David G. Wedemeyer DC, C.Ped.
Contributing Author
Chiropractic doctors see a variety of patients and complaints in daily practice and we offer highly beneficial treatment and care to the patients who seek our services. The majority of that care is focused on the spine, although we encounter a good deal of extremity complaints as well. The foot and ankle are an often overlooked etiology of many common complaints and training in this area and especially custom foot orthoses, is entirely lacking. I believe that with a modest upgrade in skills that any practicing chiropractor can impact their patent’s care profoundly by providing a high level of lower extremity and foot orthosis intervention.
When I think of the term orthotic as I understand it, it can describe various devices to brace or support structures of the body; it is a generic term. In other fields an orthosis on the other hand describes a device that is custom molded to that patient and for a particular condition and purpose. For that reason I believe first and foremost that when referencing custom foot orthoses (CFO’s), we must distinguish the difference between truly custom made products fitted to that individual patient and for a specific need and goal and other methods. Knowledge of the process by which your lab produces your orthoses is paramount when discussing custom made devices. We will go into great detail in this in future articles.
You may ask “why is this important to a chiropractor” or “aren’t all orthotics the same”? The short answers are that no, they are not and that an understanding of why our lab produces a device of superior function and quality will aid you in making the decision to elevate your orthotic dispensing.
Over the coming months I will be presenting common pathologies that the typical doctor of chiropractic will encounter in their offices and how to treat these effectively with CFO’s. I will accomplish this by presenting the biomechanical principles that may lead to these pathologies, how to identify them and how to manage them effectively with CFO’s
In speaking with colleagues about the subject over the years, it became very apparent to me that many have found the subject confusing and difficult to understand. There really is very little available information that exists and is relevant to the subject, much of it marketing hype to sell a product. I hope to encourage those doctors with an interest in lower extremity biomechanics and treatment to follow the coming posts and hope that you will appreciate our comprehensive and cogent approach. Our goal is to enable you to adopt this knowledge not only to benefit your patients but your individual practices as well.
I hope that I have attracted your attention and persuaded you to ponder the subject. We are here to help your practice to prosper and to that end our goal is to provide a foot orthosis lab and training of unparalleled quality and benefit to the chiropractic profession.
Dr. David Wedemeyer is a graduate of Cleveland Chiropractic College and a Certified Pedorthist. His vast clinical experience includes serving Medicare as a DMERC supplier for the Diabetic Shoe Bill and dispensing a variety of custom foot orthoses for physician’s patients on referral.
Dr. Wedemeyer has turned his attention to providing the highest quality education and orthotic lab to aid colleagues in improving their orthotic knowledge and dispensing skills.
Solelutions Orthotic lab was borne out of this commitment to excellence in the orthotic market.
Click through the following links to read more about David: FTCA Corporate Spotlight, Solelutions Lab Website and Wedemeyer Chiropractic Website