My HealthyStep insoles appear to be wearing badly in certain areas and not others: Is this something to be concerned about?
Please don’t be concerned if you see this wear on your insoles. In fact, be happy!
This is because HealthyStep insoles are trying to help your foot work a certain way and this should cause uneven wear on the insoles.
Also, some areas of HealthyStep’s insoles are deliberately kept thin to encourage the correct foot and joint motions. All HealthyStep insoles have four important features built in to help the foot move effectively and comfortably. These are a heel seat, a 3-D comfort arch craddle, a forefoot supporting contour, and a big toe dell. These features cause some areas of the insole to show wear faster. This is a good thing and nothing to be concerned about.
The image below indicates where we would like your insole to show wear. Blue areas should show very little wear at all. Green areas indicate areas of light wear and brown areas greater wear. The darkest brown areas should have the most wear.
The area under the big toe has a depress built into it, which means it is quite thin compared to the rest of the insole even when new. This tends to make this area look the most flattened and worn down, but it is actually what we want to happen.
As the foot moves, pressures under the foot constantly change, ideally in the manner shown in the image below. The heel makes contact first, then the forefoot, and then the outside edge of the arch as we reach the middle period of a walking step, called absolute midstance.
After this point, the heel pressures start to diminish and disappear as forefoot forces increase. The peak pressures should build up towards the inside of the forefoot, before they start to disappear as the foot and toes leave the ground.
Your HealthyStep insoles are trying to get your foot to generate a pressure pattern close to this. If the insoles are working well, then the wear on the insoles will reflect this.
If you still have concerns, please feel free to contact us.