How can a Sports Podiatrist help your team?

05 Feb How can a Sports Podiatrist help your team?

A Sports Podiatrist Can Improve Your Team’s Performance

Can a sports podiatrist help your team? If you’re a coach, team manager, or sports program director, you probably deal with a lot of foot injuries. A podiatrist who specializes in sports injuries can help your players perform better and avoid injuries.

What Is a Sports Podiatrist?

A sports podiatrist is a highly trained expert who understands how specific sports movements affect the bones and ligaments of the feet. A sports podiatrist can also help your players deal with leg, knee, and back injuries related to their foot injuries.

Podiatrists can prescribe medications and perform surgeries. They also manage the long-term rehabilitation of sports injuries.

What Conditions Do They Treat?

Some of the conditions they treat include:

• Plantar fasciitis.
• Turf toe.
• Achilles tendonitis.
• Ankle sprains.
• Foot and leg fractures.
• Ligament sprains.
• Overuse injuries.

A Podiatrist Can Help You Prevent Injuries

If you think a sports podiatrist is someone you call after an injury, think again. A podiatrist can help you prevent injuries before the season starts. Here are some ways a consultation with a sports podiatrist can give you a winning edge.

Regular Foot Care

Every athlete needs strong, healthy feet. Regular podiatric checkups are an excellent way to ensure your players have feet that won’t fail them at crucial moments. A podiatrist can spot potential problems before they become major disasters.

Gait Analysis

A podiatrist can examine a player’s gait to determine if it’s likely to cause injuries. While gait analysis usually focuses on how an athlete runs, it’s also important to examine how an athlete walks. Difficulty or pain when walking is a sign of something serious. Overpronation, for instance, is a common gait problem that requires corrective shoes or orthotics.

Shoe Selection

Do your players have the right footwear? Athletic footwear tends to be overpriced and highly marketed. How do you know if those shoes or cleats are the best ones for your feet? A podiatrist can evaluate them for you. When you bring your players in for a footwear consultation, a podiatrist can determine if their shoes are helping or hurting.

Rehabilitation

Proper rehabilitation is critical after a sports injury. Many players repeatedly get the same injuries because the first one never heals properly.

A sports podiatrist can develop a rehabilitation plan that includes exercises, stretching, braces, night splints or other treatments. This rehabilitation will help your players get back on the field at the right time.

Custom Orthotics

Orthotics play an important role in making athletic footwear more supportive. Over-the-counter orthotics don’t provide the individual contouring that a custom orthotic can.

Certain sports put more pressure on the toes, heels, or other parts of the foot. The right orthotics can protect those areas while giving feet the mobility they need for sports.

Make Shuman Podiatry Part of Your Team

At Shuman Podiatry & Sports Medicine, we treat weekend athletes and professional players. Our clinic uses advanced diagnostics and proven rehabilitation techniques. Our 3D imaging machine helps us create custom orthotics that fit your feet perfectly. If your team needs help with basic or advanced foot care, contact us today.