Mar
1
Written by:
Larry Huppin, DPM
3/1/2012 1:20 PM
I had a ProLab client call me this morning with questions regarding a patient of his who keeps wearing through his orthotic cover. He is wearing through just under the second toe. No other area is showing excessive wear. This current pair of orthotics is about 18 months old. He has a vinyl cover with Poron glued to the bottom of the cover and then a vinyl bottom cover.
Actually this is a very strong cover. The vinyl and Poron combination is probably the best wearing topcover.
It is important to realize that there are some patients who simply do wear through topcovers much faster than others. They either have more motion leading to friction or they possibly have hyperhidrosis. Both of these things can lead to faster wear of the covers. These patients should be told that the orthotic cover may need to be replaced every year. Some patients may have to have the cover replaced every six months. Those patients that do wear through the orthotic covers quickly should be educated as to why that is occurring. I would recommend to those patients that they get a second pair of orthotics so they can have one pair refurbished while wearing the other pair.
There is one other solution that I think works well for these situations where you have a single area of the cover wearing through. Apply a Teflon pad to the top of the topcover in the area where it is wearing excessively. There are several of these types of pads in the market. The one I use in my office is the Richie Ulcer Guard. You can keep some of these in the office and if you see an area of excessive wear on the top cover, place this over the top of it. The Teflon has an extremely low coefficient of friction and will protect both the cover and the foot by decreasing friction. To find the Ulcer Guard, just Google “Richie Ulcer Guard”.
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