Your podiatrist will accurately measure your feet to ensure the best ‘foot fit’ is achieved ensuring comfort and fit is prioritised whether you wear orthotics with them or not.

At SO Podiatry we prescribe orthotics as part of the treatment plan to help your biomechanical issue. The device sits in your shoes or footwear to alter or force an action of the muscles that make you walk. They work by redistributing pressure and changing the way the body adapts to movement. They are useful to improve muscle engagement and help muscles work better for you. Orthotics are designed to relieve your lower limb issues such as foot or heel pain.

When you initially get your orthotics/ insoles from SO Podiatry they may feel a bit odd. However, this is completely normal. We advise all our clients that on the first day you wear your new orthotics or insoles, you only do this for one hour. Then on day two, you wear them for two hours, day three, three hours etc. With each day, you increase wear time an additional hour until you can manage to wear them all day. When you can wear them all day with no problems this is when it is considered safe to start wearing them for exercise.

If they cause you pain, simply remove them and rest for a day or two, then try again and see how they feel. It is perfectly normal for this process to take anywhere up to two weeks to get used to wearing them, don’t forget everyone is different so try not to compare your experience to someone else. The reason for wearing them in slowly allows your body to get used to the new activity that the orthotics are requiring you to do. Just like any new exercise, it is normal to get some aches and pains in the legs muscles whilst you get used to wearing them.

The lifespan of the orthotic depends on why it was prescribed and what material it is made from and how much you use them. We treat all our clients as individuals, so we will let you know how long your orthotic will last. Foot orthotics are all different, no one size fits all and at SO Podiatry we use various different types depending on your individual case. Custom laboratory manufactured orthotics usually have a longer life span.

It is always advisable to see your podiatrist every 20-24 months if you wear a prescribed pair. It is essential to reassess whether your needs are the same, and if the device is doing what we need it to. It is always important to remember that the body is a live changing tissue that over time changes. So we like to recommend reassessment every 20 months as essential to keep you moving better, pain free and allowing you to live your best life.