Adding Modifications to Your Pre-fabricated Orthoses

Posted by casey1313 on in Educational 0 Comment

Widget kits & heel lifts:

We commonly get asked about doing further customization on our littleSTEPS® and QUADRASTEP® prefabricated foot orthoses. We are happy to help you with these customizations or modifications but we also sell a number of items like heel lifts, metatarsal domes and wedges that are ‘peel & stick’ and are easy to apply in an office setting and can be trimmed around the edges to remove excess material (if needed) using scissors. No grinder or specialized lab set-up is needed.

Widget Sampler Kit available from Nolaro24, LLC
Widget Sampler Kit available from Nolaro24, LLC

We sell a widget kit that is a sampler of the common items like, heel lifts, met domes and wedge material (to add additional posting) that you can add to our littleSTEPS® or QUADRASTEP® orthotics to make many common modifications to them. They are available in three sizes; small, medium and large. If you are just making adjustments on littleSTEPS®, the small size is recommended.

Or if you just want heel lifts you can order them separately. These come in 4mm, 6mm or 8mm, so you can get the precise amount of heel lift that you want, which is very useful for treating leg length inequality. You also have the option to change the amount of lift over time by removing one size and then adding another size. The self-sticking adhesive sticks very well but it can be removed and the material used has a decent amount of durometer and strength. This is very durable and long lasting, especially with children but with some adults who are heavier you may decide you want to use a stronger more durable material for longer terms results. Using these peel and stick lifts on a trial basis first, can allow you to work out the precise amount of lift that will work best for your patient before more permanent modifications are made to the orthotic.

If you know the precise amount of lift you would like added to a littleSTEPS® or QUADRASTEP® orthotic, you can simply ask us to add that prior to delivery for $10.00. Adding met mounds or heel cushioning is also $10.00. If you would like us to add top covers to our littleSTEPS® or QUADRASTEP® orthotics it costs $25.00 a pair.

Widget Kit sampler, costs $25.00 and includes: A pair each of heel lifts/elevators in 4mm, 6mm & 8mm and one pair of metatarsal domes/mounds, plus 4 pieces of wedge material for posting in 3 & 5 degrees.

Contact us for pricing on purchasing these items separately. They usually come in packs of 10 and if you purchase a 10 pack, it works out that they only cost a dollar or two each. So this is a very cost-effective way to make instant modifications to your littleSTEPS® or QUADRASTEP® orthotics. The widget kit is a great way to sample and try all the self-adhesive widgets that are available and find out which ones you like the best or would use the most.

As always we pride ourselves on delivering great technical support. Our technical team has many years of clinical experience and expertise in many specialties. If you are not sure of how best to modify a littleSTEPS® or QUADRASTEP® orthotic, email us a picture of your patient’s feet (standing on the orthotic) and we can help point you in the right direction.

Next One Day Class in Portland, OR

Posted by casey1313 on in Educational 0 Comment

I’m pleased to announce that the next One day class I am teaching is in Portland, OR on Saturday May 16, 2015. See our Education Page for more information and to Register. Here is a brief outline of what is covered:

The QUADRASTEP SYSTEM® is based on a clinical algorithm identifying 24 unique foot-types. These 24 foot-types are subdivided into 6 groupings of 4, known as “quads.” Each quad has its own very specific foot and gait characteristics. A patient’s foot-type (quad-type) influences not only their gait, but the conditions that may afflict them throughout their lives.

This one-day program examines pathological gait conditions, resulting from the occurrence of rearfoot varus deformities (compensated and uncompensated), forefoot varus and forefoot valgus deformities, as well as their combined effects. The student will learn to perform visual static and dynamic gait analysis, interpreting key weight-bearing compensations, in order to differentially interpret a patient’s foot type. Students are taught how to implement the QUADRASTEP SYSTEM® algorithmic process to classify an individual’s foot into one of 6 major foot, or “Quad”, types. Students will come to understand how the specific gait sequencing of each foot type may predispose an individual to a certain set of pathologies.

This updated program provides an in-depth review of the 6 main foot types (Quads) in greater detail than has ever been provided before. The new material and course format provides a comprehensive introduction to practitioners who are new to the QUADRASTEP SYSTEM® while still being suitable and providing new material for anyone who has attended our classes previously.

This course provides the attendee an over-view of normal and pathological foot biomechanics, an introduction to a simple, inexpensive method of video gait analysis and a common sense approach to foot orthotic selection and design.  It includes reviewing the normal development of a child’s foot, as well as Developmental Flat Foot and torsional deformities in children.

If you are interested in hosting a course for us, please get in touch with me!

Welcome to our new Blog: Kylie’s Corner!

Posted by casey1313 on in Educational, Foot Typing 0 Comment

kylie picI’m excited to do my inaugural blog post about Foot typing and functional foot orthoses. For those people who don’t know me. I Graduated as an Australian Podiatrist in 1994 and I am also a US Certified Pedorthist. My specialty is biomechanics and functional foot orthoses. I have been working part-time for the QUADRASTEP SYSTEM® as a biomechanics instructor for the past couple of years and I have recently become their Education Coordinator.

I first heard about foot typing and the QUADRASTEP SYSTEM® when I was attending a Podiatry convention in Las Vegas about 4 years ago and I heard a lecture by Dr. Louis DeCaro, DPM and he kept referring to foot typing and how all the patients he sees get assigned a foot type. I was fascinated by this concept and liked the idea of having a standardized assessment model for patients. One of my pet peeves is the fact that if a patient goes to see a foot practitioner for foot orthoses and then sees someone else that patient can end up being prescribed and dispensed different types of orthotics for the same condition! This is very confusing for patients. It is a different story in the world of Optometry, for example. It doesn’t matter where you go and who you see, anywhere in the world, if you need eye glasses you are going to get the same glasses prescription no matter where you go.

Anyway time went on and I happened to see Dr DeCaro lecture at another convention and in this lecture he went into the Basics of how foot typing works and doing the assessment on the QUADRASTEP SYSTEM®. My first thought and initial reaction was that I wished I had of known about this when I was in Podiatry school it would have made my life much easier. I made a decision at that point that I really wanted to find out more about this and be able to teach it to others and I’m pleased to say that I have been able to do just that in recent years. Since I’ve been teaching the one day class on Functional Gait Analysis, which I now like to call Biomechanics Made Easy, it has been my intention to make the understanding of prescribing and dispensing functional foot orthoses much easier plus more fun and rewarding. I know the way I was taught biomechanics in Podiatry school was very confusing and there is a lot of misconceptions and conflicting information which just adds to the confusion. Roberta Nole, who invented the QUADRASTEP SYSTEM® and foot typing algorithym, is a modern day genius in my opinion.