Our Foot Health Services

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Our Foot Health
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Comfortable feet contribute to your overall sense of well-being. When your feet are healthy, you're more likely to feel comfortable throughout the day and be able to engage in activities without pain or discomfort.

Corns

A corn is a localized thickening of the skin due to pressure. Corns often occur on the top of the toes where there is pressure from the shoes. However, they also occur at the sole of the foot and in between toes. Certain corns may become entwined with the nerves of the skin, these corns are particularly painful. Often corns develop a core which is often referred to as the “root” by patients. Corns can be very painful, especially if there is inflammation and swelling around the corn.

Cracked Heels

Cracked heels are often referred to as fissures and are usually caused by dry skin. For most people this is a nuisance and a cosmetic problem but when the fissures are deep, the skin bleeds easily and is can be very painful. The heels appear yellow or dark brown depending on the skin type and are normally accompanied by dry skin. Symptoms include a hard growth of skin, usually on the outer edge of the heel. Patients may experience pain while walking and increased discomfort in thin soles or open back shoes

Athletes Foot

Athlete’s foot is a common name given to a fungus infection of the skin that predominately occurs in between toes but can occur anywhere on the foot. If left untreated the condition can spread to other parts of the foot, hands and can even affect the face.

The skin involved may be red, swollen and may contain sticky fluid. Patients may also experience a scaly dry rash on the bottom and sides of feet, dry and itchy lesions or a burning or stinging sensation.

Fungal Nails

Fungal nail conditions are caused by microscopic organisms called Dermatophytes. Dermatophytes grow in the nail bed, beneath the nail and live off keratin, the protein in the nail. The condition usually begins towards the far end of the nail and may start with patches of white or yellow discolouration. If the condition is left untreated, it will proceed to the base of the nail. It will attack the nail root (matrix) and cause the nail to grow very thick and deformed. The big toe is usually the first nail to be affected with the condition spreading to adjacent nails. In rare cases this condition can also affect the skin surrounding the nails

Bunions

Bunions are one of the most common forefoot deformities. A displacement of the bone under the 1st toe occurs. This causes the big toe to move towards the smaller toes. This shifting of the bones causes a bony prominence on the side of the patients foot (the bunion joint). Over a period of time the big toe may come to rest under (occasionally over) the 2nd toe.

Symptoms include redness, swelling and pain which may be present along the inside margin of the foot. The patients feet may become too wide to fit into their normal size shoe and may experience moderate to severe discomfort may occur when the patient is wearing tight shoes. A “hammer toe” may occur at the 2nd toe. This is when the toe contracts and presses on the shoe. Subsequently, this may cause a corn on top of the 2nd toe.

In-growing Toenails

In-growing toenails are one of the most common foot complaints. This condition can be very painful and patients may often be very reluctant to have the condition treated. However this condition will not resolve itself and requires specialist care.

An in growing toe nail is caused by a splinter of nail or the whole nail causing pressure into the skin. Some in growing toenails are acute which means that they have occurred due to a injury to the toe. Others are chronic, which means the patient has had the problem for a long period of time. The large toe is usually affected, however, it can also affect the lesser toes.

Verruca Treatment

Warts and verrucas are caused by infection of your skin with the human papillomavirus (HPV). They can spread from person to person by direct skin contact. But the risk of them spreading is usually fairly low. They’re more likely to spread if you damage the top layer of the wart, as this exposes the virus more.

Verrucas are warts on the soles of your feet. They may have tiny black dots in the centre – these are blood clots that have formed in tiny blood vessels. They may be painful, especially when you put weight on them. Sometimes, if you have clusters of verrucas, they can fuse together. These are called mosaic warts.

We can advise on treatments available and pare the verruca for more for comfort. We have some great home treatments for you to try.

Neurovascular Assessment

There are a large amount of blood vessels and nerves located in the feet. It is for this reason that neurovascular foot assessments are an important part of keeping your feet healthy. This is especially the case for those with diabetes or those that have a history of peripheral vascular diseases.

The neurovascular assessment of the extremities is performed to evaluate sensory and motor function (“neuro”) and peripheral circulation (“vascular”). The components of the neurovascular assessment include pulses, capillary refill, skin color, temperature, sensation, and motor function.

When we perform a Neurovascular health check, we're not just checking the feet. We are also assessing the health of the circulation system. We can detect blockages, calcification, hardening of the arteries and arrhythmia. These issues can be asymptomatic for a long time, getting worse over time or leading to stroke/heart attack or loss of limbs.

We also check the nervous system and can detect nerve damage which could be caused by underlying health conditions which could be addressed if discovered. Causes for peripheral neuropathy could be toxicity caused by diabetes, alcohol, medication or it could be through trauma, inflammation, lack of vitamin B12 or some genetic disorders.

It Is a quick process and we carry out a Neurovascular Assessment for all patients, writing to the GP if anything needs investigating further.

What our customers say

John C.

I suffered with fungal nail infection for many years, starting on one nail and gradually spreading to others. I tried several ‘paint on’ treatments during this time, both over the counter and medically prescribed, none of which made any significant difference to the nails.
My nails became very hard and unsightly but I began to accept that this was just how my nails would be, even though it was starting to impact on my everyday life. I could no longer wear sandals or open toe footwear for the fear of embarrassment and was struggling to carry out routine maintenance on my nails.
After a couple of years, I went to Alison at Foot Health Clinic. Following assessment, Alison prepared my nails and recommended that I seek treatment in the form of tablets from my doctor. I was prescribed the tablets for three months, in which time there was a significant improvement. 9 months have now passed, with treatment from Alison every 6-8 weeks and the nails are no longer hard and show no sign of infection.
The difference this has made is staggering, and I had my sandals back!