Many people ask why our arch supports cost so much less than others. The answer lies in the manufacturing process. To make a custom orthotic by hand requires many hours. As a result hand-made custom orthotics are expensive, costing $300 or more. There are still some labs that make the orthotics by hand but it is must more cost effective and just as clinically effective to use modern technology.
To make the custom arch supports more affordable many labs, including our own, now use a set of 100 or so pre-manufactured orthotics. The foot molds of over 100,000 people were analyzed by computer and it was determined that there were appoximately 100 different foot shapes that matched over 70% of the people. It was therefore determined that if these 100 different shapes mass produced they would exactly match the feet of most people. What about the other 30%? The good news is that the pre-fab arch supports are heat moldable. If adjustment needs to be made to exactly match a person’s foot mold, the support can be heated and shaped.
Using the pre-fabs still requires that a mold be made of the foot. However this process has dramatically decreased the time of manufacture of the orthotics without sacrificing quality or function of the orthotic. Therefore many of the orthotic labs that were making them by hand are now using the pre-fabs. Although some of the orthotic labs that use pre-fabs still charge the hand-made price, most providers of the pre-fab custom arch supports pass the savings on to the patient.
Please note that if you have complex issues with your foot you should have a face-to-face (or is it hand-to-foot?) physical exam with a professional that can design an orthotic to solve your problem. Even if they use a pre-fab, if you have a complicated problem minor adjustments made need to be made, in person, by a trained specialist. However if you are like most people experiencing pain in your foot,knee or low back, a cost-effective, pre-fab custom orthotic may very well solve the problem.
