It is an impressive fact that today you likely walked 4 to 5 miles during the course of your day without giving it a second’s thought. And this you were able to accomplish due to a simple human design feature: your feet. Our brains notwithstanding, our feet and hands are our most essential body parts; without full functionality, life’s daily routines and spontaneous activities are severely impacted. Healthy feet are your gateway to maintaining optimal health, functionality, and happiness.
We Take Our Feet for Granted
Living the busy and engaging lives that we do, we humans take our feet almost entirely for granted. Our feet are covered frequently, and not often exposed to our sight, air, or the light of day. Bacteria and other pathogens, often trapped close to the skin, create a vulnerable situation; particularly if an open sore, foot ulcer, or lesions are present.
Certain underlying health issues such as diabetes, peripheral neuropathy, and atherosclerosis can lead to foot ulcers and lesions. Poor circulation and nerve damage can mask the sensation of pain and discomfort that would otherwise alert us to injury. Loss of flexibility as we age makes injury to the bottoms and sides of our feet more difficult to see.
If left undiagnosed and untreated for too long, foot ulcers can lead to serious health complications including cellulitis, abscess, and at worst gangrene and amputation. Podiatrists are qualified to recognize the potential underlying health problems and conditions that can lead to foot ulcers, and the best qualified to treat injuries of the feet accordingly. Studies have shown that diabetic patients under the care of a podiatrist are 50% less likely to undergo an amputation. Podiatrists are trained to perform surgeries and to prescribe custom orthotics that can spare our feet further damage. These specialists can are also trained to spot unusual gait, which can lead to knee and foot problems over time. They can tell us if the shoes that we purchase are likely to be detrimental to our feet and thus to our health. Not to mention, podiatrists will treat the breaks and sprains that our feet are ere to. Podiatrists love us: they love our feet.
Our Best Foot Forward
Podiatrists are the medical specialists to consult when conditions in your feet have taken a turn for the worst. Cultivating doctor/ patient rapport with a podiatrist may be one of the best investments you can make in your overall health portfolio. It is always wise to keep your primary care physician in the loop regarding changes in your health, and GP’s can refer you to a well-respected podiatrist within their medical community. Feet are complex features of our bodies, and podiatrists train specifically to treat myriad issues when conditions in our feet change (as they undoubtedly will for so many of us in our lifetimes). We owe it to our feet. On average, we humans take anywhere from 8000-10,000 steps a day: that’s 4 to 5 miles. In a single day. The weight applied to the bottom of our feet as we take an average step is 16 PSI. Were you to take, on average, 9000 steps in a day that is 72,000 PSI per foot per day. It would be appropriate to say that your feet are under a lot of pressure, and given all, they do for you on a daily basis, they deserve a doctor of their own.
Whether you are a patient with diabetes and/or circulatory problems, suffering from foot ulcers; or an active healthy human being with concerns for the health of your feet, you will be well served to include a doctor of podiatry in your personal health portfolio. It is time we all pay closer attention to that most crucial set of human ambulatory assets: our feet.
