Healthy feet: What you should know about podiatry

Given that the foot has 26 bones, 33 joints and more than 100 tendons, muscles and ligaments, it's no wonder so much can go wrong with this body part. In fact, there are more than 300 possible foot ailments. Since your feet need to last you a lifetime, preventive foot care -- and early attention to foot problems -- should be a top concern. Here's what you need to know about podiatry.

1. The practices of podiatry and chiropody share common elements, but there are significant differences.
For one thing, podiatry training takes longer; to obtain a doctor of podiatric medicine (DPM), you need an undergraduate degree in science and four years of podiatric medicine training in the United States (it's not available in Canada). Training for chiropody (leading to a diploma and the designation DCh) is available at only one Canadian centre (The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences in Toronto). Podiatry services are also more extensive than those offered by chiropodists. Regulation for both professions varies across Canada. Some provinces provide limited coverage for podiatric services, but in most cases, consumers have to pay themselves unless their private insurance covers it.

2. Foot problems can be grouped according to age and stage of development.
In children the problem might be flat feet or walking with an "in-toeing" (pigeon-toed) gait. Warts and ingrown toenails are another common complaint of kids. In addition to warts, adults come in with athlete's foot, fungal infections and structural problems such as bunions, hammertoes (where the toes contract as a result of an imbalance between tendons on the top and the bottom of the toe), heel spurs (growths on the underside of the heel bone) or neuromas (overgrowth of nerves around the bones). With seniors podiatrists help maintain good foot care. "They can't bend down and remove calluses or they develop very thick toenails, and they may have arthritis or issues with their eyesight," says Mario Turanovic, a podiatrist in Edmonton and president of the Canadian Podiatric Medical Association.

3. Regular foot care is extremely important for people with diabetes.
They may experience a loss of sensation (neuropathy) in their feet or develop sores, which can become seriously infected. Unfortunately, foot and leg amputations among people with diabetes are all too common. "Proper patient education and proper shoes for people with diabetes are essential," says Turanovic.

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