What is a podiatrist and what do they do?

A podiatrist is an allied health professional who must meet the professional registration requirements of the Podiatry Board of Australia. A podiatrist must have a Bachelor of Podiatry.

A Podiatrist is trained to assess, diagnose and treat foot and lower limb problems. These may include skin and nail problems, foot and ankle injuries, foot complications related to diabetes and other medical conditions and problems with gait or walking.

Podiatrists play an important role in monitoring disease and managing lower limb issues to maintain an active and mobile population across the lifespan. Therefore patient demographics can be diverse ranging from monitoring children's growth and development, managing sports injuries, working with people with chronic disease, disability and the ageing population.

Is a referral needed to see a podiatrist?

Most people do not need a referral to see a podiatrist, however some funding schemes require a referral from your doctor. These include Department of Veterans affairs, Workers Compensation or those people who have health conditions being managed under a Chronic Disease Management Plan. Some community health services and most hospital based podiatry clinics will require a referral from your doctor.

Many private health insurance funds have a plan that will provide rebates for podiatry services.

Our Podiatrists are available in clinic, on-site at aged care facilities and for home visits.

Common Problems treated by Podiatrists include:

Injuries and Pain:

• Sprains and stress fractures
• Persistent heel pain
• Tendonitis
• Bunions
• Hammertoes

Biomechanical:

• Orthotics
• Sports podiatry
• Children's Development
• Toes pointing inward ot outward
• Standing and walking on tip toe
• Growing pains
• Club Foot

Chronic Conditions:

• High Risk Foot (related to diabetes)
• numbness or pins and needles
• poor circulation (pooling of fluid around the foot and ankle
• infections and poor wound healing
• Arthritis
• gout

Toe Nails:

• Ingrown toenails
• Thickened nails
• Trauma
• infections

Skin:

• Blisters
• Calluses
• Warts
• Corns
• Tinea and other fungal infections
• Cracked Heals
• Chilblains

Contact us to make an appointment or to learn more about having us work with your aged care facility.