Should you wear orthotics to correct flat feet? Should you wear a posture corrector?

In the past I got asked so many times about the use of corrective equipment. Two most common ones are orthotics and posture correction brace/strap.

Let me share my thoughts on this question as a Feldenkrais practitioner from a movement perspective.

People often associate flat feet and kyphotic posture (flexed mid back) with pathologies such as plantar fasciitis, various knee injuries/pain, back injuries, neck injuries, etc. Based on this assumption, orthotics or posture correction brace is used as a fix for these pathologies.

The problem is that these correction equipment does not take movement into account. Why do people develop flat feet or kyphotic posture in the first place? How do they develop it? Generally, it is a combination of genetics and tissue adaptation over time. Tissue adaptation is influenced by how we use our bodies and how we move.

If we move habitually in a way that reinforces flat feet or kyphotic posture, we will continue to use the same movement patterns that have led us to our current posture and structures today even with corrective equipment. So, you can continue to collapse your arch into the orthocis. You can continue to slouch against the posture correction brace.

The way these corrective equipment can benefit you more effectively is that you use it as a biofeedback device rather than corrective device. What I mean by that is that every time you collapse into the orthotics or slouch against posture correction brace, you will feel your body against it, and you will remind yourself that you can change how you move so you won’t run into it again. So these equipment acts like a car bumper, sort of speak.

Once you start to use these corrective equipment as a biofeedback device, you’ll be relearning your movement patterns so that you’ll be moving out of habitual patterns that have led to the problems you’re trying to solve now.

If you haven’t thought about it from a movement perspective, I’d highly suggest you watch my videos on my YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/c/TaroIwamoto) and/or try my weekly online Feldenkrais movement class.

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My name is Taro Iwamoto. I am a Feldenkrais practitioner and movement expert. I help people develop new and more efficient movement patterns and expand movement options in order to overcome injuries/pain and move beyond limits. Feel free to post in the comments section below and feel free to share this with your friends!