1. Balance

Do you find yourself often losing balance?

There are lots of reasons for this, but one of the most common is that sometimes our feet and legs are not aligned correctly, which can lead to poor alignment of our knees, pelvis and spine. This is not always visible, so it’s important to speak with your physiotherapist who can assess your standing, sitting and walking posture and provide advice on what area of your body may need support.

Ankle Foot Orthotics, Foot Orthotics, Ankle Braces, Orthopaedic Boots and other stabilising braces can be used to support your foot and ankle to improve your balance. It’s also important that we let our body move how it’s designed to, and so your orthotist and/or physiotherapist may suggest working on muscle strength and movement before trying an orthotic.

2. Alignment

Does your walking look different to other people’s?

Many physical disabilities and acute injuries affect muscle and bone structures in ways that mean we have to compensate our walking, sitting and standing by moving a little differently. Orthotics help to change the alignment of our body to make walking and standing more symmetrical and in-line. Orthotics can be used all day to help with walking, for part of the day or even just for specific activities such as sport.

Having a clear goal of what you would like to achieve will help your orthotist prescribe suitable orthotics for you. Sometimes orthotics are also recommended to ensure you can keep moving your body as you get older and prevent other conditions such as osteoarthritis.

3. Fatigue and pain

Do you get tired quickly from walking or feel pain in your legs at night time?

If you find that you are easily tired or fatigued, or experience pain, orthotics can provide fantastic support to keep you going for longer. Maybe your goal is to keep up with your peers during activities, be able to run faster or reduce pain when participating in physical exercise.

Ankle Foot Orthoses made with different materials including 3D print and carbon fibre can be very beneficial for reducing fatigue due to their lightweight and/or energy-storing properties. Night time resting AFO’s are helpful for providing calf stretches when excessive muscle tone is present.

Ankle Foot Orthoses, Knee-Ankle-Foot Orthoses, Rocker Shoes and other walking braces can improve efficiency in walking. For example, people post-stroke who experience foot drop may be at risk of tripping over as walking can be exhausting and their feet may not be able to clear the ground – instead their toes scrape or catch as they walk. Ankle Foot Orthoses are designed to lift the foot at the appropriate time and facilitate a heel-to-toe and safe gait pattern.

4. Some other reasons you may benefit from orthotics include:

• Post-surgery rehabilitation
• Sports injury management
• Sitting position/wheelchair position
• Stretching
• Protection of joints
• Prevention of muscle tightness and contracture
• Osteoarthritis
• Swelling control