Frequently Asked Question’s

These can be very painful and sometimes become infected. The nail grows into the skin usually at the side and can become very inflamed and cause pain with various shoes and activities. The good news is they are easily dealt with, the Podiatrists here can numb your toe and then do a simple surgical procedure which cures the problem and prevents it from reoccurring, sometimes we can do a less invasive procedure and often we can see you the same day to provide instant relief for your symptoms. Book now to get the problem solved and stop this painful condition from stopping you enjoying your life to the full. This practice has been doing nail surgery for many many years and we pride ourselves on the fantastic results we achieve and the help with give to our patients.

These are nails which are infected with a fungus. Usually they become discoloured or yellowed. They can be treated with some topical treatments and regular treatment with the Podiatrist, some of the worse infections may require tablets from the GP. It helps to have them reduced in thickness and as much of the fungus removed during your routine treatment. We offer a test which is very accurate and can tell you within 5 minutes if you do indeed have a fungal nail infection. Once we know this we are able to discuss the best treatment option for you. We often use photographs of the nails to monitor the treatment as it progresses. Often people think they have fungal nail infections but the nails may just be damaged and growing thicker. Booking in for a routine treatment would allow us to see what is the best treatment for you. We offer some specific methods of treating fungal nails including The Lacuna Method™.

These are sore painful areas of thick callous (hard skin), they are not always on little toes or clawed toes, they can be anywhere which is exposed to pressure. Typically they can occur at the side of nails or under the foot. These are easily dealt with by skilled Podiatrists and can be removed in a routine treatment, during which you will be assessed to see if there is any way of preventing their return.

This is hard skin which occurs in response to frictional pressure, it can be easily dealt with, by professional reduction during a routine treatment. During this treatment, we will assess you to see why this callousness is being caused and try to offer help and advice on keeping it away for as long as possible. Often one thing that really does help callous formation is the application of a really good moisturising cream. We recommend our own help4feet foot care cream which is excellent and gives good results, especially on dry split heels.

Heel pain can be due to various things. The most common type is called Plantar fasciitis, however bursitis and tendonitis are among others. It is a good idea to have an assessment to see the cause and go through our 5-step treatment program. The plantar fascia is a connective tissue under the foot which inserts into the heel bone and when the foot isn’t functioning well it can pull too hard into the heel bone and set up inflammation. This causes the often experienced symptom of pain after resting. A biomechanical assessment is often advised to first assess the foot and leg function and then prescription of simple insoles or even custom-made orthotics will help the function improve and thus reduce the pain. Often during your assessment, we use ultrasound to confirm the inflammation of the plantar fascia. We also offer a specific heel pain assessment and treatment appointment. This includes the biomechanical assessment and treatment of either foot mobilisation, taping or laser therapy whichever is thought the most appropriate after your assessment. Occasionally we may give a steroid injection for this condition.

If your feet hurt when you are walking or standing you should see a Podiatrist. Foot ache or generalised pain is often due to dysfunction of the foot when walking/running. The best way to proceed is to book in for a biomechanical assessment which will allow us to determine what is happening and how we might best improve foot and leg function and thus reduce the stress and strain on the feet and therefore allow the aches and pains to settle down.

Laser therapy or Foot mobilisation therapy can also really help any foot or leg pain settle down.

Problems in this area vary from a condition called metatarsalgia to another called mortons neuroma and the treatment is tailored to the problem and cause. The best way to proceed is to book in for a biomechanical assessment which will allow us to determine what is happening and how we might best improve foot and leg function and thus reduce the stress and strain on the feet and therefore allow the problem to settle down. Often during the assessment we use the ultrasound to see into the area of the foot.

Laser therapy or Foot mobilisation therapy can really help any pains in the foot or leg settle down also.

These are enlarged joints which press onto shoes and cause pain and discomfort. Often adaptations to footwear and simple Chiropody treatment to any corns etc can relieve pain in them. Sometimes surgery is required to align the toe again. Booking in for a routine treatment would allow us to treat any associated corns / callous and give the best advice for you on this condition.

These are viral infections on our feet. They are warts and can occur in any position on our feet but typically under the sole. Sometimes they don’t require any treatment at all as they can go away on their own. There are various treatments for verrucas, Walsh Podiatry is a provider of Swift treatment for verrucas which is a great way to help with this uncomfortable irritating condition.

These can be very painful and even cause infections if not treated. Prevention is always better than cure though and simply using a good strong foot cream like help4feet foot cream will really help avoid these nasty cracks that can form in the heel area.

Sometimes they can be quite deep and actually affect our mobility. The skin becomes dry in the area and just as dry arid regions of land split and crack as they dry out so does our skin. The issue is not only does the thick skin around our heels dry out easily due to the lack of moisture getting to the thicker outer layer of skin in this area, but also obviously we are walking and standing on our feet. This pressure causes strain that splits apart the skin when dry and less able to flex. In the winter the blood is diverted deeper into our foot to keep more internal structures warm so it can dry out even more and in the summer they can dry out as often we are wearing more open footwear.

We would always recommend enclosed footwear and socks to be worn to keep warm and moisture in. Plus twice daily using foot creams like help4feet foot care cream can help prevent the issue.

Toes which deform by becoming clawed can range from very mild to severe. Often an imbalance of the muscles in the foot around the toes causes the bones of the toe to flex out of their normal position. This can also be due to damage to tissue under the joint connected to the toe, or even arthritis in the joints. Footwear then can become a big problem as the toe joints will catch on the top of shoes causing blisters and corns. As podiatrists, we can treat the corns to make them comfortable and suggest footwear which will reduce the chance of the pain re-occurring. However if severe this condition can require referral to Podiatric surgery / orthopaedic surgery to either straighten the toe or sometimes amputate it to prevent further complications.

Flat feet are a poor description of a foot that has a very low (flat) arch. This condition is very rare, however, the term gets used far too much to describe anyone who seems to have a low arch profile. The movement of the foot where the arch lowers to the floor is called pronation and a foot that 'over pronates' can sometimes become painful. Therefore supporting the foot and reducing the excess pronation can help treat pain and prevent it re-occurring.