Everyday you put an enormous amount of force through your lower limbs and feet.  When you walk, your feet guide your motion, absorb forces, balance your weight and take a lot of stress.  Running, jumping and lifting heavy objects only amplifies this force.  Improper biomechanics of the feet can cause numerous conditions in the foot, leg and low back, putting abnormal amounts of stress through certain joints, ligaments and fascia, decreasing its motion, shock absorption and overall functioning.  Orthotics are custom made devices which help to control excessive motion of the foot.  They do this by providing support to certain areas of your feet to decrease excessive motion (ie. for people who overpronate) and give your feet and body proprioceptive feedback to allow the proper muscles to fire reflexively.  Because your feet are connected to your ankles, ankles to your knees, knees to your hips and hips to the back, any conditions or pain that you might feel in any of these areas could be resulting from a lower limb dysfunction.  A proper diagnosis and functional examination of your lower limbs is needed to dertermine what the problem is and if orthotics might help.  Some common conditions involved in lower limb dysfunctions include foot overpronation, plantar fasciosis, ITB syndrome, Shin Splints, Hip Pain and Low Back Pain.         

Dr. Kersten works with The Orthotic Group for the custom made orthotics.  For more information on orthotics visit The Orthotic Group website at www.theorthoticgroup.com