We've all experienced it. Standing for long hours is hard on your feet, and your entire body. Not only are your feet aching at the end of a long day but oftentimes so are your knees, hips and back. Everything is connected, so a misalignment or bad posture over a period of time can really take a toll.
And it's not just us who feel it. Worker productivity and job site accidents literally affect the economy and everything around us. This is where better ergonomics come in. I like to think of ergonomics as simply making something more comfortable, because if you're comfortable then you're less likely to get hurt doing it.
According to OSHA, "Ergonomics helps lessen fatigue, increase productivity, and reduces the number and severity of work-related MSDs.” (Musculoskeletal Disorder, which affects the muscles, nerves, blood vessels, ligaments, and tendons.)
Workers in many different industries and occupations can be exposed to risk factors at work, such as lifting heavy items, bending, reaching overhead, pushing and pulling heavy loads, working in awkward body postures, and performing the same or similar tasks repetitively.
Exposure to these known risk factors for MSDs increases a worker's risk of injury.
According to statistics provided by the US ARMY, musculoskeletal injuries caused by acute (sudden) incidents as well as chronic repeated stresses to the body (overuse), have been described as the single biggest health problem of the U.S. Military because:
- Almost 50% of military experience 1 or more injury each year
- They result in over 2,000,000 medical encounters annually across the DOD
- They require 90-120 or more days of restricted work or lost duty time, in addition to the cost of treatment
- Most are overuse strains, sprains, and stress fractures; most to lower extremities (ankle/foot, knee/lower leg)
- More than half of these injuries are exercise or sports-related, especially running
Just like our service members, our first responders and front line workers across all industries suffer some of the same acute and overuse injuries in their profession.
Ok, but I just stand around all day, surely I'll be fine, right?
We hope...but hope is not a plan.
According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), prolonged standing at work has been shown to be associated with a number of potentially serious health outcomes, such as lower back and leg pain, cardiovascular problems, fatigue, discomfort, and pregnancy related health outcomes.
What you can do: Improve your posture and reduce your risk of injury. Ever see a movie where someone gets swatted by the headmaster at their boarding school for slouching? Yea, it's easier said than done.
How Orthotics Help:
Orthotics in general are listed as a sufficient non-surgical treatment for most people, according to research conducted by the US National Library of Medicine. The key is stability—as with any torn tissue, stability is critical for proper healing.
Think about it. If you tear a muscle, your doctor probably won't recommend you lifting weight with that muscle, right? This is essentially what you’re doing when you stand and walk on this area with your body weight.
Furthermore, the NIH asserts that use of shoe inserts is an effective measure in combating the negative health effects of prolonged standing. The use of floor mats and shoe inserts during prolonged standing compared to prolonged standing on hard surfaces has been evaluated as an intervention procedure to reduce symptoms of discomfort, muscle pain, leg swelling, and tiredness.
Foot Medic Insoles were designed by Certified Pedorthist Ricky Wyatt in his clinic in North Carolina to one thing: help provide the support you need to recover from injury while correcting the underlying problem. And he wanted to do so in a way that would actually yield results based on decades of orthopedic study, his own patients success and outcomes, and he didn't want to break your bank in the process.
Foot Medic Insoles accomplishes this mission through the use of a medical-grade polypropylene that never breaks down or alters the support of your feet over time or with wear, the unique contour of a triple arch support system that can't be found in store bought insoles, an integrated deep heel cup that corrects misalignment so you can develop a better posture in your stride over time, and they're affordable.
Oh and did we mention the lifetime warranty? That's right. Try finding another insole that you can replace at no cost no matter how many years it is from now.