Documented Research: THETA-Orthotics: Thirty years in the clinic, twelve on the internet, and thousands of patients. Long term clinical cases document the effectiveness of this unique treatment for chronic foot, knee, and back pain. Avoid surgery with cost-effective treatment for common flat feet, inherited high arches, and many chronic medical conditions caused or aggravated by walking and standing.  Brent A Jarrett DPM

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Orthotics for Athletes:

New Research provides important biomechanical information that your physician, trainer, and coach do not know.

Every athlete, casual to competative, understands that foot function is a very important part of sports. Scientific literature in the field of human biomechanics has documented the relationship between placement of the foot and function of the entire body for more that 20 years. Ultimately, both optimal performance and chronic medical conditions have been related to the biomechanical movements of the foot, knee, and spine during weight-bearing activity.

Even though the importance of this functional relationship associated with placement of the foot during athletic activities is clearly identified by science, medicine, and virtually every athlete, only two or three biomechanical researchers currently understand the mechanical forces involved.

The problem is somewhat complex. It involves the anatomical relationship of the lower extremity and the mechanical forces that result during closed kinetic chain function.

Ulitmately, the cause of less-than-optimal function is one of angles.

Intrauterine development of the human fetus results in a frontal plane angular deformity of the tibia at birth. Interestingly, this varus (inward) curvature of the leg is present in almost everyone, and is the cause of excessive pronation of the foot and the internal rotation of the leg and knee that are observed during ambulation. This angular deviation of the lower leg requires pronation of the foot to place the foot on the supportive surface. Twenty degrees of curvature in the leg, identified in almost all human beings, demands 20 degrees of compensatory pronation in the foot.

Orthotics create a varus wedge between the foot and the supportive surface.

Basically, the varus wedge, present in all functional orthotics, brings the ground up to the foot and compensates for the angular deformity in the leg. When this wedge is used during weight-bearing activity, the foot no longer needs to pronate, and internal rotation of the leg and knee does not take place. Orthotics supinate the foot and externally rotate the leg and knee as we walk, stand, and run.

Function of this varus wedge is determined by the change in angle of support.

For every degree of varus wedge, applied during foot function, one degree of pronation, and one degree of internal rotation of the leg is stopped. When the full 20 degrees of angular deformity present in the tibia is compensated for by the wedge, optimal alignment of the knee, with optimal biomechanical function occurs. .

During Swing Phase of Gait, the foot is off the ground and orthotics provide no change in foot function.

During Contact Phase, foot function cannot be controlled. The shape of the heel bottom is round and the corresponding part of the orthotic is cupped. Wedges placed here, only rotate the “cup” of the orthotic and provide no effect on foot function. 

Compensation for the angular deformity in the leg with a wedged orthotic is complicated additionally by the type of weight-bearing activity. During normal walking and standing (when both heel and ball of the foot are flat on the ground), a rear foot wedge placed in the center of the arch will change the angle of the supportive surface. However, this is not so during propulsion when only the ball of the foot is in contact with the ground.

Placement of the wedge determines how it functions during gait.

Stance Phase of Gait is devided into three parts. Complete understanding of Foot function and control requires examination of the forces during each phase of gait

During Midstance Phase, wedges placed at the apex of the MLA and directly under the metatarsal heads will change the angle and plane of support and effect foot function.

During Propulsive Phase of gait, only wedges placed directly under the metatarsal heads will change the plane of support and change biomechanical function.

Both MLA and Metatarsal wedges control foot function during midstance

Only a Metatarsal wedge will controll propulsive phase foot function

Theta-Orthotics has documented research for more than 30 years. Clinical trials with foot control products using both quantified midstance and propulsive phase wedges have been tested, both individually and together, over that time. Both are clinically effective when used independently, and optimally effective when used together.

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