New footwear devices step up foot care game
Local Selkirk podiatrist Dr. Lorne Canvin is sharing a new leap forward in foot health with the creation of his new Bio-insole, which is a footwear device that, like custom orthotics, aims to correct foot issues, without the price tag that comes with custom devices.
Canvin is the owner of Canvin and Sons Footwear and has been a podiatrist in Selkirk for many years.
He started the journey which led to this invention with his education in podiatry and biomechanics.
“I’ve been practicing for over just over 30 years, and I trained in Edinburgh, in Scotland. I spent quite a few years over there going to school, but I’m from Selkirk originally,” said Canvin.
After receiving his education, he came back to Canada and actually did some work with the Canadian Armed Forces.
“I designed some footwear for them, some military footwear. And then, I also developed an insole, which is this insole that I’m marketing right now,” said Canvin.
He went from podiatrist to inventor when he realized that there really needed to be something less expensive than custom orthotics that could help people deal with foot issues that can lead to pain and affect the rest of their bodies if left unchecked.
“I initially, as I said, I designed the insole first, and then when I was working with the military, I was (looking at) their footwear at the time, and this is going back into the 90s and early 2000s. They asked me to design some combat boots, which I did, and I incorporated this insole into those combat boots. It was a joint effort of the two things. I eventually designed safety footwear, which I had on the market a few years back, and now I’m reintroducing the insole as a standalone product,” he explained.
Canvin’s Bio-insole are not just the typical insole that you might pick up for comfort at the drugstore.
“It’s an insole that provides five degrees of correction, which is sufficient for about 80 to 90 per cent of the general population,” he said.
The technology behind the insoles has a few different components such as an anti-pronation device to supports the heel and arch providing correction and alignment for the foot, a metatarsal pad which provides additional padding for the forefoot, it reduces plantar pressure, and it also suspends painful areas of the foot to reduce things like heel spurs and metatarsal pain.
Canvin explained that he created these insoles so that they would be helpful to most people, but there are a few groups in particular who might benefit quite a bit from something like this.
“(It’s good for) people that have foot pain, either plantar fasciitis pain, heel spur pain, metatarsal pain or people who are walking a lot or standing a lot. (It helps) especially people who are standing a lot on hard surfaces like concrete. Diabetics (might benefit) to reduce the plantar pressure, and, especially diabetics with peripheral neuropathy, they help that too. (They help with) arthritic changes in the foot, and basically provide overall alignment to the whole of the foot, but not only the foot, but the whole lower limb. Overall, they change and may be able to improve your overall posture and get the biomechanics of the foot functioning properly as you’re walking around, just like a custom orthotic does,” said Canvin.
Part of the reason for Canvin’s invention was also so that residents could have access to a device that might help with foot issues that was cheaper than custom orthotics. The price of the Bio-insole is $59.99, and currently, they are available in men’s sizes seven to sixteen with width options of 3E and 6E. Also, despite these being in men’s sizes, Canvin says that they can also be used by women, though they will likely have to go down a couple of sizes from their usual women’s shoe size. He also says that if it’s a shoe that could fit an orthotic, it will probably also fit a Bio-insole.
Canvin also wants purchasers to know that the devices are designed to be more useful than the typical insoles that people grab from the drugstore.
“A lot of the stuff that you buy in the drugstore for 20 bucks or 30 bucks or whatever they might be, is just an arch support, but they don’t do anything beyond that. Some of them might be a little bit more cushioning, but there’s no correction per se in it that I can see as a podiatrist anyway, so that’s one of the things that I’ve incorporated (into Bio-insole) is the correctional component,” he said.
One user who’s walked away with a positive experience is Robert Hamaberg.
“With previous insoles, I was still getting corns because I do a lot of walking. The only way to fix that would be to go to specialty shops, and they would put a different rubber bit on and glue it to the bottom of the insole, and it was supposed to take the pressure points and improve them somewhat. Now, unfortunately, that also raises the height of the insole and takes away some of the other benefits of it. But with these insoles from Dr. Canvin, once you wear them, you’ve got to break in over the course of about a week because they do change your posture structure in a positive way, but I find that I feel the difference in pressure points just putting them on after about a week, rather than keeping hoping that it’s going to work. He built them right into the insole, which to me is a great plus,” said Hamaberg.
Hamaberg said that he would definitely recommend that residents check the Bio-insole out and has even purchased a pair for his own son-in-law to wear in his work boots.
If you’d like to give a pair of Bio-insole a try, you can order them from Amazon.ca or get them locally from Canvin at his business at 208 Main St. in Selkirk. You can also learn more about them by calling him at 204-485-2134.
