What is podiatry?
The Australian Podiatry Association recommends you visit a podiatrist if you have:
- Painful feet
- Spend long periods on your feet
- Skin or nail problems
- Foot odour
- Foot injury
- Diabetes
- Arthritis
- Recurrent trips or falls
- Problems finding shoes to fit properly
- Lumps, bumps, bunions or misshapen toes
Podiatrists are university trained foot health professionals who diagnose, treat and prevent all foot and lower limb disorders.
Podiatrists treat the cause of foot pain that may occur due to poor foot function (biomechanics), inappropriate footwear, growths (including corns and calluses), disease (including diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis), infections and/or injury.
Feet are very complex requiring specialist care to treat over 300 identified ailments that can affect them.
Podiatrists have many measures to keep people free from foot pain including:
- Removal of problematic lesions (i.e. corns and callouses)
- Accommodative padding
- Re-distributive pressure padding
- Prescriptive orthotics
- Arch supports and insoles
- Nail surgery on ingrown toenails
- Correct inefficient walking/running mechanics
- Injury prevention and rehabilitation
- Footwear advice
Podiatrists are an untapped resource for preventing debilitating foot problems.
