The theory behind sensomotoric foot orthotics revolves around the natural response of the foot and body in relation to how the ground is felt by the feet.

The orthotics are designed to alter how the foot ‘feels’ the ground in particular the timing of ground contact. The body has a preferred movement pattern whether it is the best pattern for you or not. These orthotics are a flexible dynamic orthotic, and help to retrain muscles to more correct muscle movement.

These orthotics are particularly useful in treating neurological problems in children such as Cerebral Palsy, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Idiopathic Toe walking,  Delayed Physical Milestones, and can help with general clumsiness.

Over time, high blood glucose levels can damage the nerve systems in your body, stopping important messages getting to and from your brain. As the nerves to your legs and feet are the longest ones, they are most likely to be affected. Complications of Diabetes can be foot ulceration, infection, abnormal foot shape and unfortunately amputation.

Nerve damage is also sometimes called neuropathy, and it can lead to the following:

• Damage to sensory nerves
• Damage to motor nerves
• Damage to autonomic nerves

David has extensive experience in the Diabetic Foot. He is still practicing as Senior Podiatrist at the RPAH Diabetes Centre High Risk Foot Clinic. All people with Diabetes should have their feet assessed on a yearly basis to check for any Diabetes related foot complications. At Better Health we can perform a complex neuro-vascular assessment as we have a Vascular Doppler to further investigate any vascular insufficiencies, plus a Biosthesiometer which can determine the level of severity of Peripheral Neuropathy.

• A Diabetic Foot Assessment Includes:
• Neurological assessment
• Vascular assessment
• Dermatological assessment
• Musculoskeletal assessment
• Risk assessment

Once we know your risk level for developing Diabetes related foot complications, we will be able to provide appropriate foot education, and advise on frequency of visitations for podiatry.

If you have Diabetes, you should have your feet checked up at least once a year.

As Senior Podiatrist at RPAH Diabetes Centre High Risk Foot Clinic, David can also provide treatment, referral or advice on complex Diabetes related foot complications such foot ulceration or Charcot’s Arthropathy (a progressive degeneration of a weight bearing joint, marked by bony destruction, bone resorption, and eventual deformity.)

Many injuries and conditions that are encountered occur as a consequence of an inherent abnormality in walking and it is only after diagnosing such abnormalities in normal “gait” that an precise and highly specific treatment plan can be created.

Gait abnormalities occur in all manner of individuals but several key areas where we use our system extensively include:

1. conditions which are likely to have arisen as a consequence of biomechanical discrepancies and overuse.
2. the analysis of children with walking abnormalities, with specific knowledge of normal values in children.
3. those individuals with complex injuries which have not responded to other treatments.
4. professional and recreational athletes of all standards who are prone to injury.

When undertaking a patient assessment, our approach is incredibly thorough. The process includes:

• Direct examination of specific injuries, causative factors and history
• Biomechanical examinations: investigating skeletal (including radiological examination if warranted), muscular, fascial, connective tissue and joint structure and function as well as neuronal involvement
• Gait analysis: examination of running and walking, video-based treadmill analysis
• Postural assessment: looking at higher structures including hip, pelvic, back, shoulder, neck and head alignments and how they are relating to the anomalies of leg & foot structure

With video gait analysis, the body is analyzed comprehensively to shed light on the various imbalances which may be contributing towards the patient’s complaint. The information is cross referenced against the medical history and examination and biomechanical assessment.

It is a simple fact that men and women who enjoy sports – whether professional or amateur – suffer more foot-related sports injuries. Running can increase the pressure on the foot by three times the body weight. The twisting, jumping and physical accidents common in many sports, place even greater stresses on the feet and biomechanical system. The cause of many sports injuries is a gradual or sudden change to the body’s biomechanics.

By correctly diagnosing the cause for a condition by means of biomechanical and gait analysis we can then adopt treatment strategies to resolve the condition. Better Health Practice has an extensive range of treatment modalities including specialist rehab techniques, orthotic interventions, and extracorporeal shockwave therapy.