Merrell FootLab Is a Pedorthic Clinic/Laboratory and Custom Boot Shop specializing in solutions for challenging feet.
DEFINITIONS: A clinic is someplace you walk into for care; as opposed to a hospital where you live or stay for a time.
LABORATORY is a place for scientific experimentation, or as in our case a place where specialized work is completed. (The root word is Labor, so a place for specialized work.)
PEDORTHIC/PEDORTHIST Ped refers to step; as in Pedal, or Pedestrian. Ortho has reference to pure, straight or correct. "ist" is a suffix indicating one who is occupied with. So a Pedorthist is one who is occupied with making steps pure, straight and correct.
A foot orthotic is an under foot device that goes in the shoe. A well made orthotic can be enormously powerful in creating true and correct alignment in the foot; which is then seen up the skeleton, typically in a magnified fashion. The feet are the foundation for the entire body. Most modern shoes that have a footbed or a padded innersole that comes out makes room for the foot orthotic.
A Pedorthist does his work from the ankle down by creating alignment in the foot and leg with under foot orthotics. Footwear is a crucial aspect of this work and are often modified to enhance their therapeutic function.
Most people have no idea of the significance of this. In our community, there is a vision clinic that is second generation and known for excellent work. It is reported that one of their doctors was asked what percent of the community were their patients. With a smile he replied, "In time, all of them. If we live long enough, our vision will become a problem."
So it is with our feet. Nearly everyone is born with structural mis-alignments in their feet and legs. In our youth, most of us assume that our bodies are pretty much perfect. Then life happens and we learn otherwise.
Watch people walking in shorts and sandals. Some are knock kneed, while others are bowlegged. Some have their inside ankle droop to the ground, while some are so high arched that their mid-foot does not even touch the ground. None of the above is anatomically correct, and all of this creates problems and pain in time. One would assume that there is a large population of “middle-ground.” There is not. Evolution has not been kind to our gait and feet.
Only for a few is there pain in our youth because of the mis-alignments in the feet and legs. In our teens, especially when we push our bodies hard in athletics or with work, a few more have symptoms and pain. When the pain really begins to show up is typically in our 40’s when it becomes evident in spades. In our view, in the end, it is only about 2% of the population that started out with perfect bio-mechanics in their lower extremities and stay asymptomatic until the end.
Unfortunately, there are far too many that hobble in pain in their elder years with difficult feet--when this could have all been headed off with effective pedorthic care earlier in their life--if they had only known.
Many practitioners across America dispense foot orthotics: Physical Therapists, Sports Trainers, Podiatrists, Chiropractors, others, and of course Pedorthists. In most of America, it is not requisite that you be a Lettered Practitioner or a Certified Pedorthist. One can simply hang a sign up, print business cards, and go to work! Few, if any, understand what Randy has learned over 40 years, first as a boot maker and then as a pedorthist. We are lucky to have someone who intimately understands feet, footwear, and orthotics- Randy Merrell.
At Merrell FootLab We Do Things in a Very Different Way
1) We look at the body very differently: We see the body as though it is a machine. We look at the feet and legs as though they are cables, hinges, fulcrums, levers and so forth. Nearly always when there is pain in the foot it is due to something being out of alignment and some body part is being over used or being drafted to compensate for an imbalance. In nearly every case when the imbalance or mis-alignment is corrected the pain pain goes away!
2) We believe in doing the best possible job every time. That means that we are aggressive and effective in our work. Every time. It starts with how we capture the foot to make the mold to make the orthotic; we capture the foot in the position that it needs to be making, not the position that it does that has created the problem. We understand that in being aggressive there will be times when we step over the line. That is a cost in doing the best possible. As such we are quick to back down as needed.
3) We believe that preventative work is as important as corrective work. I.e. not only do we make orthotics to get rid of plantar fascia pain; but orthotics to prevent bunions from ever happening. Or work to get the Leg-length just right so that hip or back pain does not happen.
4) The devices we dispense are made here in-house, in our lab; with very rare exception. Nearly all practitioners dispensing orthotics are either selling orthotics that are pulled off the rack, or are ordered “custom” made from molds and specs sent out to a “central fabrication” facility. Our way means that the person who has performed the evaluation of your feet, gait, legs and hips is the one making the molds and making and shaping your orthotics. And it is done just a day or two after that eval was made. He knows you and your feet and your situation. As such nothing is “ lost in the translation,” and rarely are there errors. Additionally, since we have made the devices from scratch; it is simple for us to tune and adjust as needed. We have the materials, the equipment and the mindset to do that.
5) We at Merrell FootLab do not believe in off the shelf/over the counter or prefabricated orthotics. Why? Because you and your feet and your well being are all too important for “so,so.” We expect the devices to be just as correct as possible. This is only possible with custom. Also, we have never seen an OTC orthotic nearly as aggressive as what we make.
6) We insist on a follow-up visit. Orthotics need to be just right. So we do the best we know how; but after a couple weeks “on the road,” either the devices need to be tuned/adjusted, or made more or less aggressive. In probably 90% of the cases, at follow-up adjustments are made. Often we have clients call and say that no follow-up is needed; that they are doing just fine. We ask that they come anyway. Nearly always we see something in their gait needing adjustment.
7) In our Laboratory, in addition to making orthotics we make modifications to shoes and boots. We come from a shoe and boot heritage. This facility was making custom boots for many years before it started making orthotics. We alter footwear by making Leg Length accommodations; sometimes as much as six inches. We give medial or lateral flares to stabilize the foot. We make rocker bottoms to facilitate gait. We, at times, take the shoe or boot apart and completely give it a different shape to accommodate severe bunions or to accommodate birth defects or trauma. Additionally there are times when we create “appliances” to accommodate partial foot amputations, etc.
8) And if needed, we can make shoes or boots, custom: from scratch. That is where we started.
9) We believe that our clients are in the “Driver's seat.” Our job is to do an evaluation and enumerate possibilities/teach the pro’s and con’s; then our client has the final say in his or her care.
10) We have fun. It is fun when our clients come in for the follow-up visit and exclaim “the pain is gone. All of it.” It is fun to change and bless lives with one’s training, effort, and talents. We look forward to “getting” to go to work. Really.
