Newton Chiropractic and Wellness is now treating patients from head to toe, as Dr. Julie Burke and her staff add foot screenings, orthotics, shoethotics and sandalthotics to its list of services. The orthotics from Foot Leveler, which Burke and her staff recommend for patients with pronation or flat feet, are custom-built, stabilizing orthotics specially crafted to support all three arches of the feet. Most other orthotics address only the arch on the inside edge of the foot. Customized using a three-dimensional foot scan to fit a specific shoe or sandal, they come in a wide variety of styles and brands for dress, casual and athletics. This customization creates a softer, more flexible and comfortable orthotic.

 “It’s always been something I wanted to add, because it’s treating people’s health more comprehensively,” says Burke. Problems in the feet can affect the back, shoulders, neck, hips and knees, says Burke, and structural problems in the spine can affect the gait in the feet. Newton Chiropractic and Wellness now offers foot scanning to all patients that come for a structural analysis. “The 3D foot scanner tells us if someone is bearing weight on one side of the body or the other,” Burke says. “It can help find small things that could really make a big difference in the long-term health of someone’s back and joints.”

Burke says that about 70 percent of people have pronation, or an inward rolling of the foot while walking or running. When a foot pronates excessively, the foot flattens and the toes turn outward more than normal. The kneecap rotates inward and the pelvis and shoulders shift to compensate for the excessive pronation causing unnecessary postural stress. “It alters the gait and creates a breakdown along the kinetic chain,” she notes. “This can lead to pain because the body’s weight bearing and natural motion have been thrown off, so some joints will be taking on too much of a load.”

Spinal pelvic stabilizers help to provide a balanced symmetrical foundation by preventing excessive pronation. Feet no longer flair excessively. The knees, pelvis and shoulders then return to their normal positions helping provide proper postural alignment. Burke says that many patients report that their quality of life greatly improves after wearing Foot Leveler orthotics.

“Patients who had grown irritable due to pain and limited activities tell me they could feel a difference in their posture within a few hours of wearing the Foot Leveler, and by the second day pain had eased significantly,” she says. “One patient that had tried at least 10 different brands and styles of orthotics before getting scanned for a Foot Leveler told me, ‘I can now walk comfortably every day, and I’m even able to hike in the woods comfortably for the first time in years.’”

Location: Newton Chiropractic and Wellness Centre, 383 Elliot St., Ste. 250, Newton. For more information or to schedule a free foot scan, call 617- 964-3332 or visit WellAdjusted.com.