Functional Podiatric Medicine
The future of foot & ankle health starts here
Why do you have pain?
That is a functional podiatric doctor's question when a patient presents with chronic foot and ankle pain. We take a holistic view to address the root cause of pain. Besides treating symptoms with pills or injections, we also dig deep to see where the human body can be optimized to heal itself. Stressors, thresholds, and preferences vary from one person to another which is why personalized medicine is necessary.
Biomechanical dysfunction - do the feet need external support with orthotics, specific shoes, physical therapy, and/or surgical correction?
Metabolic dysfunction - what else is influencing pain on a molecular level? We order lab tests to see what’s going on inside of your body.
Stressors - stress is known to magnify pain and decrease healing. Where are the sources, and what can be addressed? We look at social well-being, relationships, physical, spiritual, and mental health, and offer tools and resources to help manage stress in healthy, productive ways.
Nutrition - using food as medicine, we can adjust what we use to fuel our body so that it supports healing, and only add supplements when it’s necessary.
Exercise - some exercise is essential but overdoing it is harmful, where can we make adjustments so that it is compatible with healing?
Lifestyle - what other forces are making the body stay stuck in pain rather than cycle through healing?
Sleep & Restoration - sleep is where our bodies repair and so inadequate or poor quality sleep will negatively affect pain and healing.
What’s Unique About Functional Podiatry?
We Understand The Biomechanics of the Lower Extremity
Functional podiatrists are uniquely trained to understand the biomechanics of the lower extremity and how it relates to the rest of the body. Traditional medicine perceives the feet as an isolated static entity, which can often lead to incomplete or incorrect care. For example, pain in one area may be due to tightness from another area, so we must look at the whole picture in its dynamic form. We simply cannot rely on a 2D x-ray image and not recognize the 3D form of walking. There is so much more to it!
There are a lot of misconceptions and extremist points of view regarding orthotics and barefoot training that can be overwhelming. The reality is found somewhere in the middle and is highly individualized. Some people have inflexible biomechanics that lends them to wearing orthotics for the rest of their lives, while there may be others who have more flexibility and are motivated to be independent of orthotics. Your functional podiatrist can help create a plan that is safe for your foot type.
People living with chronic foot pain deserve more than a few minutes with the doctor. Let’s start your healing journey right now.