The Importance of Foot Care
Imagine the number of steps you take in a day. Now multiply that by many years of active use. The average person takes millions of steps throughout their life and your feet have to be healthy to comfortably stand up to this impact. Most people are aware of the importance of keeping active for cardiovascular health and general wellbeing. But if your feet and legs are sore it can be very hard to undertake any activity at all.
Your feet will change naturally with time. When you combine this with wear and tear, possible poor footwear or lack of foot maintenance- problems can start to occur. These problems may include heel or arch pain, tired, achy legs and feet, knee pain or hip pain. You may start noticing skin problem such as callus (hard skin) or corns or you may get friction or blisters with activity. The toenails may become brittle or thickened and hard to cut. The nails may even start to become ingrown and cause pain or infections.
The correct footwear is extremely important for good health and comfort of your feet and legs. Everybody's feet are different and with such a wide range of shoes available sometimes it can be confusing. Picking the wrong shoe can actually cause problems in the feet and legs.
Podiatrists are the foot health professionals trained to specifically identify and treat any foot or leg problem. This could include professional care to treat corns, callus or toenail issues. They will also give you advice and direction on how to correctly look after and maintain your feet at home.
Quality shoes offer a wide variety of styles with different levels of support and cushioning and different widths. We can guide people to the right shoe with the right technical features to suit their feet and activity.
If necessary a podiatrist may need to use specialist prescribed orthotic insoles in conjunction with exercises to address issues causing joint or muscle pain in the feet and legs. This may even include physical therapy such as joint mobilisation or massage.
Foot or leg pain with activity is not normal and you don't have to put up with it. You do not need a referral to go to a podiatrist. Whether you have a specific problem or just want a check up, please phone us on (03) 4778 102 and we can make you an appointment.
What is a Podiatrist?
A podiatrist is a health care professional specialising in the foot and lower limb. A podiatrist can diagnose and manage a wide range of conditions affecting the foot and leg such as:
A podiatrist is specifically trained to prescribe orthotics as well as provide other advice including exercises to strengthen or stretch different parts of the lower limb to relieve pain.