It is all football this June 2018, with the World Cup fully underway. Football is so popular and a great sport for getting youngsters active and out enjoying themselves. At Compleet Feet we get many youngsters in who are having problems with niggling injuries affecting their performance on and off the pitch. Classic issues are knee and heel pain which can be easily rectified with the help of specialist insoles to help improve the functional positioning of the foot during active motion. Often youngsters have ‘too much’ foot flexibility and motion which allows the foot to ‘roll-in’ and the leg internally rotate. By just supporting the foot, controlling this unwanted rotational kinetic chain motion then painful niggles can be resolved. Orthotic insoles also help with neuromuscular responses to improve proprioceptive feedback whilst playing football. Muscles therefore fire at the right time to deliver the right result and reduce build-up of lactic acid which causes fatigue and raises the risks of injury.
Youngsters often go through periods of accelerated growth which can affect balance and co-ordination. Brain can struggle to keep up with the growth, it has to keep re-setting the GPS putting youngsters out of gear and at a sporting disadvantage. Orthotics can help to speed up the ‘GPS re-setting’ to keep a young footballer’s performance on track. Youngsters can lose confidence very quickly and become demotivated if they feel they cannot compete and perform to the best of their abilities.
Choice of orthotic is just as important as choice of football boot. Football boots are very flat and snug fitting. Not a lot of room to accommodate an orthotic. Podiatrists can simply place corrective wedging posts directly into the boot or issue a more specialist orthotic like the Vasyli Prior Sports. It must be noted that many youngsters grow up not needing orthotics any more at some point. The orthotics have effectively done their job in helping to insure healthy injury free growth. Podiatry is a form of preventative medicine, to assess and treat potential issues before they become a future problem.
Not only do we in our role as podiatrists issue orthotic insoles, but we issue advice on exercises, tapping and we can use our low level lasers to accelerate healing outcomes. Podiatrists do have a big role to play in keeping budding footballers in the game on their way to getting their 1st cap for England!
