5 Lessons to Learn from Sports Podiatrists

Introduction

In sports and in day-to-day exercising, your feet get to do a lot of legwork. It makes sense to take care and be aware of general health pitfalls about them.

For a podiatrist a sports-injury is not a blanket term for all injuries during or due to sports, rather only the sports-related problems with the feet, ankles, knees and legs.

A sports podiatrist is trained to assess the biomechanics and well-being of your foot action. Both acute and chronic lower limb injuries diagnosed by them are quite different to what physiotherapists generally encounter. Therefore, these highly trained specialists are rigorous about the nuances of sports performance.

Here are five important lessons to learn from sports podiatrists:

The right way to run

The correct biomechanics of running is more important than the athletic footwear or orthotic you use. According to studies, the impact from the manner in which your foot hits the ground such as long strides or rear foot landings can increase the chances of injury and pain.

Gait-retraining and performance consulting with a sports podiatrist can help you improve your running style with proper assessments and customisations.

Load tolerance and impact assessment

When you run the calve muscles handle 2-3 times of your body weight in force and tolerate high stress. For new runners and recuperating athletes this could often flare up injuries and pain.

Get a comprehensive exam of your foot anatomy, a thorough assessment of lower limb strength and function can isolate weaknesses and point towards customised regimens.

Evaluate your footwear

It might be a great shoe with a brilliant design technology but it might not be right for you. The correct footwear for athletes often requires detailed pressure mapping to understand how the foot interacts with the shoe anatomically and kinetically. Both comfort and functionality are important because the wrong footwear can strain your foot health. Shoe insoles can also help with these issues. Protalus insoles can help relieve pain from all sorts of exercises, especially those performed on hard surfaces like running and basketball.

Recovery and rehabilitation

Recovery assistance for a lower limb injury is necessary because wrong rehabilitation routines often worsen a problem. Sports podiatrists are very good at evaluating ‘return to play’ outcomes. Comprehensive foot exams help them to observe and measure lingering issues that a therapist or even an orthopaedic specialist may miss. Poor follow-up can lead to long-term instabilities.

Annual analysis can prevent surgery

Podiatrists are good with non-surgical or minimally invasive procedures, and they will refer to orthopaedic specialists or surgeons in case of complex surgeries. However, annual consultation and gait analysis with a podiatrist can actually help prevent you from going to the surgical table. They help you to investigate forensically, understand the aetiology of injuries, and are prone to advocate rest rather than reconditioning a problem.

Conclusion

The foot is biomechanical marvel of engineering with one-third of all the bones in our body. It is essential to an athlete’s health, and normal running and walking abilities. And here is a medical speciality dedicated to this one area of the body. Do you have problems with running? Then you should immediately see the best sports podiatrist in Sydney or a qualified specialist in your local area.

About Theresa Duncan

Originally from Detroit, MI, Theresa has been offering health and fitness advice for the last 30 years while working as an engineer. She decided to turn her passion into a profession, and finds nothing more satisfying than helping others reach their health and fitness goals.