Podiatry work in Dayboro has proven to be rewarding and I would like to thank the Dayboro community and the Dayboro Medical Centre for their support.
In my time in Dayboro, I have found that I often get asked: What is podiatry and what conditions podiatrists treat and how?  With this in mind, I have written a basic article to answer these questions.

Podiatry is the specialist health profession concerned with all issues of the lower limb.  It is the role of the podiatrist to diagnose and treat conditions that cause pain in the muscles and joints of the feet and legs, assess muscular imbalances, correct irregular walking patterns, and assess the bones, skin, nails, nerves and blood supply for optimum health.   It is for this reason that podiatry works hand-in-hand with doctors and other health professionals like physiotherapist, occupational therapists and chiropractors.
I recently attended a presentation at the Australasian Podiatry Conference where it was revealed that 1 in 5 Australians suffer from aches and pains in the feet or legs that affect their daily life by making work and exercise unpleasant or even impossible.   The types of pain people are most likely to experience include heel pain, arch pain, burning in the ball of the foot, painful ankles, “shin splints” and knee aches.  Children can also be affected by these conditions particularly after exercise and at night but complaints are usually dismissed as “growing pains”.
Although I treat people of all ages, I am currently specialising in paediatric podiatry.  It is my belief that the life of a child can be greatly improved by treating foot and leg issues which may be causing pain, poor posture, coordination issues and aversion to exercise which can in turn affect confidence and self-esteem.  In addition, correcting the feet at a young age may reduce the risk of developing any long-term issues.
The type of podiatric treatment depends on the condition at hand and can range from simply helping people who cannot take care of their own feet, to the correction of posture and complex walking patterns with the prescription of exercises and the aid of custom-made corrective insoles called orthotics.
All in all, my ultimate aim as a podiatrist in Dayboro is to keep the feet and legs of the community healthy and pain-free, and in turn keep the community on its feet for longer.