I have been really lucky with my patients recently as they have been quite open with their reasons for choosing to see me.
On the one hand, it's a little frustrating as I (well, Keep On Your Feet) is too new for me to be known as 'the go-to Swansea Chiropodist & Podiatrist' and that honour goes to some of my local colleagues, and I'll admit it: the fact they have over 40-years of experience in some cases can be a little intimidating, although given that they really are the main competition, I know that I probably bring with me a more metropolitan approach to my practice and have the benefit of being more recently trained, but simultaneously having been working long enough that my methods are:
Tried & tested,
Evidence based,
Up-to-date.
A fresh approach to podiatry in Swansea
Having come from working in some multi-disciplinary practices and working alongside consultant podiatrists and consultant podiatric surgeons, I was always forced to be at the top of my game. I had no choice. We were seeing patients from national and international sports teams and not only was the pressure on because they have good lawyers - I supported those teams too... well sometimes, anyway!
So I got to use state-of-the-art kit for various conditions, had access to really high-definition MRI Scans and also shared my care with some top-notch orthopaedic foot and ankle specialists. I mean, I'd only been practising for three to five years when I was working with them and the conversations I'd have sometimes felt like I was constantly being examined to check I was right. We'd also present our findings and learn from mistakes - one game we played was comparing our clinical diagnosis to the diagnosis the MRI Scanners gave us. The fact that we were constantly able to check and confirm our diagnosis against the MRIs (and other imaging modalities too, like CT scans and ultrasound scans), meant that there were constant learning opportunities, and I took all of them.
And, let's not forget that I was also studying a lot too for the various degrees I did. So, when it comes to injuries and treatment plans for them, you can be pretty certain that you're getting a high quality and highly calibrated specialist to look after you.
A new chiropodist in Swansea too.
Ok, ok, I know. Chiropodists and podiatrists are technically the same thing, but I think that it's worth noting the difference between chiropody and podiatry since the podiatry is the 'new school' whilst chiropody is the 'old school'.
I can do both. I had to.
The wonderful thing about working alongside consultants is that they don't like doing the 'boring' work and their reputation means they don't get much of that work either. The naff thing about it: when they do get the 'boring' work: it gets shifted to the junior guy really quickly. But they don't get the nice ordinary feet coming in for basic chiropody, they get the feet attached to highly regarded medico-legal specialists and other scary people to treat. So, my learning curve for high quality chiropody, or routine footcare, was steep.
I'll admit I hated it at the time, and I know that I'll never sign up to work in a Margaret Dabbs foot clinic, but when I had the super-scary medico-legal lawyer rebooking with me and not only being a patient, but practically a friend, I felt pretty special. Didn't stop me being terrified of them at first when they spent almost their entire first appointment telling me the horror stories of people they sued. Let me just say, for the record, I wasn't one of them!
All aspects of chiropody and podiatry are covered.
Having worked at both ends of the spectrum, as well as working in clinics at both ends of the spectrum, I was exposed to environments where I had all the kit and environments which were a bit more NHS-y in nature, although I wouldn't change it. It taught me how to make do with the basics and to get really good outcomes.
The greatest selection of podiatry treatments in Swansea
Well, the most written about anyway. I've looked at my local colleagues' websites to see what they offer, and from what I've read, I know that I offer a greater selection... or talk about a greater selection anyway!
Some of the treatments offered by the Swansea based chiropodist & podiatrist at Keep On Your Feet:
Nail cutting
Ingrown toenail treatment
Callus removal
Corn removal and enucleation
Verruca treatments, like:
Debridement
Strong salicylic acid
Verruca needling
Diabetic foot care
Diabetic foot ulcer debridement and woundcare
Antibiotic provision (first-line)
Insoles
Custom and bespoke orthotics
Steroid injections for foot and ankle joints
Nail surgery for ingrown nails (as a permanent cure for ingrowing nails)
Gait analysis (on a treadmill with multi-dimensional analysis)
Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilisation (similar to Graston technique)
Foot and ankle mobilisations (low velocity movements)
Foot and ankle manipulations (high velocity movements - like cracking a joint)
Gait retraining
Sports injuries, like running injuries caused by overtraining for marathons
Rehabilitation from foot, ankle and lower-limb injuries
Prehabilitation to prevent foot, ankle and lower-limb injuries
Shockwave therapy (aka extracorporeal radial shockwave therapy)
Great for tendon, muscle and bone injuries
General Musculoskeletal Podiatry
Sports Medicine Podiatry
Ultrasound scans of the lower limb
Detecting lumps
Identifying tendon tears or tendon ruptures
Can identify fractures in the feet
Can rule out cancers, in some cases
Dermoscopy of suspicious skin lesions like moles, naevi