Orthopedic shoes in the treatment of foot diseases
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
In rheumatoid arthritis, 90% of patients note the involvement of feet in the pathological process, and clinical manifestations - in 15-20%. In many ways, the development and progression of foot lesions in rheumatoid arthritis is associated with the use of irrational footwear. Accumulated enough data confirming that orthopedic footwear reduces pain and improves walking parameters in patients with ankle injury in rheumatological diseases. According to some researchers, advice to choose the right orthopedic shoes can be the most useful of those that a doctor can give to a patient with an arthritic lesion of feet.
[Why use orthopedic shoes?
Orthopedic shoes reduce pain and compensate for walking disorders in patients with ankle injury. Slows down the progression of deformities, prolongs the period of conservative treatment.
Indications: deformation of the anterior foot in patients with rheumatoid arthritis; metatarsalgia; plantar fasciitis; arthritis of subtalar and ankle joints; pain in the heels.
Contraindication: fixed deformities of the foot.
Preparation. In cases of complex deformation of the ankle joint, orthopedic footwear is manufactured individually (according to the plaster model).
What should be orthopedic shoes?
Basic requirements: sufficient width and height of the toe part (prevention of squeezing of the fingers); soft sole and shock absorbing insole (reducing the load on the heads of metatarsal bones during walking); the laying of the transverse arch and a rather stiff inner edge of the shoe (reduction of excessive pronation and valgus deformation in the podtarannom and ankle joints); hard back (stability of the rear of the foot when walking). Heel height - no more than 2-3 cm. If possible, it should be excluded to wear shoes with high heels, with a narrowed toe and no back.
The effect of using is a reliable reduction of pain and improvement of walking parameters.
Factors affecting the effectiveness: the quality of the workmanship and the accuracy of the matching of the parameters of the footwear to the features of deformation and the nature of functional disorders in a particular patient.
Alternative methods. Surgical treatment - reconstructive arthroplasty operations in the front and middle foot.