Why “Pushing Through” Foot Pain Often Backfires in Spring
For decades, the orthotic world has been dominated by rigid rules—pun intended. If you had foot pain, the default assumption was that your “arches collapsed,” your “alignment was off,” or your “biomechanics were faulty.” And the fix? A stiff orthotic designed to “correct” you.
But here’s the thing: feet aren’t mechanical parts to be fixed—they’re part of a complex, adaptive system. At SoleScience, we’ve made it our mission, and research focus, to flip that old-school thinking on its head.
- We don’t chase arch types.
- Our clinicians don’t “fix” faulty biomechanics.
- And we don’t believe alignment is everything—especially if changing it makes you feel worse.
- After all, your alignment is yours, not a textbook.
What we do chase is comfort—because that’s the outcome that really matters. The thing that allows you to do more, with less pain. Alignment still has relevance, but it’s not the only thing that matters. After all, there are many super athletes with very flat feet, and absolutely no pain. While, people with completely “normal” looking feet suffer to walk around the block.
We like to think of it like a mechanical puzzle. Your body is a system of interlocking parts, and when pain or dysfunction arises, our job isn’t to force one piece into a fixed mold—it’s to figure out how your unique puzzle fits together.
Hard vs. Soft Orthotics: Can They Both Work?
There’s a longstanding belief in the field that rigid orthotics are better at “controlling motion,” while soft orthotics are just about cushioning and accommodation. But the science doesn’t actually support that divide.
In a 2019 study by Balsdon and Dombroski, we used biplane fluoroscopy (a highly accurate motion capture method—check it out here) to compare how soft and rigid orthotics affected arch motion while walking in a shoe. The results? Both types controlled motion equally well, and better than just the shoe. No significant difference between devices. Just two different materials achieving the same clinical goal.
We’ve had patients thrive in both hard and soft devices—because we built them around their needs, their activities, and their feedback.
Even the question of longevity—another supposed weakness of soft orthotics—has been overblown. With modern materials, design, and manufacturing, we’re seeing soft devices
perform just as long and as well as their firmer counterparts.
Get Back on Your Feet With Solescience
Spend more time doing the things you love. Come see one of our experts today to start feeling better tomorrow.
Our Approach to Orthotic Fabrication
At SoleScience, we utilize advanced technologies to craft orthotics tailored to each individual’s needs:
Voxelcare EVA Milling:
We employ Voxelcare’s high-quality EVA materials for orthotic milling, which come in various configurations and Shore hardness values. These materials allow us to create orthotics that provide the right balance of cushioning and support. Learn more about Voxelcare’s EVA materials here.
3D Filament Printing:
For certain cases, we use 3D filament printing to produce orthotics with precise geometries and tailored stiffness profiles, offering another layer of customization.
Thermomoldable Plastics:
We also continue to utilize traditional thermomoldable plastics when appropriate, ensuring we have a full spectrum of materials to meet diverse patient needs.
Real-World Success Stories
To illustrate our approach, meet Don. A real patient experience showcasing his success with custom orthotics from SoleScience.
In the video above, we demonstrate how a patient with diabetic neuropathy found relief through custom-milled soft EVA orthotics, highlighting the importance of material selection in achieving comfort.
So… What Do We Actually Do?
We start with a simple question: What does better look like for you?
For some, it’s walking the dog without heel pain.
For others, it’s hiking in the Rockies, or standing on a factory floor for 10 hours without limping.
Once we understand your goals, we look at how your feet move, how you move, and where your pain starts. Then, using a mix of evidence, clinical experience, and a whole lot of listening, we design a solution that puts comfort first—not just structure.
Just like some people prefer a soft mattress while others love a firm orthopedic one, we’re highly variable in how we perceive comfort.
- Some might need a soft orthotic.
- Others may prefer a firmer one.
- It might involve footwear changes, or a bit of strength work.
But the result is the same: you move more, you hurt less, and you get back to doing what you love.
The End of the One-Size-Fits-All Approach
Orthotic care shouldn’t feel like an assembly line. And yet, that’s what many patients experience—standard devices based on standard templates for “low arches” or “overpronation” or whatever buzzword is trending. Even as barefoot and minimal styles are making a comeback, there’s a place for all of it, as long as it’s relevant to your recovery and wellbeing.
We’re here for the person in front of us. The human being—not the textbook foot type. Our entire team at SoleScience is trained to think critically, apply the latest research, and prioritize the only outcome that really matters: your comfort.
This patient-first approach was also evident in our study on knee osteoarthritis, where we examined the effect of laterally wedged insoles on knee mechanics. Comfort was used as a key clinical decision-making tool. While the wedges did influence alignment, we didn’t rely on alignment alone—we used comfort as a meaningful, patient-centered measure and were able to reduce forces in knees with osteoarthritis.
A New Era of Foot Care Starts Here
Whether you’re 45 or 75, weekend warrior or daily walker, the goal is the same: to move through life with less pain and more confidence. And if your feet are holding you back, we’re here to help—without judgment, without gimmicks, and without rigid rules.
Because when you feel better, you do more.
And doing more is what life’s all about.
Want to Learn More About How SoleScience Can Help You Move in Comfort?
Book a consultation with one of our Canadian Certified Pedorthists.
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