Tag: podiatrist auckland

Does Your Leg And Foot Posture At Your Desk Really Matter?

Whether you’re in the office or working remotely, a lot of our workforce spends a significant portion of their day sitting at a desk, often in front of a computer. While sitting may seem natural and harmless, poor posture has the potential to lead to various health issues, including discomfort, pain, and musculoskeletal problems that require professional care. Yes, the way you position your hips, legs, and feet when sitting on a chair can significantly impact your overall well-being. Here’s How.

The Consequences of Poor Posture

Your Hips

There are two main elements of poor posture when it comes to the hips. Sitting with a slouched hip posture, where the hips are rolled backwards, can lead to excessive pressure on the lumbar spine. This position places extra strain on the lower back muscles, potentially causing lower back pain and discomfort. Sitting with elevated hips, where your hips are higher than the knees due to an inadequate chair height can result in pressure on your hip flexors. Over time, this can lead to tightness and discomfort in these muscles.

Your Legs

Sitting with your legs crossed can restrict blood flow and lead to numbness and tingling in the legs. It may also place uneven pressure on the knees, potentially contributing to knee pain and long-term joint issues. Similarly, keeping your legs extended straight under the desk can hinder blood circulation, causing discomfort and potentially contributing to varicose veins over time.

Your Feet

Allowing your feet to dangle without proper support can result in lower back pain and poor circulation in the legs. This posture may also lead to the development of varicose veins. Tucking your feet under the chair can also create unnecessary pressure on the knees and lead to discomfort over time.

So How Should You Be Sitting?

Aim to: 

  • Sit with your hips in a neutral position, where the natural curve of the lower spine is maintained. This minimises the stress on the lower back and helps prevent pain and discomfort.
  • Use a chair with lumbar support, as it can help maintain the natural curve of your lower back and provide additional comfort.
  • Ideally, keep your hips and knees at a 90-degree angle to one another when sitting. Adjust the chair height so that your feet are flat on the floor, promoting proper circulation and reducing stress on the knees.
  • Avoid crossing your legs, instead keep both feet flat on the ground or on a footrest to prevent pressure on the knees and ensure optimal blood flow.
  • Use a footrest, as it can help support your feet and maintain proper posture while reducing the risk of lower back pain.
  • Ensure that your feet are not tucked under the chair. Instead, keep them flat on the ground or on a footrest.

Experiencing Pain In Your Feet Or Legs?

If you’re experiencing pain in your feet or legs, whether that’s related to your lower limb posture or from something else – we’d love to help. Give our podiatry team a call. We’re based in Remuera, in the One Health medical building, close to Newmarket. Call us on 09 523 2333 or book online here.

Signs Your Heel Pain Is From A Heel Spur

Heel spurs are a hot topic in our clinic – particularly around whether they’re the underlying cause of a person’s ongoing or recurring heel pain. There’s a lot of confusion and misconceptions around heel spurs, especially in relation to plantar fasciitis heel pain. Here’s what you should know about heel spurs from the heel pain experts.

What Is A Heel Spur?

A heel spur is a bony growth that develops on the underside of the heel bone (calcaneus). It typically forms in response to repeated stress or pressure on the heel, which causes calcium deposits to accumulate and harden over time. Heel spurs can range in size and shape, and they may or may not cause pain or discomfort. They are often associated with plantar fasciitis, a condition that involves inflammation of the tissue that runs along the bottom of the foot from the heel to the toes. It should be noted that bony spurs can develop in areas all around the body where a tendon attaches to bone. This includes a spur at the back of the heel bone, at the Achilles tendon.

What Causes Heel Spurs?

Bony spurs develop when soft tissues repetitively apply stress to the bone that they are attached to. This may be the result of overdoing it during exercise, poor foot mechanics that overload the tendons, medical conditions like arthritis or gout, wearing unsupportive footwear that leads to excess strain on the tendons, and may even be linked to the ageing process, where our bones and tissues naturally grow weaker.

What Are The Symptoms Of Heel Spurs?

Interestingly, the majority of people we see with heel spurs do not experience any symptoms, painful or otherwise, and the spurs are often detected incidentally on X-rays or other imaging tests. However, when symptoms do occur, they can include:
  • Pain: this is felt on the bottom of the heel. The pain is often described as a sharp, stabbing sensation that worsens with standing, walking, or running.
  • Inflammation: the plantar fascia (the tissue that connects the heel bone to the toes and the one affected in the condition plantar fasciitis), can occur alongside heel spurs. This can cause swelling, redness, and warmth in the affected area.
  • Tenderness: the area around the heel spur may be tender to the touch.
  • Stiffness: there may be stiffness or reduced flexibility in the affected foot.
  • Difficulty walking: the pain and discomfort associated with heel spurs can make it difficult to walk normally, especially first thing in the morning or after periods of rest.

