A podiatrist can treat foot and ankle injuries or can work to treat skin conditions of the foot. A different title which was previously used more commonly to describe the work carried out by a podiatrist was Chiropodist.
However, over the years the general public in the UK have tended to use the title podiatrist when referring to what we previously called a chiropodist. It is thought that this was to reduce the confusion between chiropodist and chiropractor. This can get a little confusing… so, generally speaking one would use the term chiropodist when referring to the clinician that treats skin conditions of the foot, and use the term podiatrist when describing the clinician that treats injuries of the bones, muscles and ligaments of the foot and lower limb. On the whole though, those graduating from university with a UK degree in Podiatry are qualified to treat skin conditions of the foot.
A very specialist field of clinicians are Orthotists. An orthotist is a highly-trained musculoskeletal (MSK) clinician who specialises in biomechanics of the foot and ankle in addition to specialising in biomechanics of the entire limb. An Orthotist in the UK also holds a degree in Prosthetics, therefore these clinicians are trained at length in the understanding of the gait cycle and the affect alignment (position) of the foot, knee, hip, spine and head have on the forces acting through these joints, and the affect of forces on joint and muscle injury and degeneration. Only two universities in the UK produce orthotists therefore there are only a small number of Orthotists in the UK.
The Foot and Leg Clinic do not allow podiatrists to perform their biomechanical assessments unless they have underwent extensive training post university. Instead, as it an orthotists specialist subject, it is the Orthotist that carries out the biomechanical assessment at The Foot and Leg Clinic.
What Podiatry type conditions do we treat?
MSK injuries (injuries of the bones, muscles and ligaments) of the foot, ankle and lower limb that are typically treated at The Foot and Leg Clinic are:
- Shin splints
- Bunions
- Heel pain and plantarfasciitis
- Tendinopathies
- Metatarsalgia (pain of the ball of the foot)
For a guide on how to manage injury download your free guide to injury brochure to the right of this page.
What happens at the MSK Podiatry type initial assessment?
- The clinician will take a full clinical history from you. This will include detail of all previous injuries, your lifestyle and activity level. This part of the assessment may take longer than you might expect.
- The clinician will assess your alignment (position) in standing by analysing the entire body, i.e. the foot, lower leg, upper leg, knee, hip, spine and head.
- The clinician will assess the function of the foot and ankle in non-weight bearing. This is the most important aspect of your assessment if carried out by an experienced and knowledgeable clinician.
- 3D Analysis of your walking (and running if you’re a running) will be performed on the natural motion treadmill. The Foot and Leg Clinic utilise a few different gait high spec analysis software packages to capture finite detail regarding your gait.
- The clinician will discuss with you the findings from your biomechanical assessment and gait analysis and then devise a treatment plan.
What happens after the assessment?
At your initial assessment you will be provided a treatment plan. This sometimes includes return appointments for treatment, supply of foot orthotics, or referral to a different department within The Foot and Leg Clinic. It usually takes around 6 weeks for treatment to kick-in as we are really waiting for a change in muscle pattern.
However, you may notice a change in symptoms much sooner than 6 weeks. We usually arrange a Biomechanical Review appointment for around 6-8 weeks after treatment.
Within this time we expect and hope that you are working hard on the exercise plan devised for you. At the review appointment we analyse and assess all the changes from the findings from the initial biomechanical assessment.
