If you just want to be fit for summer, don’t let foot pain stop you from reaching your goals!

The warm weather last year had started last September we had a series of warm spring days and this is when Sarah appeared in my office. “I just want to get fit for summer” I am so sick of not getting there and I just need some answers. Sarah went on to explain that this was not her first attempt at getting fit, frustratingly she had tried last year and throughout winter to get there. But despite eating the right thing her training or more accurately her foot pain always got in the way!

So what’s going on?

Sarah had been to a reputable sports footwear retailer and had grabbed a pair of runners that the store had recommended. While initially comfortable and her looking seriously cool in them ;-). After her attempts each night to walk or run she still found herself in pain. If not that night, over the following days she developed pain in her arch on the inside of her foot. It went from being a dull ache to at times being a sharp pain. It also felt like it ran up the inside of her leg a little. If she stopped running or walking for a few weeks / days it got better but once she started again it was back!

A visit to the doctor and more

Frustrated with this she saw her GP who suggested she try putting some ice on the area. Again she went home determined to get better but with little result, yes the ice made it immediately feel better but straight after on the next walk it came back. Still not deterred she headed to a local Physio. He did a short massage and showed her some stretching, this was better she thought for several days and even a session of walking it felt bearable but on trying to increase her activity again, there it was like that old uncle you can’t stand but see every now and then at family function, you don’t want to see them but bam!!! There they are!!

A solution!

Finally after speaking to a friend, who had a similar problem, she came across our clinic. “My friend drove across the city to see you and you got her better.” She said. “You must be worth it because my friend had been everywhere and now raves about you”

So what wrong?

On watching Sarah’s walk on our Video Walk run analysis equipment it became pretty clear that her walk or “gait” and “biomechanics” in podiatry speak was lousy! We found that Sarah’s feet were rolling in too much and that put very simply her arches needed more support, to give her muscles a chance to work properly. While the physios stretches and exercises were great, the lowering of her arch needed assistance for her to be able to do all the work they required.

So what’s the plan?

We chatted to Sarah and developed a treatment plan that meant we could get her back to training and finally fit for summer! So what did we do?
• We made a custom made pair of orthoses for her after taking a 3D laser scan and a detail series of Biomechanical measurements.
• Arranged a series of Deep connective tissue massages. While the orthoses will fix why the problem was occurring the soft tissue therapy will address the muscle, we need to help the muscle along it way to being healthy again and ready for activity. A series of stretching and strengthening exercise were also prescribed ensuring everything was cared for.
• We addressed Sarah’s shoes. While her shoes were fantastic loads of patients aren’t as good and without addressing this many patients falter. The right shoe helps, not only supporting the foot, but also working with the orthoses. The aim is to get Sarah back to exercise as soon as possible to reach her health goals.
As all our custom made orthoses are made and designed exclusively by our clinic, in our onsite orthotic laboratory it takes about 3 weeks for the process of computer aided design by our Principle Podiatrist Brenden Brown, they are then milled out using CNC milling and finished by hand. While waiting for these we began the treatment plan and her DCTM and stretching.

So what happened?

In four week at her review Sarah reported her discomfort had dropped dramatically. She no longer had pain after every walk and had found that she was able to increase to running. We reviewed her stretching and asked Sarah to increase her Km’s of running per week. She was stoked! 8 weeks later on her final review Sarah was ecstatic “I can run” she said. “I haven’t been able to run pain free in years”!

So were to from here?

You don’t have to put up with Foot pain! There are answers other than waiting for it to go away and pills! At A Step Ahead we see dozens of people like you with foot and lower limb pain all day and we love it! We love getting people better so they can kick their health goals whether its running 5 km or 50 km’s or if it’s professional sport or simply ridding yourself from foot pain so you can play in the park with the kids!
Why not call our friendly team and ask if we can help. Chances are we can! You can also check out more of our website for information on other common conditions we see regularly!
Call us on 96732987 or 47322007. We are located in St Marys and Penrith in Sydney and unlike Macquarie street you can park right out front and it doesn’t cost 65 dollars an hour its free! We are privilege to have patients travel from all over Sydney and NSW to see us: From the North shore and as far away as Port Macquarie and Wollongong.

We would really love to help you get on the track so please give us a call.

Brenden Brown

Principle Podiatrist and founder for
The A Step Ahead foot and Ankle care team