Using a boot to heal a bone, tendon, post-op ?  Think deeper please.

Please please, please ! If you are going to put your client in a CAM rocker boot/shoe for a fracture, or post-op can you please try to level out the leg length discrepancy caused by the thickness of the boot’s sole ? Please ? Pretty please with sugar on top?

Some boot brands have a huge midsole thickness. This leads to a functionally longer leg length. If they are barefoot much of the day, there will be a huge leg length discrepancy. If in shoes all day, you can offset this with a sole lift in the healthy foot’s shoe or you can add something like this to the outsole. Use common sense. IF someone is in a CAM boot for 6 weeks and thus a longer leg, this is going to promote a knee flexed posture on the boot side (ie. shortens the leg) and/or hyperextension of the healthy leg’s knee, supination of the foot, more forefoot habitus (sustained calf loads) and even frontal plane lurch pelvis gait mechanics (this is why many folks will get opposite hip pain). These embedded gait flaws must be addressed and remedied after they are out of the boot to reset normal gait. We have seen enough problems come to our offices that are suspect as a result of prolonged boot use and failure to reteach normal gait patterns, meaning, to reduce the learned gait behaviors of being in a boot for prolonged periods. Gait retraining is just as important as the rehab post-boot removal.  Of course, this is rarely done.  Using logic is never a bad thing.   

Dr. Shawn Allen, one of the gait guys

Here is a neat device we found to help.http://www.braceshop.com/procare-evenup-shoe-balancer-walker-system.htm?gdftrk=gdfV28018_a_7c2568_a_7c10961_a_7c32290&gclid=Cj0KEQiA37CnBRChp7e-pM2Mzp0BEiQAlSxQCCeL74AvCkYXbQX_jV1jEP27mfocB87f8pSfbo2PZMIaAsOV8P8HAQ