Foot pain can be debilitating! Where you go for help can mean the difference between living with foot pain (which can also include leg, hip, and back pain), and finding ongoing relief so you can maintain a healthy lifestyle. In choosing BioPed Footcare to help with your foot pain, you’ve made the decision to put your feet in the right hands. Here’s why!
You wouldn’t take your car to an unlicensed mechanic, or your vision care to someone who has never studied the eyes, so why would foot pain be any different? At BioPed, our Canadian Certified Pedorthists are trained in the anatomy and biomechanics of the foot and lower limbs, and provide customized treatments for each patient.
Let’s begin.
At your initial evaluation, the Pedorthist will ask you a variety of questions. It’s important to establish the origin and frequency of your foot pain, how long you stand on your feet (at work, playing sports, participating in hobbies) and the type of footwear you generally wear (at home, work and play).
After the detailed history taking, you’ll be asked to participate in a number of tests ranging from a walking gait analysis, to various range of motion tests that evaluate joint flexibility and strength. The Pedorthist will educate you on the root cause of your foot pain and will propose customized solutions for you. This commitment to educating clients is something that differentiates BioPed from other providers. Pedorthists typically use custom orthotics to offset pressure away from pain points and compensate for alignment issues that are causing foot pain. It is crucial that custom orthotics are manufactured properly though, as even slight degrees of error can render the orthotics ineffective, or worse, cause more pain.
The first step in correctly manufacturing your custom made orthotics is taking a mould of your feet. As industry leaders, BioPed only uses 3-dimensional techniques to take the mould. This allows us to build a true 3D representation of your foot, which we then build your custom orthotic to the replica model foot. A simple foot imprint on a mat is colourful, but is not enough to achieve accurate results, where small degrees of error can lead to large consequences.
The next step is one that makes BioPed’s approach to foot care truly unique. Your BioPed Pedorthist personally hand-crafts your custom orthotics on-site! What does this mean? Well, for starters, who better to build your custom orthotics than our lower limb clinicians who actually saw your feet and performed your evaluation tests!? Your custom orthotics should never be sent out to a third party bulk manufacturing plant, only to be given back to you in a plastic bag. At BioPed, once your orthotics are manufactured, your Pedorthist schedules an appointment to personally evaluate the fit of the orthotics and how it sits in your shoes. They want your feedback! In fact, it’s crucial to the process. If it doesn’t feel quite right, our on-site lab allows us to make any necessary adjustments on-the-spot to ensure you will find relief from your foot pain! There’s no waiting for your orthotics to be sent out again to yet another third party you’ve never met, only to get it back in several days or weeks, to find that they still don’t feel quite right!
Note that with more chronic conditions of foot pain, the orthotic may need to be built up in stages throughout the year as your joints and muscles may not tolerate full correction right away. While the process of achieving the best fit could require more visits, this level of dedication and amount of time and care, results in a better solution. Your Pedorthist will follow up with you to determine your comfort and identify if any further adjustments need to be made.
We will also outline a tailored approach for breaking in your new orthotics with many people being encouraged to wear their orthotics only a few hours a day the first week.
At the end of the day, what does all of this mean for you? It means that our solutions for your foot pain (and other lower limb pain) are truly as unique as you are! Our fully “individualized” process is specifically designed to deliver greater comfort and a custom solution that is for YOU. At BioPed Footcare, we’re different… and it will make ALL the difference for your comfort!
