Metatarsal Bar
A raised bar running behind the metatarsal heads that redistributes forefoot load across the whole row rather than a single point.
How it works
Where a met pad targets the central rays, a metatarsal bar runs the full width of the forefoot just behind metatarsal heads one through five. It redistributes load across the entire metatarsal row at once and shifts the pressure peak proximally onto the shafts.
It's the right tool when pain isn't localized: when several met heads are overloaded, the fat pad is globally thinned, or the whole forefoot needs a moment of relief before toe-off.
When to prescribe it
- Diffuse metatarsalgia across several rays
- Rheumatoid forefoot with multiple painful heads
- Global forefoot fat-pad atrophy
- Multiple plantar callosities
- Transfer metatarsalgia after forefoot surgery
How we build it
The bar is modeled behind the metatarsal parabola of the individual scan, following the patient's actual head positions rather than a generic curve, and is feathered into the shell so the transition is invisible underfoot.