There are a lot of reasons that a podiatrist or other health care worker may like to offload the feet or a part of the foot. Offloading describes having the stress off the foot. This can be required if the greater load or pressure is causing the foot condition. This may be as simple as a callus or it can be as significant as an ulcer in somebody with all forms of diabetes. Maybe it's a musculoskeletal issue that has to have some time where there isn't any load on it that will help it recuperate. The big difficulties with treating foot conditions is that we still will need to walk on it to get about and undertake our everyday living. If it was, by way of example, a painful shoulder, it's much easier to avoid making use of it. This will make the treating of foot problems more challenging and the need to apply different offloading strategies.

There are several ways to offload the foot. The most widespread and most well-known is possibly the use of podiatry felt. This is generally self adhesive and it is cut to form so that it fits round the part of the high load and not over it. Because of this the stress is taken away from the location. Usually, adhesive tape is usually used to help to keep the padding within the proper area. The foot ought to be kept dry and if needed the felt can be replaced every few days. Podiatry felt can be somewhat inexpensive in comparison to other approaches. The use of podiatry felt is typically used for smaller parts that need offloading like a corn, an ulcer or something like a sesamoiditis that is a painful disorder with the little bones beneath the great toe joint.

One more frequent technique of offloading is the usage of foot orthotics. A foot orthotic which is manufactured to the contour of the feet, spreads the weight away equally over the whole foot, therefore is able to reduce the stress upon an region that has too much and distribute it to other regions of the feet. In some cases, cavities or openings could be cut in the foot supports to further off load a painful spot. The foot orthotic may either be customizable or of the pre-made kind that could be altered to match the foot more accurately.

In the far more extreme cases, the best way to offload a foot which has an ulcer is by using a total contact cast or one of the equivalent prefabricated walking splints. If the problem is a bone and joint one, then a moon boot or walking splint can be used. These types of devices are quite effective at offloading and so are frequently used by podiatric physicians and other health professionals who treat the feet and lower limb disorders. They do make walking a little more challenging, but if that will encourage the user to walk less then this is a positive thing. Occasionally that limp that the splint brings about could lead to other concerns in the hip and lower back and there also can be a greater chance for falls, so that it must be managed diligently.