Best Foot Forward

A child who falls down easily when walking or running; a young adult experiences foot pain frequently when walking; a 40-year-old who has foot, knee or back pain from time to time.

If you or someone you know has any of the above symptoms, it might be a musculoskeletal systems problem.

With 20 years of clinical experience, TLM is said to be the first orthotics centre in Singapore to use an insoles concept to address foot, knee, and back pain that arise from musculoskeletal system conditions. TLM’s footwear and insoles are specially designed by an orthotist to realign shifted joints, which could result in good posture in the long run.

WHAT IS AN ORTHOTIST?

The Ministry of Health defines an orthotist as someone part of a multi-disciplinary healthcare team that cares for patients requiring specialised mechanical devices (orthoses) to support or supplement weakened or abnormal joints or limbs.

Orthoses enable the body to move more easily, and can prevent or reduce pain. No medication, injection or surgery is required. These can be in form of a brace, a splint or orthotic insoles and shoes.

A mature orthotist will also be equipped with clinical experience from various medical departments such as orthopaedic, hand surgery, neurology, rehabilitation departments. The orthotist should be able to analyse X-ray, MRI and cooperate with specialists of other departments when the need arises.

WHAT DETERMINES A SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT?

A direct measure of the treatment result is patient feeling comfortable after wearing medical brace for around 20-30 minutes.

Most parents have the concept that a child’s foot will grow longer, thus they buy bigger-sized shoes. However, at the initial treatment stage, a child’s foot will become shorter as his/her foot structure is being adjusted by orthotic insoles. The child’s foot will only start to grow longer after wearing orthotic insoles for around 1 year.

Patients with slight bunion will experience shoe size shrinkage of 1-2 sizes after wearing orthotic insoles and patients with a more severe bunion condition, such as bunion with overlapping toes, will experience shoe size shrinkage of 2-4 sizes.

For scoliosis patients, they will grow taller by around 3-5cm after wearing the scoliosis brace. However, this is due to the support of scoliosis brace. Full recovery will be seen after wearing the brace for 1-2 years.

Wearing TLM’s orthoses can help to relieve a person’s foot, leg and back pain, and correct their musculoskeletal misalignment.