Providing Professional Mobile Foot Care Services
Kelly Insley, RN
Registered Nurse, Advanced Certificate in Foot Care
Home number: 250 658-8914
Email: lotusfootcare@gmail.com
webpage: http://www.footcarenurse.com
Serving clients on Vancouver Island: Victoria, Saanich, Sidney, Cadboro Bay, Oak Bay and other areas.
Welcome Foot Care Clients!
What's with our feet and why do we need foot care?
We often ignore our feet, yet they take years of abuse and neglect as they carry our weight while we walk, hike, run, dance and ski. We wear constrictive foot wear that place the bones of the foot in an unnatural position. Shoes and our inherited bone structure play an important part in the development of deformities or calluses on the feet.
Research shows that individuals from third world countries who spend most of the time barefoot still develop bunions due to structural differences in the foot. This relation to body mechanics, gait, structural differences and inherent pathologies are evidence that shoes are not always the primary cause of such deformities but can most definitely exacerbate the cause.
A person's gait can put undue stress on the joints as the alignment of bones and posture change with age and disease. Feet have more bones, ligaments, nerves and vessels than the rest of the body making them a wondrous and complicated testament to the workings of the human form; a feat in the biomechanics and engineering that is yet to be duplicated artificially (excuse the pun).
So why is it important to take preventative action and practice good foot care?
1.) To keep us mobile!
Mobility is essential to the health of our body. With disease, age or structural problems, the foot's bone structure changes to accommodate these structural differences which can lead to callus formation, bunions and other adaptations to stress and disease.
2) To prevent ulcers leading to Amputation!
There is a saying that states " a callous is an ulcer waiting to happen." Those with diabetes, vascular or neuromuscular challenges are at particular risk for developing ulcers which can lead to other complications such as infection and worst of all amputation. Current research is pointing to preventative foot care as an integral part of ulcer and amputation prevention. Foot Care nurses play an vital role in assessment and monitoring of potential problems that could lead to complications. Cracks between the toes, slow healing cuts and sores, thick nails that can hide festering ulcers underneath are just a few of the clues nurses look for.
Why would I need orthotics?
Why Orthotics?
Proper shoes and a possible need for professionally prescribed orthotics can help prevent and alleviate many of the stresses on the foot during walking and in consequence, reduce calluses and other hotspots that can lead to ulcers and amputation.
As we age, the fat pads deteriorate under the bones of the soles of our feet. These bones without padding can be vulnerable to the formation of callouses and put undue pressure on the skin and tissue.
If we think of our foot as a stack of blocks with pins and elastic bands to connect and hold them into place, we can imagine what would happen if just one block is displaced or the elastic band shortened; the entire stack of blocks could no longer function properly and every other elastic band and block would have to compensate.
This happens in our feet, where tendons shorten and pull up on the joints of the toe helping to produce claw or hammer toes. With these changes, the base of our toe bones get pulled and pushed further to the floor leading to callouses related to pressure.
Orthotics help to alleviate these malformations and changes by offloading the bone/tissue that now has to support the weight of the body and reduces the occurance and development of the callouses. The orthotic can be designed to put the foot into a neutral position or correct the foot's position when walking so that the pressures on the toes, joints and tissue is reduced. This is critical for at-risk clients such as diabetics and those with structural joint changes like those with arthritis.
A trip to the podiatrist can help to assess the need for orthotics that is specially tailored to the individual's feet and body mechanics.
Regular maintenance and foot care done by a qualified professional such as a foot care nurse with additional training will help keep your feet at their best. Podiatrists and nurses can work as a team to keep your feet healthy and prevent unnecessary complications that may arise from improper nail cutting, or neglected maintenance of the feet.
Proper shoes and a possible need for professionally prescribed orthotics can help prevent and alleviate many of the stresses on the foot during walking and in consequence, reduce calluses and other hotspots that can lead to ulcers and amputation.
As we age, the fat pads deteriorate under the bones of the soles of our feet. These bones without padding can be vulnerable to the formation of callouses and put undue pressure on the skin and tissue.
If we think of our foot as a stack of blocks with pins and elastic bands to connect and hold them into place, we can imagine what would happen if just one block is displaced or the elastic band shortened; the entire stack of blocks could no longer function properly and every other elastic band and block would have to compensate.
This happens in our feet, where tendons shorten and pull up on the joints of the toe helping to produce claw or hammer toes. With these changes, the base of our toe bones get pulled and pushed further to the floor leading to callouses related to pressure.
Orthotics help to alleviate these malformations and changes by offloading the bone/tissue that now has to support the weight of the body and reduces the occurance and development of the callouses. The orthotic can be designed to put the foot into a neutral position or correct the foot's position when walking so that the pressures on the toes, joints and tissue is reduced. This is critical for at-risk clients such as diabetics and those with structural joint changes like those with arthritis.
A trip to the podiatrist can help to assess the need for orthotics that is specially tailored to the individual's feet and body mechanics.
Regular maintenance and foot care done by a qualified professional such as a foot care nurse with additional training will help keep your feet at their best. Podiatrists and nurses can work as a team to keep your feet healthy and prevent unnecessary complications that may arise from improper nail cutting, or neglected maintenance of the feet.
