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Our user asked: "Hello, I am working with a personal training client who has arthritis and bone spurs in her Right ankle. We have been working on stablization exercises and i have found that my clients foot pronates and everts. My client asked whether or not she should stand on a wedge to counteract the forces of pronation and eversion. I am hesitant to have my client rely on external forces to support the foot. Do you recommend external support to stabilize the foot during exercises? Thank you"
Ask a PT Repsonse: "This is a question that is commonly asked by a physical therapist. What I normally do is to determine if my patient has deficits with posture, strength, ROM, or joint mobility which may be contributing to the altered mechanics at my patient's foot. If my patient does, we would work on correcting and minimizing these deficits. Should my patient continue to have altered mechanics after we have worked on correcting for their deficit, than custom orthotics would be the next step (ie. orthotic to take into consideration the over pronation and eversion of your client's foot). However, your patient's history of arthritis and bone spur at her ankle should be taken into consideration as this may lead to additional stresses at certain regions of the ankle/foot with the use of orthotics. This could result in doing more harm than good. My recommendation would be for you to have your client consult with a PT that specializes in the foot/orthotics or with a DPM to determine the best course of action. I hope this helps and thanks for using CyberPT."
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