Conquer Foot Pain: Understanding Common Causes and Discovering Relief with Foot Medic Insoles

Drawing on our extensive experience in addressing foot pain, we've gathered key insights into how our insoles are designed to alleviate these issues. This brief overview discusses the common causes and solutions, but it's not exhaustive. There's a wealth of additional medical knowledge available online for a more complete understanding.

Achilles Tendonitis

Torn muscle fibers along the length of the Achilles tendon and/or where it connects to the heel bone. Oftentimes due to overly strained calf muscles from excessive walking or running (overuse).

What you may not know, is that this inflammation is aggravated by the continuous irritation of a hyper mobile heel bone that allows excessive stretching during certain activities, straining an already tight tendon.

The US National Library of Medicine lists orthotics as a sufficient non-surgical treatment. The key they say, is correcting the misalignment. Our insoles can help your journey by settling you heel into a natural alignment, eliminate hyperactivity that is often the root problem. Over time, the muscles in your ankles and calves will develop and acclimate to this new posture and improve your chances against future re-injury. 

If you’re experiencing any sort of heel pain associated with a heel spur, heel cups have been shown to help squeeze your fat pads back underneath the heel which increases comfort. Similar to how a pillow deforms over time and flattens out, the ligaments and fat pads in our feet will do the same if left unattended.

Bunions

A bunion is a bony bump that forms on the joint at the base of your big toe. It occurs when some of the bones in the front part of your foot move out of place. This causes the tip of your big toe to get pulled toward the smaller toes and forces the joint at the base of your big toe to stick out. The skin over the bunion might be red and sore. 

Bunions are permanent unless surgically corrected.

“But there are some measures you can take to be more comfortable or to slow a bunion’s progression,” says podiatrist Dina Stock, DPM.

Besides being painful, bunions also make it hard to find shoes that fit properly; forcing you to buy a larger size shoe to accommodate the width the bunion creates.

Blisters may also form more easily around the site of the bunion as well. When bunion deformity becomes severe enough, the foot can hurt in different places pretty regularly even when you’re not wearing shoes.

The Cleveland Clinic lists shoe inserts as one of seven non-surgical ways to ease bunion pain. Our insoles are designed to help alleviate this pain by doing a couple things:

• The metatarsal arch support (transverse arch support) feature of our inserts help spread your toes and alleviate pressure and discomfort. This will help to keep your big toe from pushing in and crowding the other toes.

• The integrated deep heel cup has been shown to properly align your foot when you’re walking and standing, which helps prevent the slouching foot position that is often times where bunion formation begins.

Navicular Fracture

Navicular stress fractures are often caused by repetitive stress placed on the foot. The injury usually happens to athletes who play sports that involve running, jumping, or twisting. These activities pinch the navicular between the ankle bone and the cuneiform bones. Over time, this force can cause a stress fracture.

If you have it, you are probably all too familiar with resting, icing, and elevating. If you have to be on your feet, or when you’re able to get back on your feet, support is going to be critical to healing and preventing re-fracturing.

According to FootCareMD, a stiff sole with sufficient arch support is a practical preventative measure.

To that end, a key feature of our insoles is the semi-rigid construction. This provides the support many common foot problems need to properly heal, and they’re just flexible enough to enjoy wearing for long periods.

Depending on the severity of your situation, the stability our insoles offer can help to reduce swelling and promote healing. If you’re recovering from a full blown break or fracture then you can use our inserts as a precaution when you’re finally back on your feet.

Neuroma

When the metatarsal (toe) bones rub against one another, the friction can generate a callus around the nerve. This compression can be due to any number of factors, but weak arches oftentimes result in a sagging-looking standing posture.

So, this is just another manifestation of an improper or inefficient gait cycle, and if left untreated, it can lead to severe problems down the line, including amputation.

The Mayo Clinic recommends orthotic shoe inserts as an over-the-counter (OTC) therapy for Morton’s Neuroma.

We also advise going for shoes with a wider toe box for runners and to avoid wearing tight fitting casual shoes for long periods of time.

Relieving the stress around the inflamed nerve is paramount to recovery. Foot Medic Insoles were specifically designed to support all three arches of the foot and redistribute weight so that no one place on your foot endures more hardship than another.

Specifically, our inserts feature a unique ‘third arch’ support, that supports your metatarsal arch (or transverse arch). By supporting this arch we can alleviate the compressing forces acting on your metatarsal bones (toes bones) and in turn the damage-causing friction.

Overpronation

The foot lands on the outside of the heel, then excessively rolls inward, transferring weight to the inner edge instead of the ball of the foot. This type of movement can cause patellofemoral syndrome, plantar fasciitis, and shin splints.

Proper foot alignment takes time. The only way to correct forces moving in the wrong direction is to adapt and adjust them over time so that you strengthen your feet and develop a more efficient way to walk and run.

To that end, our deep heel cup and triple arch support system would be the key features of our insoles that meet this criteria.

Patellofemoral Syndrome

According to the Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) is a broad term used to describe pain in the front of the knee and around the patella, or kneecap. It is sometimes called "runner's knee" or "jumper's knee".

Many things may contribute to the development of PFPS. Problems with the alignment of the kneecap and overuse from vigorous athletics or training are often significant factors. Symptoms are often relieved with conservative treatment, such as changes in activity levels or a therapeutic exercise program.

The Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons go on to say that one of the recommended NON-SURGICAL treatments for Patellofemoral (Pain) Syndrome is the use of Orthotics.

“Orthotics. Shoe inserts can help align and stabilize your foot and ankle, taking stress off of your lower leg. Orthotics can either be custom-made for your foot or purchased "off the shelf."

Plantar Fasciitis

It’s a tearing of the fascia (tissue) along the bottom of the foot, usually around the connecting site at the heel.

This condition is most often caused not from a single event or trauma to the bottom of the foot, but rather from too much pressure in the wrong direction over time. At higher risk are people who are overweight, or who run often or who regularly take part in other high-impact activities, such as jumping or dancing.

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.

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. But we’re human, so not being on our feet at all is pretty impractical which is why we designed the Foot Medic Insole so you can recover faster and build stronger feet that are less prone to future injuries.

Shin Splints

A series of micro-tears throughout the shin muscle.

Painful, frustrating, and sometimes even chronic; this series of micro-tears throughout the shin muscle can sideline the best of us. They come from increased impact, repetitive motion, and over-training. Usually ice, stretching and a proper rest session will help alleviate shin splints. However, when they become chronic, you know you’ve got a problem that needs to be addressed.

We recommend foam rolling before every run or training session, and stretching afterward.

According to The Mayo Clinic, this is all about reducing impact, and our unique triple arch support system helps distribute your body weight evenly, reducing impact and hot spots.

Additionally, the semi-rigid construction is guaranteed for life against breaking down or deforming over time. This means no change in support or performance, that could backslide you into future discomfort.

Supination

The outside of the heel hits the ground at an increased angle without pronating, causing a large transmission of shock through the lower leg. Left untreated, this can lead to serious injuries such as Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, patellofemoral syndrome and others.

Proper foot alignment takes time. The only way to correct forces moving in the wrong direction is to adapt and adjust them over time so that you strengthen your feet and develop a more efficient way to walk and run.

To that end, our deep heel cup and triple arch support system would be the key features of our insoles that meet this criteria.