Address Any Foot Issues Or Pains With An Austin Foot Doctor

By Annabelle Holman


One of the most complex parts of the human body are the feet; which contains muscles, tendons, ligaments, and a total of 26 different bones. In order to keep your feet strong and healthy, visit an Austin foot doctor. These podiatrists will help you maintain the lower muscles and bones of your feet and all parts that affect your feet. Without this, you can develop disorders or get injured.

All sorts of people get feet injuries; but are most prevalent in elderly people, pregnant women, and athletes. Additionally, people who wear shoes for a long time may develop infections due to the feet being in a dark and moist environment for so long. Podiatrists can help any of these people deal with their problems. Special circumstances such as people with congenital defects like clubfeet may be helped by podiatrists as well.

Feet are susceptible to fungal infections if they are in shoes for a long time or are not cleaned very well. Podiatrists are very familiar with treating these common problems. A variety of problems are also treated by the doctors such as foot-related diseases, disorders, and defects.

A general practitioner will most likely refer you to a podiatrist for all foot-related problems. The podiatrist will listen to your problem in depth before giving you a detailed diagnosis and treatment options. If needed, the doctor will also do a biomechanical test to further help the diagnosis. This will assess any gait you may have and other foot problems.

Gait analysis is the examination of your walking posture, and is very important in addressing foot injuries. Wearing the wrong shoes can commonly cause gait in your feet. This can leave you susceptible to feet injuries and disorders.

After the diagnosis, the podiatrist will recommend treatment options. Your options may include wearing orthotics like insoles, or in some cases even physiotherapy exercise. If you have abnormally high arches or flat feet, orthotics will help you a great deal. Podiatrists will often custom make your orthotics to give you the pair that fits your feet best.

Problems from congenital defects won't be solved by orthotics. Only surgery can help in these cases. As for infections, the right medication and cleaning will heal the problem over time. People with diabetes mellitus may also benefit from podiatrists. These people lose sensation in their feet and aren't even able to feel certain injuries in them. Additionally, podiatrists help problems like bunions, warts, calluses, corns, blisters, heel spurs; as well as issues that arise from a foot disorder affecting your thighs, back, and hips.

Basically, podiatrists are foot doctors. They go through four years of a study in medicine, two to three years in postgraduate studies in podiatry, and often an extensive residence program. However, different educational requirements and job profiles vary in each country.

Countries that allow people to become podiatrists after a four year undergraduate degree only allow these doctors to perform certain procedures. In the U. S. However, podiatrists can address any number of foot-related problems due to the extensive educational requirements they need to match. Though podiatrists in the U. S. Generally make good livings, salaries vary between work environments and states.




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