Chiropody

Common Foot Problems

Chiropodists come across a variety of foot problems daily, with the most common problems being:

Hard Skin

A build up of skin under the soles of feet, can thicken and become very painful. This is called ‘Callus’ in Podiatry, but most people refer to it as it hard skin. As this builds up and becomes dry, the skin loses the flexibility it needs.

It can be caused by friction or stress on the skin, very often caused shoes that are too tight or too loose.

Corns

Much like a Callus but more focused on a small area, as a result of direct pressure on the skin. Corns form as skin builds up and hardens into an inverted cone shape, with the point on the inside. Any pressure on this area can feel similar to having a stone in your shoe.

Ingrowing Toenails

This can be incredibly painful when the nail grows into the surrounding skin. This can be caused by trauma to the nail from dropping something heavy on it or poor cutting.

Services

Routine Chiropody

Nail cutting and maintenance, corn and hard skin removal.

Ingrowing Nails

This can be treated conservatively, with relief from the pain being almost immediate.

Nail Surgery

The ingrowing nails persist, nail surgery can be done under local anaesthetic to remove all or part of the nail that is affected.

Verrucas

These are caused by the human papillioma virus, which is the same virus that gives us cold sores. Conservative treatment involves removal of hard skin, that the virus builds up around it and applying cream after this. This usually stops them persisting, taking a few weeks for the verruca to be gone.If not, stronger treatment may include applying stronger acid, cryotherapy with freezing agents, microwave or needling.

Biochemical Assessment

An examination of the bones, joint and muscle groups in the foot and lower leg to identify the cause of foot pain. After diagnosis of the problem, exercise, orthotic insoles or both can be used to treat the problem.

About Our Chiropodist

Jon Izzard qualified as a podiatrist having trained at  the Birmingham School of Podiatry, with a BSc (Hons) degree from Aston University.

As well as completing the three year degree course, including 1000 hours of clinical experience, all podiatrists have to maintain current knowledge of the profession and develop further skills through attending continuing professional development programmes, a requirement of registration with the Health & Care Professions Council.

HCPC registration ensures quality and professional standards of care. You can always check the registration status of any health care practitioner and ask to see their certification.

Jon is registered with the profession’s governing body, the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists (SoCAP) and this membership provides further quality assurance, as well as insurance cover.