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GCU Podiatry

Feet For Life – Taking Care of Our Feet

Damn, those are some nasty looking feet.

The podiatrist at Hampden Foot Clinic didn’t exactly say this and at no point did he even give me a look that might reveal any sign of disapproval, but I just knew that behind his really friendly welcome, he would be disgusted at what he was about to witness.

Before I had my first shoe off, I was making excuses and preparing him for the sight that awaited him.

I’ve ran a few miles ( I didn’t tell him howmanymiles) and I possibly haven’t taken as much care of my feet as I should have”.

Even as I said it, i knew that it was a lame excuse. I own dozens (and covet many more) of pairs of relatively expensive running shoes and I have merino wool socks that I take great care in washing. I take great pride in adorning my feet in the latest designs and the brightest colours with only the best running shoes worthy of encasing my feet.

In fact, as soon as I learned from Magic Mandy that some orthosis should help me run, I went out and bought myself the brightest and best shoes that I could find (using my Vitality discount, of course).

my usual idea of a treat for my feet

As a runner (I am running again), I might very well have all the gear, but I am guilty of neglecting my feet and were it not for the Feet For Life campaign, I am not sure that I would have taken the steps that I have.

However, with Magic Mandy (I WILL make this stick) having discovered the cause of my knee pain, I was intrigued to see what other mystical powers podiatrists possessed and deep down I knew that my feet were gradually worsening even though I hadn’t even been running.

This is what brought me to be sitting in Hampden Foot Clinic with podiatrist Graham Bone, a former student under Magic Mandy at Glasgow Caledonian University Podiatry , preparing to treat my feet to some much needed care.

Podiatry is a medical profession and it was therefore not surprising to see that the clinic resembled a hospital theatre or dental surgery. It was white and bright and in Graham’s room he had a tray of surgical instruments….wait, a tray of surgical instruments?

Was I booked in for a £29 podiatry treatment or for an amputation?

Hopefully it would not be the latter, but as an obesity campaigner and someone who is overweight, I am painfully aware of the very real danger that diabetes poses to our feet

But first up, he needed to see the task ahead and if you are reading this at lunch or at dinner, you might want to skim over these before pictures. Or, with Halloween on Monday you might want to print them off to scare the local kids.

Frightful Feet

Graham must be a fantastic poker player, as he didn’t flinch at the sight of my feet. He simply looked them over and then explained what needed to be done and how he would do it.

Although I wasn’t experiencing the usual tell tale sign of itchy toes, Graham explained that the white residue around my toenails was symptomatic of a fungal infection. He would remove the cuticles and a layer of my toenail, using what looked like a drill piece and then apply some anti fungal cream that I would reapply in two weeks using the application technique that Graham coached me to perform.

a wee treat for my feet

He then set about reducing the mass of hard skin that had developed on my heels and along the outside of my feet. While doing so he explained that the hard skin was my foot’s way of protecting it from the force and friction that I apply to it and subsequently he would not remove all of it, unless I wanted it removed. As I am not currently considering a career in feet modeling, I decided to retain some level of protection. He also identified and skillfully removed at least four corns on my right foot which correlated with my tendency to walk on the outside of that foot.

The transformation complete

Even with some hard skin seemingly retained, Graham left my feet dolphin smooth (yes, the departure of Abraham is hard) with a mass of skin that seemed to symbolise the ashes of my past life as a neglector of feet.

sorrynotsorry skin pic

For having seen how Graham has transformed my feet in one session, I have decided that I will take more care of them and undertake some basic daily care.

Rather than just standing in dirty soapy shower water, I will actually bathe my feet at least three times each week. Gordon would have me do it daily or twice daily like brushing my teeth, but I will aim for making it a regular feat first.

I will actually use that pumice stone sunk somewhere deep in my toiletry box and keep that dolphin smooth feeling.

I will wear even more shoes. I have my favourites and I sometimes wear them days on end and when you consider that our produce about half a pint of sweat each day, it’s no wonder that my shoes stink. I will use my ever growing collection of shoes to aid my feet. By alternating shoes, I can hopefully keep my shoes and my feet fresh.

I will get myself a “proper” pair of toenail clippers and use them more regularly.

I will moisturise them (no, I don’t mean peeing on them in the shower) and apply some cream to them every couple of days

And lastly, I will treat them to a massage. Not only as possible content for a future Feet For Life post, but because I genuinely quite fancy it. After all, our feet carry us for miles and deserve the same respect and care that we afford to the rest of our lower limbs. After a race, we queue to have our legs massaged… so why not our feet?

Can you look at your feet (go on, take off yours shoes and socks) and honestly say that they are in good health or do you also have the odd black or fungal nail and some excess skin?

To him whose feet hurt, everything hurts.

My corns are gone and my feet feel great and somehow, I feel much better. I am walking taller and straighter ( see my previous Feet for Life post) and I have a spring in my step.

That Socrates was quite a smart fella.

