If you’re a runner, then you’ll know how important it is to look after yourself and your body. If you’re not a runner or are just starting to get into running – we’re sure you can imagine the extreme forces and stresses put on your bones, joints, and muscles as you repetitively pound the pavement.

Without the right conditioning, training stretches, and warm-ups, it is often only a matter of time before something gets overloaded. And by overloaded, we mean sore. It could be a pulled muscle, a pain in your foot when you take a step. You name it. It happens to all of us – even top-level competitive athletes (and more so because of it). So, what can a Podiatrist do to help?

Podiatrists Are Essential To Your Running Success

Podiatrists are experts in everything to do with your lower limbs. From your feet, legs, knees, hips to your joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments and everything in between. If your Podiatrist has a focus on sports medicine (which is one of our great passions and a key focus here at Sole Motion Podiatry), then you’re just one consultation away from a wealth of knowledge about the way you run, why your feet and legs are moving the way they do, why you’re getting the issues that you do and why you’re not running as fast or efficiently as you should be.

Our Experience

We’re not saying this to blow our own trumpets (though some podiatrists definitely could for the amazing work that they do) but because it’s a real privilege to be able to use our comprehensive knowledge of the lower limbs to help people smash their fitness goals, recover from their injuries with no long-term consequences, reduce the risk of injury in the first place and go on to win competitions – and at international levels too with top sports team. While a Physiotherapist may be more well known as being part of the rehab team for all of our national sports teams here in Australia, you can be assured that there is always a Podiatrist there working hard to get our teams at their best and representing the country. 

What A Podiatrist Will Do For You

You don’t need to have an injury to come in for an appointment with your Podiatrist. You don’t need a referral either – just book in! If you’re injured, your Podiatrist will evaluate, assess and diagnose your injury and its cause before getting onto the treatment and recovery. If you don’t have an injury  (which is great!) then we’ll look at every element of how the bones, joints, and muscles of your feet and legs are working together, what this means for you, how to get it working better and what you’re at risk of injuring based on the results – if anything.

Our comprehensive biomechanical analyses include:

• Testing the range of motion through your joints
• Checking muscle strength and function
• Investigating how any restrictions in your joints or muscles are impacting the way you move
• Assessing your foot posture index
• Assessing the way you walk and run and how your feet and legs work through this
• Investigating any abnormalities like limb length discrepancies
• Checking for changes to your skin and toenails
• Checking your footwear and its suitability to your feet

And that’s after getting to know you, your history of sports, injuries, medications, your daily activities, goals and much more. We haven’t even mentioned the services we then offer, like the THOR low-level laser therapy to maximise your musculoskeletal repair and recovery. If you want to learn more about that, you can read about it here.

Yep, we’re very thorough, we’re great at what we do – and we love it. We love helping runners like you – and those just starting to get into running – be at their best and not worry about injury or if they’re unintentionally causing harm to their feet and legs. If you’re unsure of how we can help then just give us a call! We’d love to chat. 1300-FX-FEET.

Thanks – and all the best with your running!