Many of us enjoy recreational sport and keeping fit, while others engage in higher levels of competition and training. From the individual who wants to move more to the major athlete and all levels in between, orthotics can help to decrease pain and increase your comfort to make training sessions and sport participation more enjoyable.
For those who engage in sport, athletes especially, the training and dedication is unmatched. The greatest fear is having to sit out due to pain.
When we experience pain, our focus, effort and energy shift to compensate for it and block it out. We’ve all experienced pain before and know how much energy it can take out of us, energy that we need for sport performance.
Top causes of pain in sport
Overtraining – This can happen to everyone from the elite athlete to the beginner. Overtraining occurs when the volume or frequency of training or sport participation exceed the body’s ability to recover. Common injuries resulting from overtraining are stress fractures, overuse injuries, tendinitis and bursitis. These can be acute (short term) or chronic conditions (long term) and their symptoms range from inflammation to severe pain. All of these can be treated in a myriad of ways including orthotics. Custom made orthotics can be used to offload painful areas, reduce strain on certain tendons and muscle groups and generally bring comfort to the athlete by changing their relationship with the ground.
Biomechanics – Biomechanics refers to the way the body moves. There is a neutral or normal gait that is the standard against which we measure when looking at abnormalities or compensations. Sometimes the compensations are made due to our genetics, the way our tendons, ligaments, muscles and bones have all grown and formed over the years of use, and sometimes those compensations can be the result of an injury or pain. The way we move is so important when it comes to athletic performance at all levels. Abnormalities in gait and biomechanics can be a precursor to injury and cause discomfort and even pain all on their own. The goal of orthotics is to offload painful areas and either correct or accommodate the structures of the feet and therefore the way they interact with the ground and how we move.
Common conditions that can impact an athlete’s ability to perform at their sport are:
Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, shin splints, runner’s knee, medial knee pain and heel spurs.
All of these conditions can be alleviated with custom made orthotics, tailor made to the athlete and their footwear, whether that be skates, cleats or running shoes.
Orthotics are a tool we can use to mitigate the risk of biomechanical deficiencies at the foot level and help reduce potential limitations from injury and overtraining, depending on the condition and affected areas (mainly feet, knees and hips.)
Impact of orthotics on sport performance
Over the counter or custom-made orthotics can offload painful areas, stabilize and support the structures of the foot and correct or accommodate for those structures.
Decrease pain by offloading painful area – For example, if the front of the foot feels like you’re walking on a bruise, one possibility is that the front arch, the transverse arch, of the foot that supports the toes is dropped, sitting lower than the rest of the foot and therefore placing more pressure on the ball of the foot and increasing pain, an orthotics would offload that area by adding a little bump at the front called a metatarsal pad to put the pressure back through the other bones of the foot and support the transverse arch, so long as the ball of the foot is flexible and has mobility. If the arch of the foot was dropped and inflexible, additional suction would be added under the ball of the foot to give more comfort and accommodate the inflexible structure.
Increased confidence with support and stability – In the event that the foot is flexible or has sustained an injury to make it unstable, fear plagues the athlete, and risk of injury increases as they become distracted with avoiding injury or compensating for one instead of focusing on their athletic performance. For example, if the foot pronates, rolls inward, with each step but is correctable and flexible, an orthotics will offer support along the medial arch or the inside of the foot, to control and support the movement of the feet and decrease the ability of the foot to drag the rest of the leg inward, twisting the knee and hip along with it and increasing the risk of injury. By offering stability and support, an orthotic can alleviate the athletes fear of injury and let them get back to focusing on their training and performance during sport.
Orthotics can correct or accommodate for biomechanics to enhance the athletes’ natural abilities without fear of pain or compensation. Over-the-counter options are on the market and available widely from a variety of retailers, however even with over-the-counter models it can be hard to know what would work best for you and give you the best athletic performance. Custom made orthotics are uniquely designed and tailored to your foot structure and needs; made by certified clinicians and a commitment to ongoing care, custom made orthotics can directly address unique presentations of biomechanics in the foot and alleviate the pain and stresses of overtraining particular to a specific individual’s needs.
How BioPed can help
BioPed Certified Pedorthists are uniquely positioned to take you through the entire process from initial assessment to orthotic creation and fittings to adjustments and ongoing care. Whether you’re just starting a program, wanting to train for a marathon or are a seasoned athlete dealing with old injuries or new fears, BioPed is here to help you on your athletic journey and keep your feet happy and healthy as you pursue your active goals in sport.
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