How Are Heel Spurs Diagnosed?

The only way to confidently diagnose a heel spur is via x-ray medical imaging. With this said, it’s important to note that the majority of heel pain we see is not caused by heel spurs. Other conditions, primarily plantar fasciitis, as well as Achilles tendonitis, can also cause similar symptoms. Hence, x-rays are not often used to investigate heel spurs specifically further.

What Is The Treatment For Heel Spurs?

The treatment for heel spurs is very similar to the treatment for plantar fasciitis heel pain, given the spur develops at the insertion of the fascia. This includes using custom foot orthotics, wearing good, supportive footwear, and starting a rehab program with stretching and strengthening exercises. Your podiatrist will discuss your management plan in full during your appointment, once we confirm what the cause of your heel pain truly is.

Can Heel Spurs Be Prevented?

While not all heel spurs can be prevented, there are several things you can do to reduce your risk of developing a spur. This includes wearing well-fitting, supportive footwear, stretching regularly before physical activity, maintaining good technique and form during exercise, not going too hard too fast during exercise and straining your tendons, and keeping conditions like rheumatoid arthritis well managed.

How Long Does It Take To Recover From Heel Spurs?

The recovery time for heel spurs can vary depending on the severity of the condition and the individual’s response to treatment. With proper treatment, you can expect a significant improvement in your symptoms within six to eight weeks. In more severe cases, recovery may take several months.

Can Heel Spurs Come Back After Treatment?

Yes, if the original cause of the heel spur is not properly addressed, then they can recur when the tissues are again repeatedly strained and overused.

Do I Need Surgery For Heel Spurs?

In most cases, no. Most cases of heel spurs can be effectively managed with non-surgical treatments, such as physical therapy, orthotics, and wearing supportive footwear. Surgery is typically reserved for severe cases of heel spurs that do not respond to conservative treatments. Struggling with heel spurs? Our podiatry team is here to help. We’re proud to offer exceptional podiatry and heel pain care in Remuera, Newmarket and the surrounding areas. Book your appointment with our podiatrists by calling us on 09 523 2333 or book online here.

Is It An Ingrown Nail, Or A Corn? A Case Study

While most of the time our patients are confident about an ingrown toenail diagnosis, we thought we’d share the case of a recent patient who thought she had a very painful ingrown toenail – only to discover that she actually had a corn in the area where an ingrown toenail would normally be found.

The Symptoms

Jess* has had several ingrown toenails in the past, treated by another provider, prior to coming to see us, so she knew the symptoms she was looking out for. Aside from knowing that her work shoes that she spent 8-10 hours in per day weren’t there best for her feet and made her toes feel cramped, she also experienced:
  • Pain and tenderness at one edge of her right big toenail
  • Redness that was isolated to one side of the toenail
  • Mild swelling around the area
  • Pain when pushing down on the side of the nail from the toe
She didn’t have any bleeding or discharge, and she didn’t normally have that with her previous ingrown toenails. There were no signs of infection or indications of anything sinister. It just felt like another ingrown toenail.  Jess had always had her nails “temporarily” managed where the offending nail edge was removed, but nothing was done to stop it from coming back. She found us through our reputation of being Auckland’s leading providers of ingrown toenail treatments, including permanent solutions that would keep the ingrown toenail gone.

What Was Found

During Jess’ exam with our podiatrist, we uncovered that she didn’t actually have an ingrown toenail. The ridge that her toenail naturally followed as it grew out (on the painful side of the nail) looked like it had been rubbing against the skin (likely contributed to by her footwear) and it had actually formed a small, hard corn down the side of the nail. As corns are firm, dead skin that often blend into the appearance of the surrounding skin, Jess never even saw it until we pointed it out. The thing with corns – and you’ll know if you’ve had one in the past – is that despite their small size, they can be incredibly painful.  When present on the bottom of the foot, many of our patients describe them as constantly walking on a painful pebble. All her symptoms made sense – especially if the nail kept pressing against the corn, leading to her pain and redness.

