FitFlop Insole??

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Hi all,

I've just had an unusual request from a patient which I'm hoping you can help me with.

He has asked me to make him a pair of insoles that mimic the"Wobbleboard" technology of the FitFlop shoe which he can then use in his other shoes. I've been in contact with various labs in the UK and Ireland and none have a clue what I'm talking about, and can't help.

Is such a thing in existance already, or do you have any suggestions?? I would have thought that a bi or tri density insole (not in layers, but moving from density to density proximal to distal could do it, although order and type still a mistery to me!!)


Many thanks,

Joanne

 

Short answer, can't be done.

Medium answer, The Fit flop wobble works on the basis that the inferior surface of the shoe is a rocker. So the instability in the sagital plane is in the interface between the shoe and the ground. Whereas an insole works in the interface between the shoe and the foot.

Look at it this way. If you take a traditional wobble board and stand on it, you wobble.

Turn it upside down and stand on it, you don't.

Make sense?

 

But you can put an insole in the shoe which will influence sagittal plane stability at the foot-insole interface. However, as Robert notes, this isn't going to be the same as the fit flop because whatever shoe you put it into, the existing sole will influence the insole effects. Your best bet would probably be something with a relatively thin flat sole, this then just acts like the outer sole of the fit-flop and your insole acts as the fit-flop midsole. You're still not going to have the same outer-sole geometry though.

 

If we look at the first image below taken from the fitflop website we see a 3 density design, however, if we look at the second picture it looks more like a dual density with different proportion of each density as we move from proximal to distal along the midsole. Obviously just using two densities of foam with varying proportions of each will give us variation in midsole stiffness across it's length. But if the second picture is dual density, we'd end up with a "medium" density in the middle portion since it's roughy 50% of each density of foam. Pretty easy to make an insole with a similar design intent to either of these images- fitting it in a shoe might be harder. I'd have thought any of the labs using direct milling could build a tri-density EVA block similar to the first picture to mill orthoses from- there may be patent issues though.

 

I LOVE PODIATRY ARENA!!

 

Thank you both so much for your input. I really appreciate it. I'll get on to my lab and see if they can use those suggestions to fabricate an insole up. I'll keep you posted as to the results.

Many thanks again.

Joanne

 

No worries. If you want to be really smart you could get the lab to use three densities of Eva to match the Irish tricolor.

 

http://www.ruckgaber.de/#
You can configure your EVA, but only in horizontal layers...

 

I've seen EVA blocks configured "vertically" for milling purposes.

 

Yes

as Simon correctly points out the EVA can be obtained and cut/machined in vertical layers with no real difficulty.

But the Fit flops are urethane and so more durable. You can also scan the fit flop insoles from the boot range for outer dimension sizing and thickness and replace with a custom foot bed.

Not sure it was ever needed, but was still fun!

 

It is possible to make durable orthoses commercially with vertical layers of different density EVA as ICB have.

http://www.icbmedical.com/

In this case they have developed a firmer density heel cup design with the rest of the shell in lower density. It should be possible as Simon suggests to make a full length orthosis with varying densities along its length. This will in theory give a limited rocking motion.

 

Just came across this Physio run study

 

Effect of thong style flip-flops on children's barefoot walking and jogging kinematics
Angus Chard, Andrew Greene, Adrienne Hunt, Benedicte Vanwanseele and Richard Smith
Journal of Foot and Ankle Research 2013, 6:8

 

A comparison of plantar pressures in a standard flip-flop and a FitFlop using bespoke pressure insoles
Carina Price, Philip Graham-Smith & Richard Jones
Footwear Science Volume 5, Issue 2, 2013 pages 111-119

 

I could be wrong but I am pretty sure that the Fit Flop shoes have a removable Fit Flop footbed. That may well be a cheaper option. although, I would totally agree with Robert in that the outer contour of the shoe will have to be the same to create the exact same effect.

http://www.shoetique.co.uk/womens-c...itflop-super-t-sneaker-crackle-platinum-p1222

 

The cheapest and most effective way of implementing the "wobbleboard" "technology" is to stick two marbles to the outer aspect of the shoe, one marble to the centre of the heel and one to the centre of the metatarsal area.

There is only one winner! No got that wrong. There are only two winners!