully with orthotics including pain within the foot, and pain in the joints and muscles of the legs. Often (though not always) back pain has its root in the position of the pelvis and that is affected by the way we walk.

Some of the conditions which orthotics can benefit include:-

• Arthritic or other pain in the Big Toe Joint (or anywhere in the feet)
• Forefoot pain (Mortons neuroma, Metatarsalgia etc)
• Heel pain (plantar fascitis)
• Arch pain
• Ankle pain
• Muscular pain in the legs, feet and ankles
• Hip pain
• Lower back pain

Orthotics reposition the foot structure to achieve optimum skeletal balance, thereby reducing the stress on the joints that are causing the discomfort. They do this by controlling joint movement, and by altering some angles to prevent excessive motion.

There are many different types of orthotics. The type that is used depends on the activity in which the patient is involved, the shoes they want to wear, and the underlying foot problem.

We do not use the "one size fits all" off the shelf devices that many prescribe. Like the reading glasses you may see in the chemist or supermarket these are at best crude devices which may not suit your feet, shoes, or function. Sometimes they can even make matters worse.

I am immensely impressed by the effectiveness of Brightwell's treatment of my feet. I have just walked 170 miles over nine days on the Camino del Norte in Spain without blisters. Last year I had to stop at seven days because I had developed a blister covering the whole of the ball of my left foot which took almost two months to heal. In each of the previous four years on the Camino Frances I have always had at least one unpleasant and painful blister. I hoped that Brightwell's orthotic insoles would give me some relief from this problem. To have complete relief was beyond my expectations. Thank you Susan for each of those 361,167 pain free steps! Mr Sprigge