Sports Podiatrist Melbourne
Our Melbourne Sports Podiatrists treat sports injuries
In Melbourne and Australia we love sport and with the high participation numbers sports podiatrists are seeing a rise in foot and lower leg sports injuries. These can be either acute or chronic and affect both male and female as well as children and adults.
Our sports podiatrists have knowledge in diagnosing and treating sports injuries that affect the foot and lower leg. All of our podiatrists are registered with Sports Medicine Australia and are experienced in sports podiatry with athletes of all ages. If you are suffering from any lower leg sports injury, whether you are a professional or novice athlete, see a sports podiatrist at our Melbourne podiatry clinic today. Our friendly and professional team will help you get back on the sporting field and back to your best by devising the most appropriate treatment plan.
What causes foot and lower leg sports injuries?
Acute sports injuries
Acute sports injuries are caused by a single traumatic event. This may be something like a fall when running or an awkward landing when jumping. A prime example of an acute sports injury is an ankle sprain. Poor footwear, poor biomechanics and poor strength are often factors that may increase the risk of an acute sports injury.
Chronic sports injuries
Chronic sports injuries affecting the foot and lower leg are generally caused by overuse and biomechanical faults. When we play sport the foot and lower leg often takes forces up to three times your body weight. The increased forces places increased loads on muscles, tendons and joints. If you have poor lower leg biomechanics these loads may be increased on certain muscles and this can then lead to injury. Examples of overuse injuries include shin splints or tendinopathies. Poor footwear, poor biomechanics, poor strength, plantar fasciitis heel pain, poor conditioning, and increased loads are often associated with chronic sports injuries.
When should you consider sports podiatry?
You should visit a sports podiatrist for any non-emergency injury that affects the foot, ankle or lower leg, or if you experience foot pain from repeated exertion. Sports podiatry treatment can treat anything from an acute foot fracture of the foot to an chronic overuse muscle or tendon injury of the lower leg.
An experienced sports podiatrist will use tools like computer gait analysis to help detect biomechanical faults and accurately diagnose the cause of your sports or running injury through biomechanical assessment. They will then implement the right treatment plan including rehabilitation to help get you back on your feet and to also prevent injuries from reoccurring.
Treatment of foot and lower leg sports injuries at our Melbourne clinic
Our Melbourne podiatrists treat all sports injuries, both acute and chronic, that affect the foot, ankle and lower leg. They are experienced treating athletes of all ages and types, from children to adults, both professional and novice.
Treatment of acute sports injuries and foot fractures may involve the use of a CAM walker or moon boot. These boots help to stabilise a fracture site whilst allowing for rest by removing forces and loading. CAM walkers have a rocker sole to allow some weightbearing and this makes them a lot more patient friendly than crutches. These boots can be fitted by our podiatrists following consultation on either a hire or purchase arrangement depending on the length of immobilisation required.
Chronic sports injuries can be treated by our sports podiatrists with therapies like ultrasound and laser therapy (shockwave therapy), available at our Melbourne clinic. These modalities transfer heat into tissue, tendons and joints, allowing for increased blood flow to the injury site which helps with healing. Our podiatrists also use computer gait analysis to help identify biomechanical faults and the cause of an overuse injury. Orthotics can be prescribed to help iron out these faults and successfully treat a number of foot and lower leg related sports injuries. Finally rehabilitation along with important stretching and strengthening of key muscles can all be organised by our sports podiatrists.
Common foot and lower leg sports injuries seen at our Melbourne clinic
There are many different sporting injuries that can result in the foot or lower leg pain. Thorough diagnosis and consultation with a sports podiatrist is recommended if you have a recent sporting injury of the foot, ankle or leg.
Below are just some of the common foot and lower leg sports injuries that our podiatrists see at our Melbourne foot clinic.
Sports injuries and orthotics
Our Melbourne based sports podiatrists are experts in custom orthotic prescription therapy for both children’s podiatry and adult athletes to help treat sports injuries. We can prescribe custom orthotics to suit any sport from athletics, running, football, soccer, cricket, netball and more. At our Melbourne foot clinic we take great pride in prescribing accurate sports custom orthotics and that’s why our custom devices come with a 100% comfort guarantee.
Orthotics improve foot function and mechanics which helps to take load off important muscles and tendons whilst improving joint alignment and stability. This can help treat foot, ankle, leg, knee, hip and even back pain. Orthotics help address biomechanical faults which are often the cause of many chronic foot and lower leg sport injuries. By doing this orthotics can not only treat but also help prevent sports injuries from returning. A lot of high profile athletes and sports people across the world today use orthotics to help assist their on field performance.