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Q) Why did we start our own Orthotic Company in 2010?
A) Sometimes you just know things can be better!
I have been making orthoses for patients for a long time now nearly 20 years. I do it because time and time again I see these seemingly simple devices (they are actually not simple) make great changes to people’s lives. Put simply I have watched as orthoses made with love, passion and a good dash of knowledge and advanced technology, make people live better!
In the past I had all my devices made by third party companies – almost all Podiatrists do. They are made from a script which we fill out giving you a series of options. For many people it works it did for me for many years. However while it worked and worked well, I knew we could do better I knew I could help people MORE and get a better fit if I could have more control right from the start till right to the finish.
Our Lab technicians working on orthotics for patients each pair is hand finished. Some of our Lab technichians have been making orthotics for more than 15 years – that’s experience!
Better design – I wanted to design orthotics that patients LOVED to wear! So after extensive investigation and visiting 2 other countries, I came across what I consider to be the best orthotic design package available in the world to date. So we invested in a state of the art system with limitless design capabilities.
Perfect fit – It has to fit our patient’s feet PERFECTLY! Not only did the package come with a brilliant design package it came with a laser scanner that took a 3D scan the accuracy and likes of which I could not find elsewhere. It maps the foot accurately to within half a millimetre – Heck I have had a piece of dirty stuck to someone’s foot and these scanners have picked it up! We bought two world leading scanners – I have not found better
More flexibility-Our patients need us to work with them! With minimal restrictions! If a patient really needs a different cover or a particular fit for a particular shoe, I want to give it to them! I wanted to not be restricted to a series of boxes ticked on a prescription. We now deliver a true Bespoke – custom made orthotic.
Best quality– Our patients deserve the best! I want to provide all the best materials for my patients! The highest quality, too the best standards- no compromise! I wanted to be the person deciding on the quality – I am super fussy and I like expensive stuff! We now buy only what we consider will last the longest for our patients and what will deliver them the most comfort and performance!
No excesses – Our patients are paying good money, they deserve only the best. If a cover is wrong, if it isn’t comfortable, if it wears out, if it needs to be better – it is all up to us! It’s not someone else’s fault, a faceless guy at a lab. It all comes back to us! We guarantee what we make- we make the best and stand behind it! 12 months guarantee on the shell and top cover, if it’s not right we fix it and in that time you will never pay!
We started this company to make patients the happiest they can be!
A Step Ahead Foot and Ankle care are located in Sydney’s Western Suburbs. We would love to be able to help you with your foot or ankle pain.
A side note: We are glad to see other practices around us start to develop a love for making their own orthotics. We say that’s great if we can lead the way and others pick up on our technology and as an end result we get all get better results for our patients that’s an awesome thing! We have now been doing this for a long time if we can help you in any way please let us know – Happy to help others get it right!
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Did you catch our Podiatrist Dr Brenden Brown on the Today show? Brenden is an expert when it comes to Kids feet and the Today show called on him to review the best School Shoes for 2014.
Podiatrist Dr Brenden Brown reviews the best school shoes for 2014
Watch the clip below and see what Brenden says will help keep your kids healthy happy and active.
Due to the magic of TV (meaning its pretty quick and you don’t get all the time you’d like on TV) Brenden doesn’t get to mention all of his TOP 4 see our other blog post HERE
where Brenden reviews all his favourite school shoes for your kids.
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/best-back-to-school-shoes/xtqh7cf
Blog, Western Weekender
Several years ago A Step Ahead Foot and Ankle care decided that to have more control of our patients outcomes we needed to make our own orthoses in house. Patients and often their referring doctors often don’t realise that many podiatrists in fact do not make their own custom made orthoses. While they can prepare a script they have trouble really making a device that is perfectly matched to the foot.
In our last article we described how orthoses should be prescribed. As you will see the process is fairly complex and requires a number of measurements using some specialised equipment and a great deal of clinical expertise. The junior podiatrists at A Step Ahead Foot and Ankle care who have already completed a university degree and 1000 clinical hours still are observed and work with one of our senior podiatrists for the first two years after graduation to make sure they have a strong knowledge base behind them when designing an orthoses for a patient.
Once a 3 dimensional scan and measurements are taken of both your feet, it’s time for our Podiatrist to design the orthotics. Designing each orthoses is done using Cad-Cam software and specific to each person, each person’s individual design takes approximately 15 minutes ensuring a complete match to your foot.
From here the design is sent to A Step Ahead Foot and Ankle care’s CNC mill for cutting on average this takes about 20minutes for each of the orthoses shell. As mentioned before, each orthotic is individual and subsequently there can be as little as 1 mm differences in measurements in the orthoses so ensuring we get the milling right is very important. 
