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Senior Connection article on the Foot Solutions experience
Article from Tampa Bay’s Award Winning Senior Magazine SENIOR CONNECTION (Suncoast Edition, April 2008, Volume 19). Pick up your free copy of SENIOR CONNECTION monthly at Foot Solutions.If the Shoe Fits, Life Is Good
BY BETTY LILLARD
Marilyn’s feet are complicated structures. Each foot has 26 bones, making up nearly one quarter of the bones in her entire body! What she didn’t realize before was that her feet have actually caused her decades of pain. And for years, buying comfortable shoes had appeared on her life’s “wish list.”
Now, because of seeing a trained fitting specialist, Marilyn knows that a life of knee, hip and probably even shoulder pain may have been caused by foot problems.
“Buying shoes has always been a problem for me because they always hurt,” Marilyn told Craig Lornson, fitting specialist and general manager of Foot Solutions’ newest store, located in Seabreeze Plaza in Palm Harbor. The company’s other Tampa Bay store is in Largo Mall.
Thinking her pain was caused by a fall from a horse or “just the way I was built,” she watched as the staff expertise and the technology used at Foot Solutions indicated that her feet could be part of the problem.
Foot Assessment
First, Craig did a foot assessment. “Your feet are designed for mobility and to bear the weight of your body,” Craig said as he moved Marilyn’s foot, checking for flexibility and range of motion.
He asked if she had problems which affect feet: swelling, arthritis, tingling. The next step was a familiar metal shoe sizer. He explained, “There is no standard to shoe sizing. We measure you sitting down and standing up.” Sure enough, one foot was a size 8 1/2 medium and the other a size 9 narrow, meaning that she would definitely need help in fitting a shoe properly.
Next, Marilyn walked across the room as Craig watched, checking for how her foot landed with each step, how it rolled forward and how it lifted from the floor. Balance issues too, Craig explained, can be from ill-fitted shoes. There may be a problem with heel control, ankle movement, arch support.
Mapping Foot Pressure Points
Then a machine mapped each foot’s pressure points, confirming Craig’s assessment. A computer screen displayed 2-D and 3-D (two-dimensional and three-dimensional) representations of the pressure under the foot. The screen lit up like a Christmas tree in colors which told Craig that the pressure points were not symmetrically located, another indication that each of Marilyn’s feet needed special fitting.
From the map of her feet, proper modifications were noted and sent to a lab where they were used to create custom-made insoles.
Custom insoles will help Marilyn’s feet and ankles be properly supported during all phases of each step she takes. They will give the proper support allowing her weight to be distributed equally across each foot’s full length. Custom Arch Supports provide the stability needed to keep the entire body balanced.
After the custom arch supports were ordered, came the “Oh so much fun” part of trying on shoes after five years of wearing only sneakers. Not one to make fast decisions, Marilyn will enjoy the comfort of the custom insoles in her sneakers for a while before moving to long-awaited dressier shoes. After five years, there’s no hurry – she wants them to be the right fit.
She said, “If there are people who don’t get the attention of someone with the training and technologically advanced equipment Craig used for evaluating my foot problems, they really don’t know what they are missing. I have a new hero – the shoe-fitting specialist.”
Lauretta Fernandez, licensed certified pedorthist and owner of the Foot Solutions stores in Palm Harbor and Largo said, “Craig and all our staff receive extensive training in foot pathology, problem analysis and correct fitting. They know how to identify the right shoes for your needs from our selection of quality footwear.”
For more information or a fitting appointment, call 1-888-FIT-FOOT.
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