Which Metatarsal Pad is Right for Me and How Do I Use Them?

Pedag makes many items that incorporate a metatarsal pad. This is unusual in products found in the United States where most manufacturers focus on the longitudinal arch and heel but ignore the metatarsal, lateral arch of the foot.
Here is an overview of how Pedag incorporates metatarsal support into their product line:
1. Many Pedag items incorporate a metatarsal pad into an orthotic that includes a longitudinal arch support and heel cushion. Items like these use a "teardrop" shape met pad. These items are designed to support the whole foot and do not focus specifically on the forefoot. Items that incorporate this type of pad are: All the Viva family items: Viva, Viva Summer, Viva Winter, Viva Outdoor, Viva High, Viva Mini. In addition, Holiday and Pro-Active XCO have a teardrop shaped met pad.
2. Other Pedag items, like Comfort and Queen, are designed to be mainly metatarsal supports. These use a "T" shaped metatarsal pad, which is larger than a "teardrop" shaped pad. Deluxe also has a larger metatarsal pad but it also includes flexible longitudinal support.
3. Next, there are a other items that focus on the metatarsal area but incorporate the teardrop shape because they are intended to provide a little extra cushioning and support in the forefoot. Items like these are Lady, Lady Gel, Galant and Feel Good. These are ideal when the issue is comfort when wearing high heels or when a larger pad might be painful to inflamed nerves and tissues.
4. Finally, Pedag makes 2 metatarsal pad inserts only: Drop, the teardrop shape and T-Form, the larger "T" shaped pad.

Whew! If pain and inflammation is not a big issue, how do you decide which pad is right for you?
Here is a tip:
1. Take your socks off
2. Press your thumb into the fleshy, fatty part of your forefoot just south of your toes
3. If you leave an indentation in your skin where your thumb pressed that you can tolerate a larger metatarsal pad.
4. If you did not leave an indentation, your forefoot is too stiff and you will probably be most comfortable with a smaller teardrop shaped pad.

If you buy one of Pedag’s insert metatarsal pads. Drop or T-Form, you need to know where to put it in your shoe.
Pedag advices the following:
**The correct position is approximately 2/3s of the foot length measured from the heel to the metatarsal arch. This is approximately the right position of the leading edge of the pad.Formula: Individual foot length divided by 3 x 2 measured from the heel to the metatarsal arch.
**Please consider this as only a broadly defined position because the final position should be based on the customer/patients comfort. The customer can experiment in the following way: They can remove the self-adhesive foil a little bit from the pad (or use double sided tape or a loop of scotch tape), slip into the shoe and sense if the position feels good. If not they can move it again. As soon as they found the right position, they can remove the foil completely and stick the pad into the shoe.
So that’s it! Everything you never knew you wanted to know about met pads. Fot details about any products mentioned in this Blog post please click here: Click