Aetrex Memory Foam Posted with Met Pad

A post is a wedge built into the rearfoot. Aetrex say it controls overpronation and provides balance. If your ankle rolls inward as you load the foot, the post meets the inside edge of your heel sooner and slows that roll.

You need it if you have low arches or flat feet and you roll in. You don't need it if your arch is normal or high, and a post under a high arch will feel like standing on something tilted. This is the one to get measured for rather than guess at.

The wet-footprint test on a paper bag will tell you roughly. A near-solid print with little or no inward curve suggests a low arch. It's crude, though, and plenty of people are surprised.

The scanner measures arch height on each foot to within a millimeter and takes twenty seconds. It's free, and it's the difference between choosing this orthotic and choosing one of the other four for a reason.

This model comes with one, so it's built for flat feet and ball-of-foot pain together. The pattern that points to the pad is burning or aching under the ball, the feeling of walking on a pebble, or numbness in the toes after you've been on your feet.

If you have flat feet but no forefoot pain, call us at (704) 846-0301. Aetrex make a posted version without the pad and we can order it in.

Your normal shoe size. Aetrex build these in whole sizes only, and there are no widths.

If you're a half size, go up rather than down. That's Aetrex's own instruction: a 9.5 takes the 10.

No. Aetrex publish no trim line and no trimming instructions for this style, so it isn't an insole you cut down. That matters more here than on a plain orthotic, because trimming would move both the post and the metatarsal pad relative to your foot.

If the size is wrong, return them unworn within 30 days.

Usually, with one condition: take the shoe's own insole out first. These are a quarter of an inch thick, and stacking them on a factory insole is what makes a shoe feel suddenly too tight.

They won't work in a shoe with a glued-in footbed or no depth to spare, which rules out a lot of dress flats and most sandals. If you're not sure, tell us what you'd be putting them in and we'll tell you honestly.

Often, if the plantar fasciitis is coming from a flat foot that overpronates, which is one of the more common mechanisms. Controlling the roll takes some of the repeated stretch off the fascia.

But an over-the-counter orthotic can't replace a custom device made from a cast of your foot, and it isn't a treatment. If your heel pain is new, severe, or getting worse, get it looked at rather than buying an insole and hoping.

Aetrex say no break-in is required, but a posted orthotic is the one we'd most encourage you to ease into: a few hours a day for the first week, building up. You are changing how your foot loads, and that takes a little adjusting to.

On lifespan, Aetrex recommend replacing them every six to nine months depending on how much you're on your feet.

Yes to both, and of all five Aetrex orthotics we stock this is the one worth being measured for. The scan is free, takes about twenty seconds, and you're under no obligation to buy anything from it. We're at 924 Park Center Dr, Ste 101, Matthews, NC 28105, open Monday to Friday 10 to 6 and Saturday 10 to 4.

Call (704) 846-0301 and you reach our fitting team, not a call center.