A doctor scans the foot of a patient at the Al Ahli Hospital. Pic: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula
Al Ahli Hospital yesterday introduced a state of the art biomechanical assessment tool which detects anomalies and provides customised special orthotics for foot problems.
The service is now available at Al Ahli Hospital’s Foot Care Clinic.
“Al Ahli is the first private hospital in Qatar to introduce orthotics, a personal and specific foot care method which will have a major impact on a person’s health,” said Jamal Hammad, Al Ahli Hospital's Deputy Chief Executive Officer.
“Not many people know that heel, knee and back pain can be caused by standing in the wrong posture of the feet. Through this technology, we can get the impression of the feet, find the anomalies and correct it by a orthotics,” he added.
Foot orthotics comprises a custom-made insert or footbed or insole fitted into a shoe. Orthotics provide support for the foot by redistributing ground reaction forces as well as realigning foot joints while standing, walking or running.
Podiatrists use orthotics to treat foot problems such as plantar fasciitis, bursitis, tendinitis, diabetic foot ulcers, and foot, ankle and heel pain.
At Al Ahli Hospital, custom orthotics are manufactured after a podiatrist has conducted a complete evaluation of the feet, ankles, and legs, so the orthotic can accommodate a person’s unique foot structure and pathology. Nabil Matta, Managing Director, Medi Comfort said, “Orthotics helps relieve the pain and stress on the foot and it can be for anyone including a child of four years or an athlete.”
The custom orthotics are divided into two categories as functional orthotics accommodative orthotics. Functional orthotics are designed to control abnormal motion.
They may be used to treat foot pain caused by abnormal motion, treat injuries such as shin splints or tendinitis. Functional orthotics are usually crafted of a semi-rigid material such as plastic or graphite.
The technology has been introduced at the Al Ahli Hospital in collaboration with Medi Comfort of Iriss Trading.
