Step into Comfort: Custom Orthotics for Your Pregnancy Journey

Relive Pregnancy Foot Pain With Custom Orthotics Designed by Our Idaho Foot Doctors

As your pregnancy progresses, your body undergoes numerous changes that affect your feet, ankles, knees, hips, and back. At Canyon Foot + Ankle in Twin Falls and Burley, Idaho, we understand the unique challenges pregnant women face and offer custom orthotics to provide relief and support during this transformative time. Here’s how we can help you.

How Pregnancy Affects Your Feet and Body

There’s never any way to predict how your body will experience the journey, but there are several changes that impact your lower extremities and posture:

• Weight gain. Even if it’s all baby and nothing else, each step places 1.5 your body weight of pressure on each foot. 
• Hormonal shifts. The hormone relaxin loosens tendons and ligaments throughout your body, including in your foot arch, potentially leading to flat feet and overpronation.
• Altered center of gravity. As your belly grows, your posture changes to compensate, affecting your gait and balance.
• Edema. Swelling in the feet and ankles is common, especially in the later stages of pregnancy.

These changes often cause expectant mothers to experience various foot problems, including:

• Plantar fasciitis
• Arch pain and flattening
• Heel pain
• Metatarsalgia, or pain in the ball of your foot
• Increased foot size

At Canyon Foot + Ankle Specialists, we want to assure you that pain, swelling, and other issues aren’t simply “just the way it is” for the next few months. Our family-first approach to your care provides many solutions, including orthotics designed specifically for your feet that help you through each trimester. 

6 Reasons to Choose Custom Orthotics During Pregnancy

These are inserts you place inside your shoes to provide better support and cushion or to re-adjust your feet's alignment and biomechanics. You might be familiar with off-the-shelf items, but they can be much more than that. 

In our Magic Valley offices, our experienced foot doctors understand the unique needs of pregnant women. We conduct a thorough exam to make certain we identify and address the root causes of discomfort rather than just providing general cushioning. Unlike generic insoles, we mold them to the exact contours of each foot, ensuring optimal alignment and pressure distribution. They can also be designed to fit seamlessly into various shoe types, offering versatility that special footwear can’t match. 

We recommend either prefabricated or custom graphite orthotics extensively to help you with: 

1. Proper arch support. A proper insert distributes weight evenly and reduces strain on the plantar fascia tendon so you don’t have pain.
2. Shock absorption. This helps minimize the impact on joints, reducing pain in your feet, ankles, knees, hips, and lower back.
3. Heel cushioning. You’ll still be more comfortable with weight-bearing activities as your baby grows.
4. Stability. A custom insert corrects overpronation and improves overall balance.
5. Pressure relief. So you have a method to redistribute pressure away from sensitive areas of your foot.
6. Accommodates changes. While our prefabricated inserts accommodate many circumstances, we also use 3D scanning technology to get precise measurements of your feet to design adjustable orthotics throughout pregnancy.

And while some people hear the word “custom” and also think “expensive”, that’s not necessarily the case. Depending on your needs, some prefabricated options may cost as little as $50. Custom orthotics are often more, but you’ll also have them for a long time, even post-partum as your feet slowly adjust.

Don't let foot pain detract from the joy of your pregnancy. At Canyon Foot + Ankle Specialists, our entire team is committed to delivering world-class care right here at home by offering numerous solutions that support your changing body during this special time. If you have any questions, feel free to ask us and we’ll get right back to you.