How Supports Can Weaken the Foot

The greatest harm from the use of foot supports is that through their routine use the need for other more appropriate treatments that address the cause of the problem may be overlooked. This is especially true when supports provide temporary symptomatic relief, giving the false impression that the problem is solved.

In some cases, a support will provide symptomatic relief in the area of pain, only to trigger an imbalance or discomfort in another area previously not a problem. For example, you may start using a particular support that provides relief for your foot pain. A week later, your knee may begin to hurt. This can occur due to the initial change made in the structure of your foot by the support, causing other structural changes—sometimes up the leg into the knee, hip, or even lower back.

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Supporting a joint when it is not required can actually increase the risk of injury to that joint. This is true not only for the foot and ankle, but also for any joint such as the knee, hip, or those of the low back. The reason is that the added support can reduce muscle function, leading to muscle imbalance. With the additional support, our foot’s natural internal support gives way to the external support. In other words, our foot muscles have less reason to work as much since something else (the added support) is doing the job for them. And no support can ever take the place of proper muscle function.

In many cases, a foot support can reduce the ranges of motion in the joints. Reduced ranges of motion can lead to joint and muscle dysfunction, and increase the risk for injuries due to minor twists or turns that normally would not be problematic.

In certain instances, reduced ranges of motion may be necessary to assist in healing, such as after an ankle sprain. However, it’s important to remove the support as the body completes the healing process to prevent a continuation of reduced ranges of motion and allow the foot’s muscle function to return to normal.

Even when a support is necessary, a softer or semi-rigid support such as leather, rather than a hard or rigid support like hard plastic, may work best for athletes and may even quicken the healing process. This may also apply to the case of a foot fracture, where a semi-rigid rather than a rigid support is usually best. However, these more serious conditions must be treated individually.