Treatment

The best part for Jess was that her treatment was very simple and straightforward. All we had to do was use a fine surgical scalpel to remove the corn – a procedure that is painless given that corns do not have any living tissue. Once the corn was removed and the toenail was no longer pressing against anything, she felt immediate relief, and was completely pain-free by the following evening.

Did She Have Ingrown Toenails Previously?

The biggest question that was left for us is whether Jess really did have ingrown toenails in the same spot previously, or if she had had that corn for quite some time and it was misdiagnosed as an ingrown toenail given the symptoms were the same. As she previously had a small part of the nail removed to relieve her symptoms, it would make sense that once the part of the nail that would otherwise rub against the corn was removed, that her symptoms would stop too, so it would appear that her ingrown nail was ‘treated’ – without ever treating the true cause of her problem, meaning that it would be bound to continue recurring as the nail grew out. Interestingly, that’s something that’s almost impossible to determine now – but what we do know is that Jess won’t be having any more pain related to that particular corn.

Ingrown Toenail Facts

  • Aside from wearing shoes that are too tight or narrow, the biggest cause of ingrown toenails that we see and treat is a person’s nail-trimming technique – especially if they pick at or pull of the nail
  • Ingrown toenails do not usually get better without treatment – a true ingrown toenail means that part of a toenail has embedded itself down in the skin of your toe (like a sharp dagger) and it must be removed
  • You don’t have to suffer with repeated ingrown nails – permanent treatments that get rid of the issue once and for all are available. This involves removing a small section of the nail and then applying a chemical that destroys the nail growing cells so they don’t grow back.
  • We see just as many children (often adolescents) with ingrown nails as adults. We have also successfully treated ingrown nails on young toddlers. They can occur at any age
  • Having an ingrown nail where the nail has pierced your skin means that you are vulnerable to infection as long as the nail is in there and you have an open wound.
For safe and effective treatment of ingrown nails by Auckland’s leading podiatry specialists, book in at our clinic in Remuera. You can call us on 09 523 2333 or book online here.

Why Do My Feet Hurt In The Morning?

If you’ve been waking up with sore feet, heels or arches in the morning, this is for you. There’s a very specific kind of heel pain with the following three symptoms that you may relate to:
  • Pain at the bottom of the heel that radiates into the arch
  • Pain when standing up first thing in the morning, which tends to ease or go away as you take those first steps in the morning and stay walking
  • Pain in the heel or arch when you stand up after having a rest or sitting down during the day
The name of this heel pain is plantar fasciitis, and it’s the #1 most common cause of heel pain that we see here in Auckland. Today, our podiatrists have shared all about this heel pain, why it happens, and how you can get rid of it today.  

Morning foot pain: Plantar fasciitis

We know – terms like plantar fasciitis can sound confusing, but this one isn’t. Simply put, you have a connective tissue at the bottom of your foot called a fascia. Because of its location, it’s called the plantar fascia, meaning the fascia at the sole of the foot. As there is some damage or inflammation to the tissue, it is called plantar fasciitis.  What the plantar fascia actually is, is a thick band that runs from the bottom of your heel (where you’ll be feeling your pain) and spans out like a fan to connect into your toes. It supports your arch and works every time you take a step.  

Why am I getting foot pain in the morning?

When this tissue is overloaded or strained, damage and pain occur. Specifically, the plantar fascia gets very small tears through its fibres. If the strain is high, it may even partially or completely tear. The reason behind the overloading and subsequent damage can vary greatly, and for our patients here in Auckland, tends to include:
  • Taking on more physical activity or training – like a fitness challenge or doing a very big day of physical activity like a hike
  • Foot biomechanics – the way the feet and legs function overloads the fascia when combined with other factors like a long day on the feet or poor footwear choices
  • Unsupportive footwear, especially ones that have a flat, firm base – this is often pronounced when you move from regularly wearing supportive shoes to wearing less supportive shoes
  • Hard surfaces – which affect many tradies at work
  • Specific activities that overuse the fascia like climbing stairs
  • Injury to the heel – like jumping down from a high surface, which injuries the fascia
 

I have been getting pain in the morning for a while. Will it last forever?

Absolutely not. Don’t worry – you will only continue to get pain while there is still damage to the fascia. Once we can help repair and heal the fascia, reducing the daily strain on it, the pain will also go and you can have your pain-free mornings back.  

Will my morning foot pain go away on its own?

