Foot Health Practitioner to Podiatrist
Judith entered the University of Ulster podiatry course and as a mature professional, when she qualifies, knows she can start to engage in a wide range of activities that before were out of her reach. FHPs deal with low risk patients and provide an excellent service in keeping their feet comfortable. Judith wants to be able to use modern diagnostic techniques, treat a local foot team and apply musculoskeletal studies at the level that can help her patients.
Threats to Rafael Nadal’s Future?
For you or I, who are low key in our activity, relative to athletes in peak condition, this condition may settle and you can live with the condition adequately. However, the types of forces Nadal creates with tennis foot and ankle contact on the court are akin to the problems beset by Andy Murray with his hip joint. Murray’s hip was more amenable to surgery than Nadal’s foot will be. The reason athletes can push themselves is their competitive streak, motivation, and extreme fitness, long training and ethics to be better than everyone else – this allows them to compensate for the type of problems the regular person would give up on a long time ago.
Musings about corns and callus
My favourite story comes from space
Scott and Don had been in space for 300 and 365 days respectively. Their blogs recorded interesting experiences. Because astronauts are not walking around on the ground under the force of gravity they don’t have to wear shoes in space.
“The calluses on your feet in space will eventually fall off so, the bottoms of your feet become very soft like newborn baby feet. But the top of my feet develop rough alligator skin because I use the top of my feet to get around here on space station when using foot rails.” Scott Kelly
Contact dermatitis and plants
Summer certainly attracts more plants and visitor activity than other seasons. Yet, even as I write this article, I feel itchy. We need to know what to avoid and if we are unfortunate to have a contact rash, we should know what to do. One point about the 10 plants I have picked is that many originate outside the UK while others remain in North America. Given the serious concerns with Japanese Knotweed for example, demonstrates that boundaries do not guarantee that you will come across something that has a kick in its leaf, stem or sap. Skin and respiratory problems arise in some but not all.
A dying healthcare system
Consultants split their time between the NHS and the independent sector, although some remain loyal to the NHS alone. Surgeons often make up their salary in this system, taking away an essential NHS resource – experienced professionals. This was the deal that Bevan had to negotiate. It is true that junior consultants have found it harder to follow their senior colleagues into the independent sector but eventually they trim back their hours if they want to work this sector.
Podiatry as a mature student
Victoria did an access course to boost her school educational credentials as she did not have the appropriate ‘A’ Levels. And so she started her career in podiatry as a mother and mature student.
“I had a five-year-old and a one-year-old. And I have to say it was the best three years studying I’ve ever had. It was fabulous. The course was great, the students that I was with are now fabulous colleagues all around the country and the world actually. And the lecturers were great. It was a really positive start.”
Arthritis and the big toe
I confess I am not keen on the word arthritis as it conjures up a disease of the worst kind. So let us use the phrase ‘arthrosis’ because the term means a condition associated with deterioration of any joint, not just the big toe. Severe forms of arthrosis come under a wonderful term – the arthritides (arth-rit-eedees), which sounds like a member of Jason and the Argonauts crew in Greek mythology. Rheumatoid arthritis and gout are two such conditions which are highly destructive. Already you can see Latin and Greek in our language. Medical people love to make everything sound complicated and a bit of old language helps!
Morton’s Nerve Pain
Nerves can recover but often start off because there is local inflammation. The symptoms of what we call neuritis can shoot back up the foot, are often short lived and occur when the foot is compressed initially. Most of the population consult someone between the ages of 40-60. However, there are some who experience the condition as early as 20-30. If caught young then recover can be encouraging. In 1995 Gordon Bennett looked at 115 patients and followed them for 2 years. Thirty-nine percent did well with insoles and footwear alterations. In other words altered their footwear.
Podiatry and professional opportunity
Ben’s story is not just about making good, but it illustrates that if you have a goal and are prepared to work hard, you can achieve respect and fulfil your dreams. Of course, as a professional, each of his experiences required him to develop an aptitude to learn. So he sought out those who could best influence his expertise. Still, by volunteering and making use of skills overseas, he ensured he was able to expand his podiatry career with confidence.
Podiatric Sports Medicine in focus
The London 2012 Games changed the vision of what a podiatrist could offer overnight. Today Professor Padhiar’s personal clinical workload is around 80% with sports. This ranges from Sunday warrior to professional and elite sports. To be a podiatric sports medicine specialist he believes in total involvement. He says of biomechanics, the study framework around musculoskeletal medicine and human movement “ is like an investigation. You look at why athlete keeps getting recurrent or chronic injury to see what factors are playing a part in their biomechanics.”