Why is footcare important?

Did you know that your feet contain 50 bones, 60 joints, and over 200 muscles, ligaments, and tendons? That’s a quarter of all bones in your body, all of which affect the movement of your body right up to your hips. If our feet have a problem, our whole body does. Yet, our feet tends to be the most neglected part of body despite the fact it’s our most abused part. The average person takes 5000 steps a day, taking the entire weight of their body.

Your quality of life is quite reliant on your ability to work, socialise, go shopping, perform everyday chores, and exercise regularly independently. If your feet aren’t looked after, then your ability to do these things can be severely affected, also affecting your mental health.

Your feet greatly affects your posture. The way in which you stand and walk has significant effects on your posture. Postural Imbalance can result in back, neck, and hip aches and pains. In turn if you have verruca’s, Corns, Bunions or ingrown toe nails that are causing you pain, then you are not to going to walk properly, causing you to have poor posture. Seeing a Podiatrist can help to detect and correct a Postural Imbalance.

Did you also know we have millions of touch receptors in our feet that help with your organs Function? If these aren’t working correctly then your Brain can overcompensate for them. This in turn will affect the main structure of your body and those that are holding you organs in place.

There are a few things you can do to look after your feet such as:

• Check your feet daily. A quick 5 minute look and feel for any lumps, cuts, bruises, blisters or red spots. If you find a problem, do not attempt to treat this yourself with over the counter medicines, or by trying to shave or cut them away. Please seek help and advice from a health professional.

• Wash your feet daily, making sure to rinse and dry them thoroughly, especially between the toes. Moisturise your feet to keep skin soft, but not between the toes.

• Change your socks at least daily, or more often if your feet sweat alot. Don’t wear any footwear that is too tight.

• When trimming toenails, make sure not to cut straight across. Don’t be tempted to curve down into the toe at the edges, and don’t cut them too short.

Any advice given here is only advice, if you have any issues you should seek help from a professional Health care.

What is Podiatry?

Podiatry is a branch of medicine devoted to the study, diagnosis, and medical and surgical treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle and lower extremity. A podiatrist  is a medical specialist who diagnoses and treats conditions affecting the foot, ankle, and structures of the leg, including but not limited to corns, verrucas, bunions and ingrown toenails.

What is a corn?

A corn is a area of hard dead skin, which can become painful. They are caused by pressure or friction, which is usually due to ill fitting, socks, tights or shoes. Corns can be removed, but until the cause of the corn is discovered and fixed they will keep coming back.

What is a verruca?

A verruca is a wart on the sole of your foot. They can be quite painful and are very contagious. Verrucas look different from a corn, in that they will have one or several black dots on them. A verruca is painful when squeezed but not when pressure is applied, whereas a corn is painful when pressure is applied.

What are shin splints?

Shin splints is a term used to describe the pain that can be felt along the edge of your shin bone, the area on your lower leg between your knee and your ankle. Shin splints is a stress related injury, that usually occurs in runners or people who partake in moderate to heavy exercise without giving their body time to heal between sessions. Shin splints can be difficult to diagnose and should only be done so by a healthcare professional who will advise you on how to prevent it.

What are bunions?

A bunion (hallux valgus) is a deformity of the base joint of the big toe. The deformity causes a lump on the side of your foot and pushes your big toe, angled towards your second toe. The area around the deformity can rub of the side of your shoes causing pain, inflammation and thickening of the skin in the area of the bunion. There are some ways to ease the discomfort from a bunion, but you should see a health care professional to discuss what options suit you as every bunion is different.

Can you accept Medical cards?

Unfortunately we cannot treat our patients using a medical, although medical card holders are more then welcome to see us in a private capacity.

Will my private Health insurance cover my visits?

Most private healthcare policies will cover you for a certain amount of podiatry appointments each year. Contact your health insurance provider to find out exactly what you are covered. Unfortunately we cannot make that claim for you, but we will be happy to provide with any assistance you may need in making a claim.

Can I get Tax relief?

Yes. You can claim tax relief for your expenses occurred while receiving podiatry care.

Who are our clients?

Our Clients vary widely. Our younger patients attend mostly to get verrucas or ingrown toenails treated. People can grow immunity to the virus that causes verrucas as they get older, meaning that we treat mostly children for verrucas. Ingrown toenails can occur more in younger children as they tend to give their feet more abuse and also due to growth spurts in young adults. Sometimes ingrown toenails appear for no reason.

Elderly patients attend us as poor mobility hinders their ability to care for their feet properly.  Elderly people can also be more susceptible to corns and calluses as their skin softens with age.

Athletes, runners etc. attend with many and varied problems. Some need orthotics for support whilst partaking in their sport. Some attend for reflexology or acupuncture on injuries. Others present issues for corns caused by the friction on their feet while participating in sports.

Diabetics attend us to have their nails trimmed, hard skin removed and feet inspected by a professional podiatrist.

Other people just use the clinic to keep their feet neat.