A foot doctor is known as a podiatrist or a podiatric physician; we are doctors that specialise in treating and preventing foot and ankle disorders. We are health care professionals who know the feet and ankles better than anyone and so we can also help correct any deformities. Our aim is to keep people healthy, active and mobile by relieving pain and treating infections.
If you have a problem with your foot, whether that is a one off injury or a serious long-term illness, we are the doctors to speak to. We can provide you with advice on how to look after your feet if you have diabetes for example. We can also get you the right treatment for the right condition and alleviate any day-to-day pain and foot problems that you might have.
Why go to a foot doctor rather than your GP?
As we’ve said in a lot of our posts, a lot is going on in the feet. There are a lot of small bones, cartilages, tendons, blood vessels and loads more. A GP is a general practitioner, meaning they know a lot about common conditions and their symptoms, but they are typically the first step in getting the treatment that you need. In a lot of our cases, our patients are sent to us from their GP because they need a second opinion about a condition they have found. We take a closer look and use our training and years of specialising in foot conditions to discover the cause of the pain and then offer treatment. So, typically, you will see a foot doctor after your GP, but you can head straight to us if you think it is necessary.
What conditions do foot doctors treat?
Pretty much any condition that you can get on your foot and there are a lot. Being a foot doctor means that you have to know a lot about fungal infections, the anatomy of the foot and many other conditions that can lead to foot disorders. We have to know all of this so that when a patient comes in, we can treatment them as quickly as possible and get them back to normal.
Some of the condition that a foot doctor treats are:
- Flat feet
- Bunions
- Corns
- Calluses
- Smelly feet
- Verrucas
- Heel pain
- Gout
- Blisters
- Cracked heels
- Athlete’s foot
- Sports injuries
Basically, if you have pain in your feet, then we are the people to see. Of course, there are some foot problems that you should seek more immediate medical attention for like fractures, but we can do the rest!
We hope you have found this look at our job helpful and insightful. If you’d like one of our foot doctors to have a look at your feet, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. If you’d like more information about common foot problems that affect a lot of us here in the UK, then you can find it on our blog. We have a large library of articles on here related to common problems that will be of use to you if you have pain in your feet.