After the mill has finished its very precise job, the orthoses edges need grinding so they fit comfortably into a shoe. At this time we will add covers to enhance the comfort of the device and small additions which will tweak the way you walk, such as metatarsal domes and rocker bars and possibly even more cushioning! We will also look at any further adjustments needed to change the postural position of your feet and legs. This can all add up and takes about an hour’s worth of time per pair to finish.
As you can see making a custom made orthoses can really take some time they are very complex devices with a real “handmade” component to each of them. Each device is designed to meet each patient’s specific health needs. So when people rightly ask “How come your orthotics cost …….” You can tell them because my orthoses are handmade just for me!
Blog, Western Weekender
So you have been told by your podiatrist that you need custom made orthoses…
Now we would assume these are to be made specifically for you, from a set of measurements taken from your feet and legs. Your Podiatrist will also have taken a video of your walking and or running pattern. They will have watched how you stand walk run and tested muscles and joints. Your Podiatrist will have also taken a cast or better still a 3 dimensional scan of both your feet – to be truly custom made this is essential! If your podiatrist or other practitioner has NOT done these things then frankly I would question if you were truly getting a custom made or true prescription orthotics!
These are all the things we do for our patients at A Step Ahead foot and ankle care. (Note NOT an outline and NOT a 2 dimensional or force plate measurement – you CANNOT make truly custom made orthoses from this)
Orthotics are costly, they are in the same ball park as prescription glasses and at times the same price as some mouth plates Dentists use to correct small alignments for your teeth. Thankfully NOT as expensive as braces though! I would suggest that they are this expensive because, if they are truly prescription custom made orthotics, the time that it takes to make a pair is reasonably extensive. Add to this the cost of your practitioner’s time taking the measurements then preparing the prescription and then finally check-ups fittings and etc and it will quietly add up. We have noted a few podiatrist tell people the cost of the device only. For example “orthotics cost $400” but be warned it is a good idea to ask about associated the cost of appointments.
How about check-ups? You know your feet are ok on the first check, but 4 months later your orthoses don’t feel right. We always give free check-ups for our patients for the life of your device – if its 2 years then so be it! We don’t believe you should have to pay for a check-up of your device if there is a problem. If your friend a relative or any type of patient of ours says they are not comfortable or not happy PLEASE send them back to our clinic – it’s free and we are ALWAYS happy to see them!! It’s included in the cost of the devices and appointments whenever we fit you with orthoses at A Step Ahead Foot and Ankle Care.
We guarantee our devices – if they flatten out, warp, the covers fall off or somehow otherwise your orthoses die an untimely death in the first 12 months we will replace your orthoses! Now you’d think this is common sense BUT if your dog eats them (don’t laugh has happened numerous times) that’s your responsibility, we will always be reasonable and we hope our patients are as well.
So there is much more than just a custom orthoses that’s in your shoe… it’s a long process of getting this very specialised device right. As we have discovered they are very specialised devices made from very specific measurements. What we have not spoken about is the very detailed equipment which makes up the mill that manufactures the devices and how that works. That I thought we would speak about next time.
Blog, Western Weekender
James is a 7 year old boy who is reasonably active loves to ride his bike and play with his little brother and older sister. He comes from an active family that enjoy doing some kind of activity most weekends – a little bike riding some weekend sport or some time at the park. James is otherwise a healthy bright young boy.
James’ mother brought him to see us because he often wakes at night crying complaining of pain in his feet and his legs. James’ mum was quite frustrated and looking for answers, as after seeing at least two other well-meaning health professionals she had not found an answer. On both occasions when seeing other health professionals she was told that this was ‘normal’ and it was ‘just growing pains’. Not knowing what to do and getting the same answer twice, James’ mum was given no choice but to watch James wake at night crying – they tried heat packs and ic
Growing pains in children can be debilitating for them and also stressful to parents.
e on his legs, they also tried rubbing his legs and paracetamol but with little relief. This pain continued off and on for many months, almost a year. A friend told James’ father about A Step Ahead Foot + Ankle Care which lead them to visit us.
After a thorough history and examination including watching James walk using our specialised gait analysis software we established that James had flat feet and that it was in fact this that was leading to a large amount of his pain.
A 3d scan of the foot is taken to develop a model of the foot.
We decided to fit James with some custom made orthoses (insoles) as these are designed to fit his foot exactly and are able to be custom designed – like prescription glasses – to assist him with his pain. We took a laser 3D scan of his foot to ensure a perfect fit and designed these for him on our computer aided design software.
A month after fitting, at James’ complimentary check-up there were beaming smiles all around! Mum reported
James had not had any episodes of waking up in pain. James said his orthotics were comfortable and he enjoyed wearing them so much he was wearing them every day and swapping them between his school and sports shoes. Another free check-up the following month revealed the same.
Happy Parents and a happy pain free James!
Dr Brenden’s White paper report on the “6 Reasons You Won’t Beat Heal Pain” outlines what’s stopping you from beating this and tips on how to stop it in its tracks!