Shoe insert

A removable shoe insert, otherwise known as a foot orthoses, accomplishes many number of purposes, including daily wear comfort, foot and joint pain relief from arthritis, overuse, injuries, and other causes such as orthopedic correction, smell reduction and athletic performance.

Fitting patients

Traditionally they were created from plaster casts made from the patient's foot. These casts were made by wrapping dipped plaster or fiberglass strips around the foot to capture the form, then letting it dry and harden. Once the cast was hardened, the doctor would carefully remove it from the patient's foot and ship it, along with a prescription, to an orthotics lab which would use the negative of the cast to create an orthopedic insert.

Recently, companies such as Tom-Cat Solutions and Delcam have developed digital foot scanners that use specialized software to scan a patient's foot and create a "virtual" cast. These scans are made by having the patient place the foot onto a specialized flat image scanner that uses light and software to capture and create a 3D model. This 3D model is then electronically submitted (along with a prescription) to an orthotics lab, where it is used to program a CNC machine that will ultimately produce the orthopedic insert.

Diabetic shoes

Main article: Diabetic shoes

Diabetic shoes, sometimes referred to as extra depth, therapeutic shoes or Sugar Shoes, are specially designed shoes, intended to reduce the risk of skin breakdown in diabetics with co-existing foot disease.

See also

• Orthotics
• Podiatry