Not easily. The foot is a tricky area – unlike other parts of the body where you can immobilise it and just not use it for little while, you activate the fascia with every step you take, which may result in more damage occurring – or at least prevent it from getting better as it keeps getting irritated day after day. This is why plantar fasciitis should be professionally treated with the help of a podiatry team that have a strong focus on musculoskeletal injuries – like we do here.  

How is plantar fasciitis heel pain treated?

Your treatment starts with a comprehensive assessment that looks at characteristics of your feet and legs, your gait, your injury and symptoms, evaluates the cause of the problem, and considers your lifestyle and goals.  Here at Perform Podiatry, we don’t want you wasting time (and money) trying methods that aren’t effective. We focus on getting you the best clinical outcomes as fast as possible using evidence-based medicine, with superior long-term results.  We start by alleviating your current painful symptoms and creating the right conditions for your fascia to heal. Next, we look at ways we can prevent your plantar fasciitis from returning in the future. Every treatment plan is different, but may include: 
  • Custom foot orthotics – to support the arch and reduce tension off the plantar fascia so it can heal instead of continuing being strained with every step
  • Footwear check – to ensure your footwear isn’t contributing to your ongoing pain and inadvertently delaying your recovery
  • Strapping or bracing as needed
  • Strengthening weak muscles that may have contributed to the development of your heel pain
  • Stretching tight muscles – not only to help stretch the fascia to reduce pain (where appropriate) but to also stretch other muscle groups that may have contributed to your heel pain, which often happens with tight calf muscles
  • Dry needling –  to release or activate trigger points to relieve pain or improve range of motion. This is usually done in the calf region
 

There are other causes of foot pain too

While plantar fasciitis is our #1 cause of morning foot pain, other conditions can create similar symptoms. This is why having a diagnosis is important – in our assessments we rule out other causes of heel pain like Abductor hallucis tendinopathy, fat pad syndrome and calcaneal stress fractures, to name a few. Once your diagnosis is confirmed, we will proceed with your care.  

Proud to be trusted by thousands of people with foot pain every year

Our podiatry team here in Remuera is proud to be trusted by thousands with their foot and leg pain every year. If you’re waking up with foot pain, or it’s going all day, we’re here to help. Book your appointment online with us here or call us on 09 523 2333.    

Busting The Top 3 Orthotic Myths!

For those that haven’t had orthotics before or vaguely remember them from earlier years, a lot of questions or misconceptions may exist. Orthotics are far from the big, bulky devices that they may have once been. In fact, they become unnoticeable for regular wearers and more than that – a true lifesaver providing much-needed relief from pain and discomfort. So today, given our speciality in orthotic prescription and manufacture, we thought we’d bust 3 common orthotic myths that may start to shift your hesitation or fear about getting orthotics.

Myth One: I don’t want to wear weird, large shoes…

Great news – you don’t have to! These days, orthotics are made to fit well into your joggers, work shoes, work boots, and a variety of other shoes. Certain women’s brands, like Ziera and Frankie4, stock a wide range of orthotic-friendly sandals and dress shoes too. These brands are actually designed by or with the input of Podiatrists, making them both stylish and incredibly comfortable – and of course, accommodating for orthotics! The integration of orthotics into general shoes these days is so seamless that you can’t even tell who is and isn’t wearing orthotics. However, there are some shoes that require special types of slimline orthotics, or are unlikely to fit orthotics. Soccer shoes are a great example of requiring slimline orthotics, because of the extremely narrow base of the shoe. Ski boots are another. Shoes like ballet shoes are an example of those that are unable to take orthotics – which really would be pointless (ballet joke…) anyway because of their need to flex.

Myth Two: Once I get orthotics, I’m going to need to keep wearing them…

Nope! False. If you get orthotics to help you recover from an injury, then you only need to wear them until your muscles or tissues fully repair and recover. Now, IF the reason you got injured is something that orthotics can help with, then yes we recommend that you continue to wear your orthotics but only when you’re active and likely to injure yourself again. For example, say you have very unstable ankles and you suffered an example sprain. And you got orthotics to help hold your ankle in place, facilitate healing, and stop you from rolling and injuring your ankle again while your ligaments are in their damaged and vulnerable state. Then, the ligaments heal and regain full strength and functional capacity. Technically, you don’t need to keep wearing your orthotics. However, if you’re worried about sustaining more ankle sprains in the future, especially because you play basketball (where your initial injury occurred) as it has lots of side to side movements, then by wearing your orthotics during basketball games and training, you can reduce your risk of injury. Which makes sense!

