Podiatry at The Newry Clinic

Podiatry at the Newry Clinic

Caroline Spencer is the Newry Clinic Specialist Musculoskeletal Podiatrist with a BScHons in Clinical Podiatric Studies, postgraduate diploma in Gait Analysis and Biomechanics, qualified in local anaesthetics, steroid injection therapy of the foot and ankle, foot mobilization techniques and a teaching certificate.

Presently she is also one of the Specialists Orthopaedic Podiatrists working for the Orthopaedic Department at Musgrave Park Hospital liaising with the Foot and Ankle Orthopaedic Surgeons and specialists GPs, physiotherapists and orthotists who are all part of this team in treating foot and lower limb problems.

Human feet comprise 52 bones, 66 joints, 214 ligaments and 38 muscles and tendons, and a relatively small misalignment of that system may cause painful effects throughout the whole lower limb. It is a simple fact that men and women who enjoy sports - whether professional or amateur - suffer more foot-related sports injuries. Running can increase the pressure on the foot by three or four times body your weight. The twisting, jumping and physical collisions common in many sports place even greater stresses on the feet and biomechanical system. The cause of many sports injuries is a gradual or sudden change to the body's biomechanics.

Patients can come to the Specialist Podiatrist complaining of:

The Specialist Podiatrist will see a wide range of patients from children to the every day walker who suffers from aches and pains along with a large number of athletes including runners, Gaelic, soccer, hurling, rugby, hockey, tennis and badminton players as well as some high level boxers.

Patients are often referred by their surgeon, GP, physiotherapist or other healthcare professional but can self refer having heard about the Clinic from friends or colleagues.

Initial consultation:

All patients will receive a full gait analysis and biomechanical examination using video gait analysis and foot pressure plate analysis to provide the Specialist Podiatrist with insight into the walking patterns and musculo-skeletal alignment that may be the cause of the foot or lower limb pain. Footwear is also evaluated particularly for sports injuries.

Gait analysis is the study of walking and running and biomechanics is a branch of biophysics that deals with the mechanics of the human body especially concerned with muscles and the skeleton.

All patients are videoed standing, walking and running (the latter if this is involved in their sport) - this means that we can effectively analyse walking and running so obtaining a good insight into the possible causes for many types of injury. An abnormality in walking or running often leads to injury and sub optimal performance. Once a patient has undergone a biomechanical assessment, it is often essential to study how imbalances affect the walking and running cycle. By truly understanding the interaction between a patient's biomechanical profile and gait, our clinic is often able to determine the cause for pain or an injury.

The foot pressure plate is also used as an adjunct to the video gait analysis again helping with the diagnosis of lower limb pain by showing the loading pattern of the foot at heel strike, midstance and toe-off.

Diagnosis:

Once diagnosed, patients will receive from the Specialist Podiatrist a tailor-made treatment plan designed to restore the foot and leg system back to more normal and symmetrical function. Treatment plans may include footwear guidance, orthoses (special insoles), exercises and possible more invasive modalities such as injection therapy.

Orthoses:

Two types of orthoses are used:

  1. A semi-customised appliance, which is partly pre-made and partly customised to the patient's individual requirements.
  2. A bespoke customised foot-orthotic utilising the most advanced computerised engineering processes available. These devices are ultra thin, last many years and maintain their corrective effect extremely well.

Orthoses vary in price, with option 2, the advanced appliance, costing the most as they have a life time guarantee to shell breakage. The soft top covers of the orthoses can require renewal every year or so but this is a relatively inexpensive process. Caroline Spencer, Specialist Podiatrist, is registered with all the following private health insurance companies for patients who are privately insured. These private insurance companies will pay for the cost of the assessment with the specialist podiatrist.

BUPA, AVIVA (Norwich Union), Cigna, WPA, Pru Health

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