How do rigid plate help osteoarthritis in the big toe joint?

A rigid plate, usually made of carbon is often used to stiffen footwear to help several different painful conditions with the feet. These types of carbon plate are very hard and rigid because they have to stiffen up the bottom of the foot, particularly across the ball of the foot. These plates come in several different layouts with one of them being only shaped like a basic shoe insole. This particular one is employed when you really need to restrict the whole foot which will help prevent all the joints in the ball of the foot from bending. Another principal style is one that the inflexible plate just will go under the great toe or hallux rather than the rest of the ball of the foot. This has the benefit of assisting with discomfort in the big toe or hallux joint by reducing its movement, but nonetheless make it possible for some usual motion in the other metatarsophalangeal joints in the ball of the foot. This can be referred to as a Morton’s extension rigid insole.

One of many common conditions that these kinds of inflexible carbon insoles can be used for may be arthritis with the big toe or hallux joint which often commonly gets referred to as hallux rigidus. Typically the rigid insole works by restricting motion of the hallux joint, in order that limitation of motion means the great toe joint is much less uncomfortable. A different problem which they maybe put to use for is referred to as turf toe. This is when there's a traumatic over extension damage in the great toe or hallux joint, so the joints absolutely does have to be restricted from bending for quite a while for the pain to settle and the rigid insoles work great to do this. Also there is a condition called Freiberg’s disease that is an issue with the growing part of the joint, typically near the bottom of the second toe. This can be one of those conditions that require the full carbon plate to limit motions over the ball of the foot.

What footwear should make use of these rigid carbon plates within? Many people find that they are able to wear them in just about any shoe since they don't fill up much space. Many people find footwear that have a rocker actions to be rather beneficial to wear the plate in. An example would be the Hoka running footwear which have a rocker underneath the ball of the foot. Since these carbon insoles restrict the shoe that can help control motion to reduce pain, the rocker does help the foot rock forward when walking as you can not bend the foot over the front foot. There are a few side effects coming from wearing the carbon insoles which should be considered up against the benefit from using them. They can change the way you move, so you may need to take time for you to get accustomed to them. You might even need to cut back on the time which you put them in to get familiar with them and then begin gradually increasing the wear time period. They may be to some degree uncomfortable since they do not enable normal foot movements, but will just need to be tolerated and balanced against the pain that could be eminating from the reason that you might have to wear the plate.