We all know that sinking, painful feeling when we first suffer an injury. Injuries are frustrating, they can cause us to miss out on doing the things we enjoy, and they can affect our work performance, too. While it’s good to seek professional care following an injury, it may be even better to have the right strategies in place to reduce the risk of it occurring in the first place. 

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Podiatrists can help you identify areas where you may have an increased injury risk and help you implement appropriate management strategies to reduce your likelihood of sustaining an injury. They can achieve this by:

 

• Completing a biomechanical assessment to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses

• Identifying anatomical and systemic characteristics that increase your injury risk

• Assessing your gait and movement techniques to identify high-stress areas

• Assessing your footwear and how they are working with your feet

• Looking at any skin or nail conditions that may contribute to your injury risk

• Examining commonly performed movements at home and work to assess injury risk

 

After your risks are identified, your Podiatrist then can:

 

• Prescribe specific  stretching and strengthening programmes to help overcome muscular weakness

• Recommend footwear that adds stability to the foot and ankle

• Use orthotics to help control any foot biomechanics that are otherwise contributing to injury risk

• Assist with gait retraining 

• Show you alternative techniques to repetitively performed movements

• Manage any existing skin or nail conditions that pose a risk

 

A good example is reducing the falls risk for those that are more vulnerable to sustaining a fall. As a fall can cause significant injury to the body, managing and reducing this risk can have a large impact on a person’s quality of life.