Can a Podiatrist Help Prevent Sports Injuries?

Most people think about seeing a podiatrist when something already hurts.

A sore heel that refuses to settle down. An ankle that keeps playing up. A toenail that has seen better days after a long run.

But podiatry isn’t only about fixing problems once they appear. If you’re active, a podiatrist can also help identify some of the things that may be putting extra stress on your feet and legs before they turn into an injury that sidelines you.

And no, you don’t need to be an elite athlete.

Whether you run marathons, play weekend footy, go to the gym, play tennis or have recently decided that this is finally the year you’re going to start running regularly, looking after your feet can make a big difference.

Your Feet Have a Pretty Big Job

Think about what happens when you run.

Every time your foot hits the ground, it has to absorb force, adapt to the surface underneath you and then help propel your body forward again.

Now repeat that hundreds or thousands of times.

Add speed, hills, changes of direction, jumping or an enthusiastic return to sport after a few months on the couch, and your feet and lower limbs can be dealing with quite a workload.

Usually, your body handles this very well.

Problems can arise when the load placed on a particular structure becomes greater than what it is currently able to tolerate.

That might happen because you suddenly increased your training, changed shoes, started running on a different surface or returned to sport after a break. Sometimes there are also factors in the way your feet, ankles, knees and legs move that may be contributing to the problem.

That’s where a podiatrist can help.

What Does a Podiatrist Actually Look At?

A sports podiatry assessment involves much more than simply looking at your feet.

Depending on what you do and whether you’ve had problems before, your podiatrist may look at things such as:

• how your feet and ankles move
• your joint range of motion
• muscle strength and flexibility
• your balance and stability
• how you walk or run
• the way your foot interacts with the ground
• your current training load
• previous injuries
• your footwear.

The aim isn’t to find something “wrong” with the way you move. Human bodies come in all sorts of shapes and movement patterns.

Instead, we’re looking for factors that might be placing more stress on a particular area, especially when combined with the demands of your sport or training.

Sometimes the Problem Is How Quickly You’re Doing More

This is a big one.

You feel good. Training is going well. So, you add another run.

Then you make the runs longer.

Then your friend convinces you to sign up for a half marathon.

Suddenly your body has gone from a few casual kilometres a week to a much bigger training load.

Your enthusiasm may have increased overnight. Unfortunately, your tissues don’t always adapt quite that quickly.

Rapid changes in training can increase the load being placed on muscles, tendons, joints and bones before they’ve had enough time to adapt.

A podiatrist can talk to you about your training history and help identify whether your current workload could be contributing to recurring soreness or increasing your risk of a problem developing.

Sometimes injury prevention isn’t about changing the way you run at all.

It’s simply about giving your body enough time to catch up with your ambitions.

Your Shoes Matter Too

There is no single “best” sports shoe for everyone.

The right shoe depends on your foot, your activity, what feels comfortable and what you’re asking that shoe to do.

A shoe that works beautifully for your friend may be completely wrong for you.

Your podiatrist can assess your current footwear and consider things like fit, support, cushioning, wear patterns and whether the shoe is appropriate for your activity.

This can be particularly useful if you’ve recently changed shoes and noticed something doesn’t feel quite right, or if you’re regularly dealing with blisters, sore toes, black toenails or foot pain after training.

And sometimes the answer is wonderfully simple: your shoes are too small.

Your toes will thank you for finding that out sooner rather than later.

What About Running Assessments?

If running is your thing, a podiatrist may also assess your running gait.

This allows us to look more closely at how your body moves while you run rather than relying only on what happens when you’re standing or walking around the clinic.

We might look at your stride, cadence, foot position, ankle movement and how your legs are handling the forces involved in running.

Again, the goal isn’t to make everybody run in exactly the same way.

There is no single perfect running technique.

Instead, a running assessment can help us understand whether there are movement patterns that are relevant to your symptoms, injury history or training goals.

Strength Can Be Part of the Picture

Sometimes preventing an injury means making an area stronger and better able to cope with what you’re asking it to do.

Depending on your assessment, a podiatrist may recommend exercises targeting particular muscles in your feet, ankles or lower legs.

For example, strengthening may be useful when dealing with recurring ankle problems or when gradually increasing the amount of running or sport you’re doing.

The important part is that exercises should have a reason behind them.

You probably don’t need a 45-minute daily foot workout involving seventeen different resistance bands.

A few targeted exercises that address what you actually need are usually much more useful.

Do Orthotics Prevent Sports Injuries?

Sometimes orthotics can form part of a treatment or injury-management plan, but they aren’t something every active person automatically needs.

Orthotics can change the way forces are distributed through the foot and lower limb. For some people, that can help manage particular symptoms or reduce stress on an irritated structure.

For others, different shoes, changes to training, strengthening or a combination of strategies may be more appropriate.

That’s why an assessment comes first.

The goal isn’t to put everyone who walks through the door into orthotics. It’s to work out what is actually relevant to the person standing in front of us.

What If You Already Have a Little Niggle?

This is often a very good time to have something assessed.

A lot of sporting problems don’t begin with a dramatic moment where something suddenly goes pop.

They start quietly.

A heel that feels a bit sore after running.

An Achilles tendon that is stiff the morning after training.

An arch that starts aching halfway through your usual walk.

A knee that only complains after longer runs.

It can be tempting to ignore these little warning signs, particularly if they disappear once you warm up. But recurring discomfort can be your body’s way of telling you that something isn’t coping particularly well with its current workload.

Getting it checked earlier can help you understand what is happening and what you can do about it.

You Don’t Have to Wait Until You’re Injured

You also don’t need to have pain to see a podiatrist.

Maybe you’re about to start training for your first fun run.

Maybe you’re returning to sport after a long break.

Maybe you keep getting the same annoying problem every time you increase your training.

Or perhaps you simply want to know whether your shoes, training and movement are setting you up well for what you want to do.

Preventing every sporting injury is impossible. Sometimes injuries happen even when you’ve done everything right.

But understanding how your feet and lower limbs are functioning, managing training loads sensibly, wearing appropriate footwear and addressing recurring problems early can all help keep you doing the activities you enjoy.

If your feet or legs have been giving you little hints that they’re not completely happy – or you’d rather check things out before they start complaining – come and see the team at Hurst Podiatry. We can take a look at what’s happening, how you move and what your sport is asking of your body, then help you work out the best way forward.