Why Most Custom Insoles Today Aren’t Truly Custom?

Foot insoles or shoe inserts are relatively easy to buy nowadays. In fact, you can buy them from shopping malls and even online stores from the comfort of your home. Many footwear brands and retail shops equip a wide range of insoles, some of which are labelled as custom made.

But are they truly custom made?

To understand that, we must first consider our foot health and individual needs. These are the two most important factors that help decide what type of insole is ideal for you for long term use.

The problem is that it’s quite easy to buy insoles that claim to be customised, when in reality they are not. Most manufacturers and retail shops today use foot pressure analysis to make the insoles.

Pressure analysis, while effective for other purposes, does little to tell about the dynamic foot posture and health. As a result, foot pressure analysis fails to assess the impact of the feet on the whole body.

A truly customised foot insole is made after assessing the flexibility, strength, activity level, and optimal arch position of your foot. For this reason, it is highly recommended that you get insoles from clinicians only. This is one of the major difference between custom and non-custom insoles. 

Since most insoles today don’t consider the factors mentioned above, you are likely going to experience ineffectiveness in pain management. So if someone with a flatfoot uses these insoles for, say six months, they won’t be able to get as much relief as the insoles are not able to support the feet in their optimal posture. 

Foot Pain Relief, Injury Prevention, Better Posture and Sports Performance in One Insole     buy now

The Problem with Insole Materials

The material of the shoe insert also matters but is not often discussed, and that’s another problem. For example, if someone has a flatfoot posture and they get a soft, custom insoles made from foam, their feet may benefit from partial arch support, but only while they’re sitting.

However, when they get up and moving, the arch in the insoles is going to collapse. As the feet are now bearing the whole body weight, the insole's material does not allow it to maintain the arch. As a result, the feet are not in the optimal posture when a person moves, and that takes away the effectiveness and purpose of the insoles.

So while your current custom-made insole may seem fine and feel comfortable, in the long term, it plays little to no part in correcting your foot posture or maintaining optimal alignment of the bones in the foot, ankle, knee, and hip.

What Makes MASS4D® Foot Insoles Any Different?

To begin with, MASS4D® customised insoles are only available from certified providers. During the analysis stage (casting), your doctor will use the Integrated Multi-Axial Posture Theory™ to better understand your foot problems.

Using this theory, the clinician will assess the impact of foot conditions on the alignment and functionality of your foot as well as your body.

Once casting is done, we will prepare the insoles based on the specifications of the individual foot. So for instance, if you have a flatfoot posture in only your left foot, then the insole for your left foot will be made to ‘correct’ the posture. The insole for your right foot, on the other hand, will be made to help ‘maintain’ the posture.

We offer an unprecedented level of customisation in order to ensure that your foot is properly aligned. 

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Foot Pain Relief, Injury Prevention, Better Posture and Sports Performance in One Insole     buy now

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