Your feet carry you throughout the journey of life...

- its time you reward them by taking proper care of them!

One pair of feet consist of fifty two bones, two hundred and fourteen ligaments and in a standard lifetime tread over 128,000km.

Yet, we are more likely to have had our car serviced than to have had our feet checked by a podiatrist. A podiatrist is the registered health professional trained to diagnose and treat foot and lower limb conditions, from a corn or ingrown toenail through to problems which arise as a result of abnormal body structure or function (usually referred to as biomechanical imbalances).

With over 300 identified foot conditions, from onychomycosis to bunions, it is not surprising that a whopping 85% of us will suffer with a foot or foot related condition at some stage in our life.  

Simple activites can cause foot related injuries

As if the demands we place on our feet during day to day activity weren’t enough, many of us subject them to further punishment with rigorous sport. While performing the simple act of running our feet are subject to forces of up to three times our body weight and because of this, injuries to the foot and lower leg make up a large proportion of sporting injuries.

The four most common foot related injuries in sport are arch/heel pain, Achilles/calf pain, shin splints and knee pain, Podiatrist Lisa Whiteman explains.

“Often injuries occur because of an underlying foot and leg imbalance. This imbalance may not cause any noticeable problems during normal activity but can become a problem when you exercise vigorously. One of the most common biomechanical imbalances is excessive pronation. This is where the foot tips over to the inside, the arch lowers and places strain on the foot, leg, knee, and sometimes even the back.”