Exploring the efficacy of chiropractic care combined with foot orthotics

Combining foot orthotics with chiropractic care appears to yield greater results than the use of foot orthotics alone, according to research published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine.

The study, “Chiropractic adjustments and orthotics reduced symptoms for standing workers,” involved 32 subjects who were randomly assigned to receive chiropractic care combined with foot orthotics, foot orthotics alone, or no intervention. The latter group served as the control group for this study.

The general purpose of this controlled study, according to its authors, was to examine the efficacy of foot orthotics in alleviating issues related to the feet and other areas of the lower body and decreasing lower back pain.

Before the research intervention began, subjects in the study filled out a survey on foot pain. For those participants in the foot orthotics group, as well as the foot orthotics combined with chiropractic care group, information was gathered and used to create custom foot orthotics for each subject.

Besides simply wearing the foot orthotics, participants in the group that also received chiropractic care were treated by chiropractors using the Activator Technique. They also were given specific exercises to perform at home on a regular basis.

Results of the research revealed that the people assigned to the control group did not experience significant changes in foot pain during the study. However, those who were assigned to wear the custom foot orthotics did show some improvement in the symptoms of foot pain, activities of daily living, sports and recreation, and overall quality of life. These improvements were not statistically significant, though.
For the participants assigned to receive both chiropractic care and foot orthotics, statistically significant improvements were revealed as far as symptoms, quality of life and activities of daily living. There was improvement in the area of sports and recreation, as well, but this trend did not reach a level of statistical significance.

“This study showed that a combination of chiropractic care and orthotics improved symptoms, activities of daily living, sport and recreation and quality of life in workers whose job requires them to stand at least six hours daily,” conclude the study’s authors.

For those professional chiropractors who encounter clients with careers that keep them on their feet, this study points toward the use of foot orthotics in conjunction with chiropractic care to help alleviate issues related to pain the feet, as well as the lower back and other areas of the lower extremities.