Your feet have direct impact on the rest of your body and support you with every step you take. Even a small abnormality in foot function can have a large impact on joints higher in the body, ultimately causing pain and discomfort. When you are running, the pressure on your feet can be three to four times your body weight, but even walking can produce more pressure than the sum of your body weight. The average person takes between 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day. That adds up to about 115,000 miles in a lifetime or more than four times the circumference of the globe. That is a lot of walking with ill-fitting shoes or painful feet!!

In some cases foot ailments can be an early signal of more serious medical problems like arthritis or diabetes. Women have four times as many foot problems as men because they have a long history of wearing high heels and/or pointed toe shoes.

Orthotics and proper shoe fit are very important aspects of foot health. Remember if you are experiencing pain or discomfort in your ankles, knees or hip joints ....the direct cause may be the function of your feet or ill-fitting shoes.

Ill fitting shoes can cause bunions and other local joint problems. Improper functioning of the feet can lead to bio-mechanical problems related to the function of the foot that can have effects on joints distant from the feet. Poor function can of course lead to pain and discomfort in the foot due to callous and corns resulting from abnormal pressure points. However improper function of the foot can put undue stress on the ankle joint and because it can cause improper rotation of the lower leg improperly it can result in knee pain. This in turn this can puts the hip under stress causing discomfort at This point. This can cause problems in the sacro-iliac giving quite severe pain locally and into the leg. Back pain. lower back and upper back and into the shoulder and neck region can ALSO result from the mechanical stress due to not walking properly. Stress in the upper body areas can cause head pain. Poor function of the foot gives you a headache!

Orthotics are designed to deal with the initial problem - proper function of the foot. Some of the common problems that can be helped with orthotics include include:-

• Plantar fasciitis (PF): foot arch pain
• Medial tibial stress syndrome (shin splints)
• Patello-femoral tracking syndrome (runner’s knee)
• Ilio-tibial band syndrome (ITBS, or lateral knee tendinitis)
• Sacro-iliac joint syndrome (sacro-iliitis or sciatica)
• Lumbar facet syndrome (low back pain)