Orthotics is a specialist medical discipline that focuses on the prescription, design and fitting of orthoses. The definition of orthosis is “an externally applied device used to influence the structural and functional characteristics of the neuromuscular and skeletal system” (ISO September 2020).

Orthotics are braces or splints which are designed to help patients with a variety of different medical conditions to better manage day-to-day living and reduce pain. You may be familiar with foot orthotics or custom-made insoles, but orthotics can also cover different areas of the body.

These orthotics are simply named after the joints of the body that they are treating, thus a device that covers the foot and ankle is called an Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) and one that also includes the knee is called a Knee Ankle Foot Orthosis (KAFO).