Who is Making your Orthotics?
Dispensing Orthotics is not currently provincially regulated in Ontario. This creates the opportunity for non-qualified individuals to dispense and for non-custom products to be dispensed and priced as custom devices. It is always important as a patient to be educated on your body’s ailments and any treatment protocol being implemented.
A Pedorthist’s specialization is in the biomechanics of the lower limb. This is the only profession that specializes in orthotic fabrication and design. Chiropodists and Podiatrists and other professionals are also able to design orthotics but often have their orthotics fabricated by a third party. A Pedorthic treatment typically involves custom made orthoses and/or properly fitting footwear. It is beneficial when the person who assesses your also designs and makes your orthotics.
At KW Athletics, our orthotics are always made on-site by our Canadian Certified Pedorthist. This allows us to offer faster, more accurate service than many professionals that use a third party lab to fabricate their orthotics. This also ensures that our orthotics are truly custom-made just for you. After every assessment, our Canadian Certified Pedorthist educates our patients on the possible mechanical inefficiencies that are causing their symptoms. We then discuss with you the different materials and design we will be using to ensure you have proper support with an orthotic that fits your lifestyle.
Here is an example of a pair of orthotics that were given to a patient of of KW Athletics from one of my competitors.
You can notice that this person has two distinctly different foot shapes and sizes.
However, the orthotics they were given were identical to one another. This served as a problem for this patient as their left foot was not properly supported due to the difference in foot shape/size.
Here is a comparison of the orthotics made at KW Athletics for the same individual. As you can see the orthotics look different from one another and perfectly capture the difference between their two feet. This allowed for better contact between their foot and their orthotic.
