A Podiatrist is a foot specialist who will assess your foot function and evaluate whether foot dysfunction may be the cause of your foot pain and other symptoms.  Biomechanics is the study of the mechanics of a living body, especially of the forces exerted by muscles and gravity on the skeletal structure.  Podiatrists analyse how muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments work together to produce movement.

During your biomechanical assessment, your podiatrist will examine you standing and walking checking the major joint complexes of the foot.  Your footwear will also be assessed and any advice will be given where appropriate.

Podiatrists understand that feet are often the most neglected part of your body.  It is important to have regular foot treatments to prevent long term foot problems.

It doesn’t take an expert to know that your feet are your body’s first point of contact when walking, and many of the movements which your body and its joints make whilst walking are dependent on sound foot function. Your foot absorbs shock, adapts to variable terrain and stabilises to help you spring forward. Most of the time and for most people it works well but what happens when it doesn’t?

Loss of shock absorption leads to a hard thumping, jarring gait. Loss of adaptability leads to uneven weight bearing, bad shoe wear and pressure sores. Loss of stability leads to a floppy gait so that muscles must work extra hard to produce spring and stabilise the foot. This leads to both fatigue and pain.

Dysfunction may produce pains in the feet, calves, shins, knees, hips, groin and lower back. This is often worst in athletes, whose activity levels can produce injuries even where abnormalities are small, but dysfunction can affect anyone.

If there is a problem our podiatrist may prescribe orthotics to improve the way your feet interact with the ground.

An Orthotic is an in-shoe device which provides you with correction specific to your needs. This is analogous to a dental brace or a pair of glasses only this time for your feet.

Orthotics are worn by people all over the world. Here in Scotland those wearing orthotics include international rugby players, Premier League footballers, athletes who run competitively or for fun and of course many people who just want to walk in comfort.