shoe inserts for jobs requiring standing all day

Chiropracters know very little about plantar fasciitis and lower extremity biomechanics. They are not qualified to diagnose or treat these issues. Not trying to be rude but that would be like someone going to taco bell to get their tires rotated. It likely was plantar fasciitis but this is not diagnosed with a pressure mat and he probably fed you some bull shit on a pressure mat to sell you custom othotics. Plantar fasciitis is a clinical diagnosis and you can have it regardless of your biomechanics. And he gave you orthotics not orthopedics. Stretching certainly helps PF but anti inflammatories, Ice and night splints are also helpful. About 5% of cases require surgical release. Sometimes steroid injections are needed. You have to be careful with custom arch supports as you can spend 500 getting some from someone who doesn't know shit about casting for them or addressing any pathology or biomechanics. Other things to rule out are enthesopathy, stress fracture and tarsal tunnel nerve compression which can all manifest as PF symptoms.

OP Get a custom pair from a foot and ankle specialist not a chiropractor. Several biomechanical things to consider. High or low arch is managed differently with inserts. A standard OTC insert may not address a particular foot type. You may suffer from various degrees of pronation which can be in the sagittal, transverse or frontal plane and are managed to some extent differently with inserts. Equinus is also a managed differently. Comfortable supportive shoe gear. You may also want to have limb length evaluated if you have back issues. If there is a limb length discrepancy, orthotics are usually adjusted to account for this. OTC shoe inserts I typically recommend to my patients are superfeet and spenco. I would avoid the Dr Scholls BS. These are BS because your foot assumes a deformity as you comfortably stand. Any pressure mat does not take into account the neutral, correct position of the rear foot mid foot or forefoot. A lot of people pathologically pronate in and their arch collapses as they stand. A pressure mat won't correct your foot and furthermore doesn't know if your foot even can be corrected. A chronic flat foot deformity can lead to arthritic joints that have little to no motion available for correction. These are typically surgical cases. Jamming a bunch of cushy gel at high pressure areas is not good. The foot needs to be casted in a rectus position before malalignment occurs. This is why Dr Scholls "custom" inserts do not work for shit although the squishiness may be perceived as comfort they are doing nothing to correct foot structure.

 

And since ya'll are talking about Plantar Fasciitis....

Last August, after working a 69 hour work week....I'd developed some nasty foot pain in my right foot. It became hard to walk some days. Go to the nurse (at work) and they always tell you to take ibuprofen for 2-3 weeks, ice, exercises, bla bla bla. Plantar Fasciitis was their diagnosis (as usual). After several weeks....it felt like it was getting better. As soon as I got off the ibuprofen, it came right back. But luckily, I could walk on it easily. I got off the ibuprofen for a while.....then started taking it again for several weeks. Bought 3 pairs of Doc. Scholls inserts ($50 a piece) and used them in every pair of shoes I wear. More ibuprofen...bla bla bla Funny thing is....It never hurt when I got out of bed in the morning (like they claim Plantar Fasciitis is supposed to hurt). It only really hurt when I was on my feet A LOT. And even worse if I wasn't wearing 'supportive' foot wear. It got worse if I wore sandals or flip flops.

In December...I got a new job sitting on my ass at a desk job. My foot has been a hell of a lot better but there's still something 'wrong' in there. Every once in a while I get a sharp pain.... and if I press the sides of my heal, it feels 'raw'.

One of these days I'll make an appointment to a foot doc. But for the most part, getting OFF my feet has been my saving grace (and not only for foot pain, but aches & pains just about everywhere). 20 years on concrete floors & steal toed boots doesn't help.....

 

Thanks for the tip below ...
I dont know anything about lower extremities so trusted the bone cruncher to fix me up.
Hopefully the pain goes away once the othotics come in .
I will double check his qualifications when I see him Friday and post back .
Chiropracters know very little about plantar fasciitis and lower extremity biomechanics. They are not qualified to diagnose or treat these issues. Not trying to be rude but that would be like someone going to taco bell to get their tires rotated. It likely was plantar fasciitis but this is not diagnosed with a pressure mat and he probably fed you some bull shit on a pressure mat to sell you custom othotics. Plantar fasciitis is a clinical diagnosis and you can have it regardless of your biomechanics. And he gave you orthotics not orthopedics. Stretching certainly helps PF but anti inflammatories, Ice and night splints are also helpful. About 5% of cases require surgical release. Sometimes steroid injections are needed. You have to be careful with custom arch supports as you can spend 500 getting some from someone who doesn't know shit about casting for them or addressing any pathology or biomechanics. Other things to rule out are enthesopathy, stress fracture and tarsal tunnel nerve compression which can all manifest as PF symptoms.

 

I hope you get better I am not trying to be a jerk. It's just kind of criminal when a chiropractor tries to diagnose a foot pathology and has someone step on a mat to sell them 500 inserts. If you see him Friday I'm curious to see what he says. Ask what he's trying to accomplish with the mat. Did he go as far to ex amen your foot? If not I'd question the diagnosis which I do anyways. Not sure what your states scope of practice is for chiropractors but something to look into. I have no problem with chiropractors except when they try to discourage pts from allopathic medicine which can be very dangerous. Here is a pic I found that makes me question some of them. Asthma can be a severe life threatening disease and if your child suffers from it, please don't rely on your chiropractor to treat it.

 

No word yet , my bone cruncher wasnt open today . He did however refer me to a foot doctor who acknowleged the issue and signed the prescription for me . Guess I should have added this to my original post .
I do agree with you that there may still be other problems over the Plantar Faciitis

 

You have pain first thing in the morning or after you have been sitting for awhile?? Get checked out by the specialist. It usually takes a few weeks of diligent stretching 3-4 times a day both knee straight and bent as the achilles tendon is composed of gastroc and soleus and the gastroc attach on femoral condyles of the knee. Thus knee must be straight to actually stretch. There is some stimulation from stretching that helps the healing process. I don't actually believe that you can stretch a musculo-tendon unit but it certainly helps somehow.
2) Freeze a water bottle and when you get home roll the bottle under your foot while on the couch, this will stretch and ice it.
3) If you are able to take NSAIDs, take a good therapeutic dose for several weeks consistently.

If the above do not alleviate 80-100% of the pain:
4) you need to get into a night splint at night when you sleep. This will prevent the plantar fascia which is rather rope like structure from contracting at night. When we sleep we point our feet downward causing the fascia to heal to some degree in a contracted position. Your achilles tendon will also contract some at night. You go to stand down in the morning and the fascia gets tight and acts like ripping a dried band aid off. The fascia will pull off the bone when you stand down. A night splint allows the fascia to heal in an extended position so when you stand down it doesn't rip as much.
5) Wear your custom inserts. This should support the arch and fascia while you walk. The insert will take some tension off the fascial insert.
6) Steroid injection. Safe but the injection is painful and takes about 15 seconds. Knocks out nearly 100% of pain and last for several months and is often curative.
7) Chronic plantar fasciitis that does not respond to other treatments sometimes require surgical fascial release. This can be done through a endoscope or small open incision.

Assuming you actually have PF, if you stay consistent with the above advice, it will go away. I would get baseline x rays and be examined by a specialist to rule out other diagnoses.