Since I began working at Kenilworth Footcare, I have seen a variety of patients, from children to
octogenarians and all ages in between. This highlights that we can have problems with our feet at
any stage in our lives. Some people have had injuries, but many others have ongoing issues that
are affecting their daily activities or hobbies.
Typical conditions I see include bunions and big toe pain, sprained or fractured ankles, lower limb
arthritis, hip or knee pain, strained tendons, heel pain and plantar fasciitis, to name a few. During
a consultation, I often discuss general foot wellbeing. I like to help people learn how they can help
themselves and understand how the feet can influence other parts of the body, especially when
they are not functioning well. Typically, we might discuss footwear, the importance of keeping big
toes moving, posture, balance, strengthening hip muscles and the benefits of pacing activities. I
worked for a long time with patients who had chronic pain, so I like to look at the whole person,
not just the immediate problem.
I am lucky to be working in a well-equipped clinic as it increases the treatment options I can offer.
We have a foot scanner and therapeutic laser. Some of my patients have found foot scan analysis
helpful as they can view coloured images of their feet that show clearly the pressures going
through different regions of the foot. This helps them to understand why they have pain, and it
helps me to explain why certain exercises or shoe inserts might be helpful. The foot scan results
can also be used to make bespoke orthotics.
Other patients have had a course of low-level laser therapy to aid fracture or tendon and ligament
healing. I recently attended a meeting where physiotherapists, osteopaths and chiropractors
shared their experience of using laser therapy. It is commonly used to speed up the healing of soft
tissue injuries and wounds, but some therapists also found it effective in reducing pain for their
patients with arthritis and fibromyalgia. It has similarly been used for people with diabetes who
have nerve pain and reduced circulation, often in their feet, as laser has positive effects on both.
Despite having these high-tech devices to hand, not many of my patients leave a consultation
without an old-fashioned exercise prescription!