Myth Three: Orthotics don’t work

It’s unfortunate that most people know someone who claims that they’ve had orthotics and they haven’t worked for them. We’ll be as blunt and honest as possible about this one. Say you want an item of glass created by a glassblower for you. If you engage a knowledgeable and experienced glassblower, you’re highly likely to receive the piece that you need. If you engage a junior glassblower that has more of an interest in ceramics than glass, while working for a company that does both, they’re not likely to produce the best result for you, even though they’ve had training in it. The same can be said for hairdressers, financial planners, and so many other professions. But it doesn’t mean that getting custom glass pieces made, getting haircuts, or investing finances doesn’t work. It does. You just need the right person. That’s why our team specialises in orthotics and we actually make our own, exactly how we want them (and how you need them) from scratch. That’s our difference and why we lead Auckland in this field. To book an appointment with our expert team, give us a call on 09 523 2333 or book online here.

5 Things That Are Causing Your Heel Pain

Heel pain sucks – and we hear this expressed with much pain and frustration daily from our patients. When your ability to walk is affected, it impacts your whole day and freedom to not just do the things you enjoy, but generally complete simple everyday tasks. Treating and relieving heel pain effectively starts with identifying the cause, then working to allow the injured structure to heel (and speeding up the process). Because there are many potential causes of heel pain, we thought we’d list the top 5 conditions/injuries that cause heel pain for our patients here at Perform Podiatry. Here we go:

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is the biggie. We treat hundreds of patients each year with plantar fasciitis, which unfortunately develops in a lot of people when they’re on their feet, running around or have decided to get fit and exercise more. It describes damage to a fan-like fibrous band that attaches from the bottom of your heel to your toes, called the plantar fascia. It’s more common in those with flat feet. You’ll experience:
  • Pain at the bottom of the heel
  • Radiating aches up into the arch
  • Pain that is the worst with your first few steps in the morning, which then tends to ease
  • Pain when standing after resting

 Abductor Hallucis Tendinopathy

Abductor hallucis tendinopathy (AHT) is an injury to the abductor hallucis muscle, which runs from the bottom of your heel to the big toe. It follows a similar route to the plantar fascia (except that it doesn’t fan out), so is often misdiagnosed for plantar fasciitis. You’ll experience:
  • Aches or pain at the bottom or inside of your heel
  • Tenderness may radiate inside the arch
  • Pain that is the worst with your first few steps in the morning, which then tends to ease
  • Pain when standing after resting

Achilles Tendinopathy

Achilles tendinopathy is an injury to the Achilles tendon – a thick band that connects the calf muscles to the back of your heel bone. This tendon plays an important role in helping us walk. You’ll experience:
  • Pain, aches and tenderness at the back of the heel
  • Pain that can be worsened by physical activity, especially running
  • Tenderness that may radiate up the back of the leg
  • Stiffness at the back of the heel
  • Inflammation at the back of the heel

Sever’s Disease

Sever’s disease is a temporary condition that occurs when kids are growing quickly, especially between the ages of 8 and 15 years. It describes the irritation of a growth plate situated at the back of the heel. Growth plates are present in all growing bones and solidify once the bone has reached full maturity. When strain and forces from surrounding muscles and tissues pull on the area around the growth plate, damage to the growth plate occurs. Kids will experience:
  • Pain and tenderness at the back of the heel
  • Pain during and after physical activity
  • Both sharp pains and dull aches
  • Tightness in the muscles at the back of the legs
  • Potential swelling at the back of the heel

Heel Fractures

There are two types of fractures:
  • Stress fractures
  • Regular fractures
Regular fractures involve the break or crack of a bone. A stress fracture builds up from repetitive strain over time, resulting in tiny cracks through the bone, appearing like tree roots. Regardless of the cause, they both need good care to ensure proper healing. You’ll experience:
  • Sharp pain at the heel (regular fractures)
  • Dull, aching pain that can start very mildly (stress fracture)
  • Tenderness in the area of the heel
  • Difficulty putting the heel down and bearing weight (mild to severe)
Regardless of the diagnosis, the next step is to see your podiatrist so it can be thoroughly assessed and the best course of treatment can be started. The sooner you commence treatment, the sooner you’ll get back to feeling great on your feet again! If you’ve got heel pain and need it gone, you can give us a call on 09 523 2333 or book your appointment online here.

