WT Hinnant Orthotics & Prosthetics

01/13/2023

Happy 2023 everyone! We are looking forward to working with our new and existing patient base this year and are excited to share that we have added new staff members as of last year. Feel free to check out our website, give us a call, or refer someone in need over to us! We pride ourselves on patient care and overall patient support.

07/05/2018

Happy 4th of July from WT Hinnant!

03/15/2018

As the first certified prosthetics firm in Charlotte, WT Hinnant has been a fixture in town since 1931. We are still in the original building located right off South Boulevard!

10/26/2017

Jason had the opportunity to speak with a class of 9th graders at the Charlotte Early Engineering College about the mechanics of prosthetics. The students are working on a reverse engineering project using 3D printing!

10/04/2017

Check out some of WT Hinnant's custom foot orthotics! Foot orthotics and diabetic inserts can reduce strain, help with comfort as well as aide with proper alignment. Let us know if you have any questions concerning foot orthotics or diabetic inserts!

09/22/2017

Happy birthday to our lovely office manager Karen! Hope your day was as great as you are!

09/15/2017

Hello Internet, Brian here!

Today let’s talk about foot drop and prefabricated carbon AFOs. This pathology turns up a lot in stroke victims (cerebrovascular accident is the technical term). Basically the muscles that pull your foot and toes up when you swing your leg forward no longer want to listen to your brain, so you wind up dragging your foot and tripping on a regular basis.
Traditionally this was fixed the way most everything else was fixed. Double metal uprights riveted to a shoe. The classic that’s been around since the ‘40s only recently supplanted by the rise of thermoformable plastics. These aren’t much better. To effectively hold up the foot you have to prevent it from moving past neutral. Instead of your toes pushing downward to propel you forward you have to just lift your leg and plant it forward. This results in moving too quickly to foot-flat and it will eventually cause you knee pain. There are ways around that involving shoe sole changes (Does anyone remember Sketchers ShapeUps?) but now-a-days we’ve got something a little bit springier.

Carbon AFOs are ankle foot orthoses made out of – well – carbon. They are basically a flexible spring that allows your foot to flex naturally when you’re standing on it, and stores that energy you’re pushing into the brace when you bend it. The brace springs back into shape, pushing your foot up and holding your toes through swing. Literal spring in your step.
These aren’t for everyone. Prefabricated braces in general aren’t recommended if you have additional problems besides flail foot drop. Ankle instability or tone mean you’re going to need to do something custom. The techniques used in the prefabricated variety can be used, but you’re going to need more support than what something off the shelf can provide.
There are a few different brands of these. Personally I prefer Ottobock’s WalkOn series. They have the strut connection towards the inside of the arch. I prefer this because most patients collapse to the outside and if you put the strut there you wind up causing a problem with rubbing the outside of the ankle. Oh, if you’re wondering.

So TL;DR – Carbon AFOs are cool because they’re springy and don’t lock your ankle in a limited range. If you think you might need help keeping your toes from tripping you up, ask your local orthotist for a free consult (WT Hinnant for the lovely cities of Charlotte and Columbia – because every post has to have a shameless plug somewhere 😊)

09/05/2017

Check out our redesigned & updated website!!

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08/25/2017

Hi Internet, Brian here with your weekly nugget of O&P goodness

So today’s post is going to be a combination of a couple of things. Think of it like a two-for-one value 😊
First off, let’s talk about positional plagiocephaly. In a nutshell, plagiocephaly is a condition that happens to young infants. A child’s skull is very malleable all the way up until around 12 to 18 months of age when the last soft spots are finally closing up. During that time, you can shape their heads. This is sometimes done deliberately in certain cultures.

Plagiocephaly is the unintentional shaping of the head. If the baby stays on their back for an excessive amount of time when they’re awake the forces that would normally cause their heads to round out are forced to the side, resulting in a flat spot. Eventually, that flat spot encourages its own growth because the baby is comfortable in that position. This is why Tummy Time is very very important. The more you can get your baby off their backs and onto their tummies the stronger their necks and rounder their heads.

There’s one thing I have to make absolutely clear. Positional Plagiocephaly is cosmetic. It does not affect the growth of the brain. Your kid is a smart cookie regardless of the shape of their head. There are conditions of the skull that do affect the brain, but positional plagiocephaly is not one of them.

So, when tummy time isn’t quite enough to round out a flat spot we have a technique called Cranial Banding. Here at Hinnant we’re a certified partner with the Orthomerica STARBand system.
Making a cranial band for a baby can be done one of three ways. Casting, scanning with a STARScanner, or scanning with the Spectra Soc. Casting is just what it sounds like. Plaster and messy and guaranteed to make a baby cry while you’re getting it done. The STARScanner is a large machine that makes a 3D model of a child’s head with red laser light. They have to lie on a glass panel in a large black box for two whole seconds without moving. Some kids are better at this than others.
We at Hinnant use the Spectra Soc. This is a special stocking cap I put over the child’s head. It’s covered in little computer dots that work very similar to how QR codes work. I then use a smartphone with a special app installed to take a bunch of pictures and then stitch that together into a 3D model based on the positioning of those dots. It means the baby doesn’t get messy and can stay in mom’s arms and wiggle all they want.
Sometimes I just have to take a moment and breathe because I feel like I live in the future. Plagiocephaly – there’s an app for that.
As always, please like and share this post. Moms of Charlotte, check us out and tell your friends. Consultations and evaluations are free of charge!