For those of you out there in the blogosphere who are reading this, and you know who you are, you may at some point in the recent or distant past have visited your friendly local NYC podiatrist, or maybe even a not so friendly distant podiatrist. And whatever complaint with which you were encumbered upon stumbling into the office, the proposed solution for said complaint may have been an orthotic, to which you may have replied with an enthusiastic yes or perhaps an emphatic no. Let’s talk about converting the latter to the former in this week’s most holy and trend setting blog.
The feet are a marvel of engineering and complex machine, yadda yadda, as the rest of the quote goes. At times walking the mean streets of NYC the machine feels like it could use a bit of a tune up. Well one of the simplest and straight forward methods of accomplishing that is by use of a handy dandy orthotic. And what’s that you say? Glad you asked. It’s a simple device really, and yet- so complex. It’s a support and a cushion, something that realigns a foot yet optimizes a gait pattern, changes the attitude of the foot while maintaining an ideal foot-ground relationship, it’s a floor wax and a dessert topping. But seriously, it’s an off the shelf or custom designed shoe insert that is placed into the shoe as a substitute for the flimsy and functionally useless inserts that are included in most shoes. And while there is an art and science to the materials and design of the devices, it just makes intuitive sense that a custom designed footbed enhances the fit and comfort of any shoe. It’s great for runners, kids with flat feet, anyone who walks a lot, stands all day, commutes to work, has arthritis, diabetes, foot pain, and just about everyone else. In my vast and worldly experience orthotics are helpful in relieving knee, hip and back pain, if I can make that claim in as non-committal way as possible. Miraculously, the insurance companies within our most simple and friendly US healthcare system (save that discussion for another blog) even cover the devices – sometimes, of course.
Well that about covers it. To recapitulate, orthotics are custom designed shoe inserts that simply relieve foot pain and might even relieve other pains. And in a Sy Sperling moment, I’m not just the president of the orthotic club for my dear NYC patients, I’m also a patient. And if it’s good enough for me it’s good enough for my dear patients, each of whom I hope to see using an orthotic in the very near future.
See you in the office.
Ernest Isaacson
