Footwear, heel pain and YOU!

“I have these really cushioned shoes” she says with pride!

“The guy in the shop says they will be the best thing they are just so comfortable”

“I bought the best ones they had”

“They worked for a while but now it has come back and it feels just as bad if not worse than it did before”

“I am so frustrated I have tried everything”

Asics Nimbus for Neutral or higher arched foot types – great supportive cushioning

This is generally how the conversation with many of our patients who first visit us tends to sound like. Why does it sound like you? Because we see “you” …or someone just like you every day. (often 6 – 10 times a day!)

Heel pain and foot pain can be frustrating. It can stop you from doing the things you love. Putting off the plans you have. Tried walking the city to surf with heel pain or for that matter the streets of Greece on that big overseas trip you had planned? Heel pain can be a game changer!

Many people do the very first thing that comes to mind BUY NEW SHOES! From GP’s to nurses to your next door neighbor, people will tell you that new shoes are the way to go and we won’t disagree BUT BE WARNED the choice of shoes is what’s important.

Most very cushioned shoes WILL NOT help you! Our experience of successfully treating thousands of heel pain patients says, a shoe that has a firm shell with a small amount of structured cushioning is what works best.

Footwear for heel pain needs to be more supportive. We have found that cupping the foot with a firm heel counter (The very back part of the shoe). Supporting the foot through the midfoot with a shank, meaning a firm part of the sole, so the shoe doesn’t bend in the middle. When you visit us with your heel pain it’s one of the very first things as practitioners we look at.

Our “got to shoe” of 2014 is the Asics Gel cardio zip 2

Avoid your trendy Nike footwear with large bulky cushioned air bags. Avoid footwear that are super flexible and bend in the middle. Light weight and footwear like “supasoft” and “gel cushioning”. Our experience says these at first these feel ok but quickly become more of a problem than a solution. Don’t even start us on minimalist shoes and barefoot running – a recipe for disaster.

Footwear is only part of a more detailed solution. When visiting A step ahead foot +ankle care we will develop a detailed treatment plan addressing everything from your footwear to soft tissue rehabilitation through to correcting your poor foot posture. Heel pain is a complex problem that won’t go away by itself (it will if you are happy to wait anywhere between 12 month and 5 years). Sadly unlike other conditions unless you are going to stop walking altogether you are going to have to deal with this problem before it will go away.

The podiatrists at A Step Ahead Foot and Ankle Care specialize in lower-limb mechanics and sports medicine. Their podiatrists have been featured on television and in magazines such as Men’s Health, Good Medicine, Prevention and many others. They see more than 15,000 patients every year with foot pain just like yours. The practice has been servicing Western Sydney for over 30 years.

They work closely with a number of General practitioners, Orthopaedic surgeons, Sports physicians and Sports physiotherapists to assist in the treatment of many of their difficult patients. They are also the podiatrists that other podiatrists refer to when they need someone to work with their complex patients.

You can contact A Step Ahead Foot + Ankle care on 96732987 or 47322007 to make an appointment.