Rocker soles can be as beneficial to mechanical control of painful foot disorders as foot orthotic devices. While foot orthotic devices address problems of frontal plane and transverse plane motion, rocker soles address problems of sagital plane motion. Since walking occurs on the sagital plane, there are a number of problems well addressed by this modality when applied in cojunction with an understanding of biomechanics. Like orthotic devices, rocker soles inhibit unwanted compensation and reduce ground-reactive forces to areas of high pressure and stress.
Rocker soles control motion in the ankle joint, the lisfranc joint, and the metatarsal phalangeal joints, as well as reduce ground-reactive forces to the metatarsal heads, the toes, and any area of the foot that the body propels over.
The DOUBLE ROCKER reduces ground-reactive force to the heel by advancing heel contact to a fulcrum at the cubuid area. It is used in conjunction with an increase of the heel pitch to shift weight forward.
A HEALING ROCKER maintains the foot in dorsiflexion to off-load the forefoot. It is an interim procedure which allows the anterior muscles to relax when a patient must bear weight on the heel only.
A CARVILLE ROCKER inhibits the demand for dorsiflexion of the toes and is useful in addressing hallux rigidus or lesions of the distal ends of the toes. The fulcruin is at the metatarsal head and roll-off is at the most distal point where the foot leaves the ground.
The MET-HEAD ROCKER reduces ground-reactive force to the metatarsal heads. Its folcrum is proximal to the metatarsal heads and perpendicular to the line of progression. It is useful for metatarsal head problems such as metataralgia or lesions on the ball of the foot.
A LISFRANC ROCKER reduces propulsive force to the midfoot. In addition to treating arthritis of the lisfranc joints, this configuration is useful in addressing the midfoot collapse of compensated equinus and charcot arthropathy. The rock-up occurs from a fulcrum just proximal to this joint by eliminating the lever effect of the metatarsals. The fulcrum is perpendicular to the line of progression.