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Ironically over the last 30 years some medical specialists have been informing patients that you can not treat flat feet with prescription orthotics. The reason they tell patients this is because often the true flat foot will resist the correction of a hard plastic device and the patient will discontinue the treatment claiming that they just can not tolerate the device, even wasted their time and money.
If a patient with flat feet does persist until they fully acclimate to “the push” of a non-compressible “custom orthotic device”, they will usually continue to wear that device, or something similar to it, for the rest of their ambulatory life, claiming that they can not walk with out it. Other patients who use “arch supports” purchased “over the counter”, made of far more compressive materials, either identify a small amount of help or no help, and either abandon the treatment or continually look for better supports made form materials that will hold up for longer periods.
Eventually the poor structure and diminished mechanical function associated with this “flat foot” type results in many foot, knee, hip, back and posture problems. Pain observed during all ambulatory, activities can manifest as a variety of chronic foot conditions and deformities.. These chronic arthritic, inflammatory, joint deforming changes that accompany the series of biomechanical movements caused by pronation of the rear part of the foot resulting in a totally flat appearance to the inside arch of the human foot, and can virtually cripple the patient resulting in significant pain during walking and standing activities.
Pronation is a term that refers to the breakdown of the human arch as we stand, this motion results in a typical flat foot, obvioius during all weight bearing activities.
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