Three Ways Orthotics Will Help The Pain At The Ball Of Your Foot

This article is for you if you have:
  • Pain at the ball of your foot (forefoot)
  • Have been wondering if orthotics could help decrease your pain or improve your comfort
  • Have orthotics but unsure how they are working (and if something could be done to make them even more effective!)
Orthotics have the ability to reduce pain, facilitate the healing of injuries, make walking and running much more comfortable and really add positively to your quality of life. While a lot of expertise and care goes into each orthotic prescription we make, you get given this device that replaces the inner sole of your shoes, without perhaps knowing the inner workings and theory behind it. As you start feeling the difference, you may be left wondering exactly how the orthotics are working and resulting in your symptom relief. Perhaps you know someone whose orthotics haven’t produced the same great results that yours have. Well, today we’re answering all these questions and sharing three ways that orthotics can start helping your forefoot pain today! Here we go…

#1. Orthotics take pressure away from damaged joints, tissues, ligaments and bones

Custom orthotics have features or additions. When we talk about forefoot pain, we often talk about adding an addition to the forefoot and midfoot that will actually remove the regular pressure away from damaged bones and joints – or at least decrease it significantly. Picture this. Your big toe joint is injured. Every time you walk, you put pressure along the whole foot including that joint. You put a big cushion beneath the foot, but not beneath the big toe joint. As you walk and your midfoot is supported and cushioned, the big toe joint drops down in front of the cushion but doesn’t really touch the ground. No direct pressure means no pain. And voila! Of course, it’s a lot more technical than that. You can’t actually put a giant cushion beneath your foot. You won’t be able to walk normally or wear normal shoes so ultimately you’ll put your regular shoes back on and BAM – painful symptoms. Instead, we incorporate this carefully into your orthotics that work with your everyday shoes, through pads and cut-outs and various other techniques we have up our sleeve. And by techniques, we mean evidence-based thoroughly-researched and proven techniques.

#2. Orthotics support the bones and tissues of the arch, stopping their collapse and the narrowing of the space between them

Hold out your hand, bring your fingers flat together, and imagine these fingers as the long bones of your feet. Now, imagine that there is something between the bones. It could be a nerve, ligament, muscle, a common mass like a cyst, or something else. If that structure gets damaged, one of the first things that’ll happen is that it will swell. When it swells, it gets larger and takes up more of that space between the bones. The bones then will rub against it and push on it, it will be sore and painful, and this will continue until you put your feet up and rest. Unfortunately, when you put your feet back on the ground, the process just starts up again until you can relieve pressure away from the area for long enough for it to heal. Sounds pretty hard to keep the foot up when we’ve got jobs and daily tasks where walking is essential, right? Yep! The solution? An addition within the orthotic that supports the foot and opens up the space between the bones. Good amount of space = no direct rubbing = healing can proceed. No magic here, just good ol’ science, precision and biomechanics.

#3. Orthotics help absorb shock and hence the impact forces through the forefoot

To help explain this one, we’re going to backtrack back to physics. Remember Newton’s third law? The one that says that every force has an equal and opposite reaction force? Let’s start here. If you hit your foot hard against the ground right now (please don’t), your foot won’t bounce back. Instead, you’ll feel a force, and maybe some shock or pain, coming back through your foot (the opposite and equal force). Now, imagine this kind of force occurring every time you run or jump. Did we mention that you exert a force equal to three timesyour body weight during running? For some, the force will be transferred effectively through their feet, bones and tissues, and they’ll feel little impact. For others, inefficient gait (movement) will result in much more stress and shock through the feet, which can lead to pains and problems. Here’s where the orthotics come in. Where the biomechanics of the feet are lacking, orthotics can step in and work to absorb shock and ground reaction forces as we take step after step. This can mean a significant reduction of pain and symptoms through our feet, and have us feeling much more comfortable after a long day at work. So there we have it! Just three of the many ways that orthotics can help with forefoot pain, among the variety of other foot and leg pathologies they can help with. Keep in mind that not all orthotics are created the same – each custom orthotic is made following the precise script of the prescribing practitioner – that’s why it’s very important that you see a Podiatrist that specialises in orthotics and lower limb biomechanics. This also explains why orthotics work brilliantly for some people and not so for others – because they weren’t designed or created as optimally as they could be. If you feel like your current orthotics just aren’t doing the job and would like to book in with our orthotic specialists here at Perform Podiatry to have them checked, give us a call on 09 523 2333 or book online here.