A
shoe insert is a removable
insole which accomplishes any of a number of purposes, including daily wear comfort, foot and joint pain relief from
arthritis, overuse, injuries, and other causes,
orthopedic correction, smell reduction, athletic performance, or even increasing the wearer's height or correcting for discrepancies in leg length. Corrective shoe inserts are often referred to as orthotics.
Height-increasing shoe inserts are also known as shoe lifts or height increase insert/insoles.
Orthopedic inserts
There are various forms orthopedic inserts, one type of which is an
arch support.
Shoe lifts
What is a shoe lift?
Shoe lifts are also known as elevator insole/inserts. Shoe lifts originated from "elevator shoes". Early makers of elevator shoes found it impossible to produce as wide a range of styles of elevator shoes as were available in normal shoes. Customers also asked for something unobtrusive like an insole to put in normal shoes to make them look taller. Eventually some shoemakers tried taking out the inner insole of elevator shoes and trimming them to a standalone insole.
Early elevator insoles were uncomfortable because of inadequate materials and the thickness of the insole. As time goes by there are more and more elevator insole products on the market with better materials and different styles and heights.
Shoe lifts are typically 0.5-2.5 inches (1-6.4 cm) in height and come in a number of different styles and materials. Lifts more than 3 inches in height are often very uncomfortable. Manufacturers recommend heights less than 2 inches (5 cm) unless the user finds it absolutely necessary.
Shoe lifts are different from heel lifts. Heel lifts are generally for people with different length of legs. Because of this the added height is hard not soft. However, some people use shoe lifts as heel lifts according to personal preference.
Different types of shoe lifts
Manufactures try to make different kinds of insoles to adapt with different shoes. Unlike early days, we now have insoles including full-insole, half-insole, detachable insole.
Full-insole: This kind of insole is designed to support the full foot. It's like normal insole but the grade increase gradually from front to the back. Because of the full foot support, full-insole is generally the most comfortable kind of insole/insert. However, not every shoe can adapt this. It requires more room in the head part of the shoe.
Half-insole: This kind of insole is designed to only support the heel part of the foot. Because of the missing support for the front part of the foot, this kind of insole is less comfortable than full-insole. But half insole/inserts is more adaptive. It can be put on very light shoes.
Detachable Insoles: This kind of insole has multiple layers (usually two or three). Wearers can adjust the height of the insole based on personal preferences. Both full-insole and half-insole can be made as detachable insole.
Materials used in elevator inserts
There are generally four types materials used in elevator insoles, wood, hard-rubber, soft-rubber and gel.
Wood: Wood is usually used in heel lifts because it's hard. However, in early days, people also use wood lift as shoes lift. Manufacturers no longer produce wooden inserts.
Hard-rubber: Hard-rubber is also mostly used in heel lifts. Some people prefer hard-rubber as shoes lift because the hardness which is between wood and soft-rubber. Also, this is probably the cheapest material.
Soft-rubber: Soft-rubber is the most common material used in elevator insoles. The only problem for soft-rubber is smell. New insoles made in soft rubber has an odd smell. This smell usually goes away once you wear it. Most people like soft-rubber because it's softness.
Gel: Gel is most update to date material for shoes lift. It was used as body plant material. Because most shoes lift gel is low class silicon gel, it has a little petrol smell when it's new. This is most comfortable material for shoes lift. Of course, it's also the most expensive one.
See also
Arch support
References
Category:Physical therapy
Category:Footwear
Category:Human height
