After work, it's walking on what seems like miles of non-yielding concrete floors or airport corridors, only to turn around and do it again the next day, and then the next. Foot problems are sometimes painful enough to be debilitating, but more often hurt just enough to be a chronic workplace nag - ignored at the start of a shift and nearly unbearable by the end. Several kinds of doctors can treat foot problems. Podiatric physicians, with four years of podiatric medical school as well as additional postdoctoral training, can make independent diagnoses and judgments regarding treatment, prescribe medications, and treat all foot and ankle problems medically and in some cases, surgically. Conservative treatment by podiatrists can prevent, reverse, and often alleviate foot problems before they become debilitating.
Patients often feel better after a single visit.
The components of the feet intricately work together all the time, sharing the tremendous pressure of daily living. An average day of walking brings a force equal to several hundred tons to bear on the feet. The average person walks about 115,000 miles in a lifetime, or more than four times around the world. Such structural complexity and daily stress make foot problems among the most common health complaints. Studies show at least three-quarters of Americans will experience foot problems of some degree of seriousness in their lifetimes, but only a small percentage of them actually seek professional treatment.