One of the reasons recommending ProKinetics® Insoles to your patients brings so much relief to your patients is that it solves the old, often poorly understood question of compensation. Most providers today are developing a better understanding of the functional short leg which may develop based on a descending posture pattern, but most frequently originates with the feet and asymmetrical pronation. The body responds in the same way as it does to a structural short leg with it’s corresponding drop of a hip and the opposite shoulder.
One thing that is often missed is that this problem does not respond well to arch supports or heel lifts. Heel lifts should be reserved for the structurally short leg, and while arch supports can be helpful in a static situation, whenever the heel lifts off the ground, the arch support becomes ineffective, and the problem perpetuates. ProKinetics® Insoles do take care of this problem because it corrects the root cause of Hyer pronation.
The least understood compensation is the problem of supination. Podiatrists, even today, are puzzled by the problem, and they, for the most part, resort to compensate for the hard lateral gait pattern by recommending additional cushioning and occasionally a lateral post. Both will inevitably lead to failure and the development of other problems. The reason is that supinator's are hyper pronators in disguise. We have found that roughly 60% of people who structurally hyper pronate, respond to it by attempting to compensate. The neuromuscular compensation takes the form of shifting weight to the lateral aspect of the feet. This requires intense use of the calf muscles, which leads to overuse problems like shin splints and chronic cramps, but because the compensation leaves the majority of weight bearing on the heel and the second metatarsal, the feet become unstable which in turn destabilizes the entire body. The natural response to instability is to hunch over, allowing gravity a perfect grip on the body. Pain from muscle overuse is vastly increased, and not easily corrected unless ProKinetics® Insoles are used. Stabilizing the feet will stabilize the full body.
Shifting weight to the lateral aspect of the feet also predisposes the patient to metatarsal stress fractures, Morton's Neuroma, hammer toes and frequent ankle injuries.