October 29, 2016 0 comment

Feet For Life Health Running

Feet for Life – Bow down to the Podiatrist

written by Stephen Morrison

I had seen a physiotherapist and an osteopath; I had consulted my personal trainers (yep, I have two) and I had even spoken to fellow runners, but after 10 months and endless numbers of leg raises and squats and even some sessions with the Core Momentum Trainer (that deserves a post of its own) and a stint in barefoot shoes I was still no closer to putting on a pair of running shoes in earnest.

So, when the College of Podiatry suggested that I should see a podiatrist, my only thought was that it might make for another nice Feet For Life post.

I would never have guessed that six days later, I would be out running 5km.

I was referred to Podiatrist Mandy Abbott (now forever known as Magic Mandy) at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and right up until I entered the clinic, I wasn’t completely sure what help a podiatrist would be, although she certainly helped me with my obligatory selfie!

Feet for after Life

Sure, I do possess typical runner’s feet and I could benefit with having some hard skin removed, but just how would a podiatrist help me to run again or even walk without pain again?

Well, I soon learned that in addition to being a lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University, Mandy Abbott also specialises in biomechanics and she offered to review my gait and examine my feet, ankles and knees.

This wasn’t like the standard treadmill gait analysis found in your average running shop. Mandy checked my range of motion in my ankles before asking me to walk up and down the clinic. After what felt like about 300 laps, she told me to stop.

She had seen enough.

I had excess hard skin along the outsides of my feet and especially in the heel. The latter wasn’t a surprise, as I know that I am a heavy heel striker (when my foot lands, it lands heel first), but the explanation for the outer foot was more of a shock.

During my walk up and down the clinic I displayed signs that I have Genu Varum or bow legs as they are more commonly known. I walk on the outside of my feet (supination) and my my lower legs are inverted. This is yet another sign/symptom of osteoarthritis and I am close to finally accepting that I cannot continue living in denial. At some point my knees will require further investigation.

However, at the very least , I now have a more than viable explanation for my knee pain. Something that I have been searching for. With this knowledge, I can move on.

So what does it all mean and why is it causing pain?

medialknee

Whenever I walk or run it is most likely that my tibia and femur are making contact which is increasing my knee degeneration and causing the associated pain. I am also possibly stretching the lateral ligaments and this might explain my reluctance to attempt any movements that involve bending or twisting my knee.

Training sessions with Scott Devenney (using the HUB and the CMT) prove that I can perform lunges and that I can apply load to me knee. I will continue to train and I will keep strengthening my body and lowering my body fat. This will all help me move better and without unplaced fear. I will not lunge into anything too quickly, but I will lunge.

As as well as an explanation for my mobility issues, Mandy also recommended and provided me with an orthosis for my shoes. It has a lateral wedge that will enable me to walk with less pronation with the force of each landing being absorbed more centrally thus increasing knee joint stability. It will also help with my knee alignment and increase the space between my tibia and femur which should help ease my symptoms and reduce the pain.

The thin edge of the wedge

This a temporary orthosis that Mandy fabricated in a matter of minutes and should it continue to work, I will look into getting a more long term orthosis produced. I don’t particularly want to wear an orthosis for the rest of my life, but it is much more preferable than walking in pain and not being able to run again

Mandy provided me with something else too. Hope. Hope that I will run again and hope that my dream of being an Ironman isn’t over before it even starts.

Even after only a week of wearing the orthosis and making a conscious effort to walk that little bit more straight, the frequency and the intensity of the pain has decreased. It hasn’t gone completely, but it is no longer ever present and I don’t feel that it is restricting me as much as it has in the past.

I ran!!!!!

So much so, that when my girlfriend Teresa suggested that we go for a short run this week I agreed. Without hesitation. It wasn’t fast but it was pain free and even after 5km I felt that I could have kept going. However, taking small steps has always been my approach and 5km was far enough for my first run.

I’ll rest my knee and I will look forward to my Cancer Research Tough 10 event on November 6th for which I am an Ambassador. It will be my first (and possibly only) event of this year and although I will not be fast I will run and after 10 months out, I hope you all appreciate just how much this means to me. I’ve lost and given up a few things in the past year and I had begun to believe that I would never run again.

I will run!!!

It’s too soon to say that I’m back and I doubt that I’ll ever again fully consider myself as a runner, but I can and I will run. And I will be an Ironman.

And if that wasn’t good enough, Mandy provided me with an excuse to buy new running shoes. With my supination and bow legs, my current shoes are undoubtedly worn away on the outer edges and it is in my best interests to replace them (I’ll ignore the fact that I do already own several as yet unworn pairs). My first pair arrive on Wednesday.

When I partnered with the College of Podiatry to promote the Feet for Life campaign I never envisioned that it would be a podiatrist that would hold the key to my knee pain and to me running again. I simply wanted to show that our feet deserve more attention and more care. Now, I also want to show that Podiatry is about much more than treating athlete’s foot or removing corns…..although that will probably be the content of the next Feet for Life blog.

October 23, 2016 4 comments