I’m attending my first Podiatry appointment, what should I expect?

The unknown of attending your first Podiatry appointment may seem daunting, but our team is here to explain exactly what will happen and hopefully ease any stress related to this appointment!

After you’ve checked in with our receptionist, your Podiatrist will come to greet you and take you through to the Podiatry room.

The Podiatrist will begin by discussing your medical and physical history allowing them to better understand your circumstances equating to your presentation. Following this, they will acquire in-depth details about your presenting issue.

The following stages of your appointment will be dependent on your presenting issue. Your Podiatrist will undertake a range of tests applicable to your specific circumstances.

• Dermatological and muscle-related testing is undertaken for most presentations
• A neurovascular assessment may be conducted to fully assess your foot health – this will be undertaken when presenting with issues related to nail health, routine care and diabetic assessments.
• A number of functional and static movement assessments to assess movement patterns

An example of a movement assessment is a Gait Analysis.

A Gait Analysis will assess the way you walk to see if there are abnormalities outside of the normal function. This can be useful for finding out the source of pain, particularly in overuse injuries.

If your gait is producing a movement pattern that is different on one side of your body, compared to the other, this can result in uneven weight distribution, varying muscle loads and joints using greater ranges of motion than others. Over time these imbalances can result in pain, and sometimes the source of the problem differs from where the pain is occurring. Through the assessment your Podiatrist is looking for signs of the following:

• “Hip-drop” – Often characterised by lower back pain and calf pain and is the result of weak gluteal muscles
• “Knock knees” – Where the alignment of your knees are affected by hip rotation or foot posture
• High arch foot types – Presents as walking on the outside of their feet and showing signs of instability. These foot types are often prone to rolling their ankles however, can be addressed through footwear, foot posture through orthotic treatment and strength and conditioning.

Based on these assessments your Podiatrist will make a diagnosis if applicable to your presentation. Following this, there will be a discussion of treatment options and prognosis of the condition and if required, treatment will commence at this appointment.

We look forward to seeing you at your initial consultation and are more than happy to answer any further questions you may have!