Custom orthotics may look like insoles but in fact they are bio-mechanical medical devices that are made from precise impressions of your feet....

When correctly prescribed and fabricated, custom orthotics correct specific foot imbalances and reduce overall stress and strain on your body by bringing your feet and lower legs back into proper alignment.

By correcting imbalances in your feet, custom orthotics help your body restore a natural balance and assist your body’s neuromuscular system to restore normal movement patterns.

They are often used in conjunction with physiotherapy treatments to assist in relieving pain from many conditions such as

  • Plantar Fasciitis
  • Heel Spurs
  • Calluses
  • Bunions, Hammer toes
  • Pain under the balls of the feet; Metatarsalgia, Morton's neuroma
  • Low back pain
  • Hip and knee pain
  • Flat feet, rigid feet, high arches
  • Achilles tendinosis
  • Shin splints
  • Arthritis
  • Recurrent sports injuries
  • Problems with running
  • Tired, achy pains in children's leg, often described as "growing pains"
The science....

Biomechanics is at the very centre of most injuries, unexplained aches and pains; and failure to fully understand the science or it’s implications is one of the most common reasons why people have unresolved pain.

So what is biomechanics, and why do we at MCP place so much importance on it?
Biomechanics is engineering as it relates to the movement of the human body; the way in which our joints physically line up, and the way that our muscles control, stabilise and move our joints. This goes for complex groups of joints (such as the spine), to more simple single joint movements (such as the knee joint).

Most of the time, the underlying problem can arise from us just being us – the way we have grown, the way we are built! Other times it can be compensatory – due to an old injury; or bad habits and posture that have built up over a period. Inevitably we find muscle imbalance and mobility issues whatever the underlying problem. So in a lot of ways the approach to fix these issues is just the same.

Fundamental to getting better is to start with as accurate an assessment as soon as possible with an expert eye. Structural problems in feet can alter walking pattern, running pattern & cause pain throughout the body. Clear and accurate assessment of the mechanics of lower limbs is the key to understanding the profound effect that subtle faults in the foot, ankle, knee and hip alignment can cause.

Our approach...

Only about 40% of the general population will need orthotics, so we do not prescribe orthotics unless they are indicated. Even when a foot abnormality is detected, we may not prescribe orthotics; the indication is generally pain somewhere along the kinematic chain from the toes to the lumbar spine that could be remedied with orthotic wearing.

At MCP, we can correct the pain and the source of the pain; both the victim and culprit. Lower limb biomechanical assessment, correction of abnormalities where possible, and orthotic prescription are some of the tools we use to give patients the gold standard physiotherapy experience that can be expected at MCP.