Foot pain is a strange thing. Every week we treat someone who has been in pain for weeks or even months, putting up with the pain hoping that it will go away.
One thing we've been wondering in the office is whether people would put up with headaches that lasted so long? Especially if the headache started to affect your movement, such as preventing you from enjoying your normal activities like sport, running or just walking your dog.
With most cases, we find that your foot pain has not improved, its become worse and started to affect the movement of associated areas such as your knees, hips and even backs.
Foot pain can usually be fixed. It's all about the joints.
The 26 bones in each of our feet work together as joints. These joints are supposed to move freely just like other joints in your body. So if your foot joints aren't working, you can be in severe pain.
Find shoes that fit well and support your feet
Shoes are a leading cause of foot pain. Most people choose shoes based on how the shoes look. It's only once people find a good looking pair of shoes that they give a thought to how the shoes fit and how well they support your feet.
As you'd expect from podiatrists—our advice is that you spend your time finding shoes that fit well and support your feet.
When you're shopping for shoes, one of the things you should do is turn the shoes you're considering upside down. Look at the shape of the bottom of the shoe. It should mirror the shape of your foot. We've found that in many cases, the shape of the soles of shoes does not even come near to the true shape of a foot.
Poorly fitting shoes are very commonly associated with foot pain. In many cases the foot has begun to be distorted as a result of a shoe that rubs, pinches or constricts your foot.
Common injuries
The patients that we see most often with foot pain include athletes, runners, women who have to wear heels, people who are on their feet all day, construction workers and people who have repetitive or constant foot strain. Even office workers who sit all day can develop foot pain because sitting all day puts pressure on bent knees, ankles and hips.
Heel pain and plantar fasciitis are the two most common foot conditions that we treat at Capital Podiatry.
When we see patients who have these types of issues, one of the first steps is to evaluate the condition of the joints in their feet.
If there are joint issues we begin working to restore normal motion to the impaired joints. If we catch the problem early, the treatment can be very successful.
Treatment
Our treatment includes 'mobilising' your feet, which means easing the stuck joints and restoring your joints to their correct position.
We also use a combination of massage, gentle pressure, heat packs, taping, orthotics and dry needling. And, depending on your condition, we will set a series of strength, support and balance exercices to continue at home.
This corrective therapy and follow-up exercises are all aimed at kick starting your body's natural repair mechanisms.
By Mark Hoyland, Principal Podiatrist, Capital Podiatry
