Although many orthotics are marketed towards people with flat feet, people with high arches are just as likely to experience discomfort when standing for long periods or walking long distances. People with high arches disproportionately bear weight on their heels and toes, sometimes experiencing soreness in their achilles tendon after working out or lifting something heavy.
Pre-packed solutions for high arches are often difficult to find, and people who do find them are ultimately underwhelmed with the result. There’s no way a general fit orthotic or shoe insert can cater to your unique needs. That’s where Tony Martin Limb and Brace comes into play. If you’re in the Tucson area and you’re seeking relief from discomfort associated with high arches, we can provide a solution tailor made for you.
What Causes High Arches?
In most cases, high arches are a structural anomaly. People are otherwise healthy, but they’re born with high arches in their feet.
Some cases of high arches can be caused by disorders like cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, or stroke. People who develop high arches are a result of an underlying disorder are likely to experience worsening of their arches as their condition progresses.
Symptoms and Diagnosis of High Arches
Most people with high arches are generally able to tell. A doctor will only re-affirm what they already know. High arches are easily detectable on sight. Many people with high arches can tell by their bare footprints left behind when they walk from a wet surface to a dry surface or when they walk around in the sand. They’ll leave behind a toe print and heel print, with the center of the foot conspicuously missing.
People with high arches often experience pain in the toes, ball of the foot, and ankles. This pain is exacerbated with extensive movement. The longer a high arched foot as to compensate for the full weight of a body, the greater the level of discomfort is likely to become.
Here’s Why Off-the-Rack Solutions Can’t Deliver
Think about how difficult it is to buy a good pair of jeans. Everyone has a different waist size, inseam, waist weight, and leg length. It can take a very long time to find a pair of pants with a flattering fit. Your feet work the same way.
There are a lot of variables at play when it comes to your feet, and high arches require highly tailored support. There’s no way that an insert or insole sold in the shoe aisle of your local big box retailer can reliably predict your exact needs.
Chances are significant that most high arch shoe inserts will not actually provide support to the height of your arch, which is their entire purpose for being. If your arch isn’t supported, then the insert is little more than an expensive decoration you’ve stuffed in your sneakers.
What About Specialty Orthotic Devices Sold Online?
There are websites and retailers that promise to offer custom fit or highly tailored orthotics for high arches. These devices are pricier, and they’re billed as a specialty service. In the eyes of people seeking a remedy for their discomfort, these companies look legitimate.
The problem is that the devices they’re selling aren’t real custom orthotics. The process of creating perfect custom orthotics requires a diagnosis of the foot, a variety of accurate measurements taken in person by a qualified professional, and observations of the way the device works.
Sometimes specialty orthotics require modification, or they don’t live up to their full corrective potential. That’s why a professional needs to monitor your progress with your orthotics. Shoe insert retailers can’t offer this kind of service, nor are they medically qualified to do so.
The Best Way to Find Relief and Support for High Arches
Orthotics are prescription devices designed to remedy a significant concern, rather than an over the counter grab and go solution. Anyone who tells you otherwise is making a profit and failing to provide you with what you really need.
At Tony Martin Limb and Brace, we’re experts at creating effective and highly customized high arch orthotics to provide effective relief and support. It starts with a prescription for orthotics from your doctor. Once we have the prescription, we’ll use special high tech equipment to measure your arch with incredible accuracy. People often have slight differences between each arch. Your orthotics will be slightly different, and that’s the way it should be.
We’ll teach you how to ease into the process of regularly wearing your orthotics and work with your doctor to measure your comfort level and overall improvement with the use of orthotics. Your needs may change with time, and we’ll be here to make changes to your orthotics as time and gravity dictates.
Don’t gamble with the health of your feet. Give us a call.