Conditions Treated

Highgate Podiatry specialise in the gentle care of ingrown nails.

We will educate you on proper nail cutting techniques, as well as the best way to treat fungal toenail infections.

Ingrowing toenails can be an incredibly painful issue. Most often we can provide instant relief of your painful ingrown nail. We know how much they hurt and we’ll take the upmost care.

For recurrent infected ingrown toenails we can offer you regular maintenance care to prevent them occurring, or a minor surgical procedure in the clinic for a long-term solution.

Toenail problems tend to be more common with advancing age. Problems include fungal infection, nail deformities and brittle nails.

Causes of nail problems include trauma, ill-fitting shoes, poor circulation and infection.

Corns and calluses can develop due to pressure on the foot, this could be due to footwear or due to the way we stand, walk or run. The body responds to the pressure by producing thickenings in the surface layer of the skin. These hard patches of skin are called calluses and are part of the body’s defense system to protect the underlying tissues.

If the cause of pressure is not relieved, calluses become painful. Common sites of corn and callus formation include the ball of the foot, under the big toe, tips and tops of toes and between the toes.

The presence of a central ‘core’ suggests a corn has formed. Corns can be in the form of hard or soft corns. Corns and calluses can cause inflammation, which can result in pain, swelling and redness.

Treatment options and solutions range from removing the callus or corn, to footwear advice, redistributing the pressure with the use of padding or strapping and in some cases orthotics.

Warts, also referred to as plantar warts, verrucae and papilloma, are a growth on the foot caused by the Human Papillomavirus. This virus can be easily picked up when the foot is wet as this breaks down the foot’s natural skin barrier.

Warts on the feet can present as single round lesions or multiple mosaic lesions.

Warts are very common in children, patients with suppressed immune systems are also more prone to warts.

When warts occur in a weight bearing area of the foot a wart will grow into the superficial layers of the skin. These warts often cause pain as they can press on nerve endings.

If left untreated warts can sometimes grow bigger and spread to other parts of the feet making treatment more difficult.

Diabetics need to take great care of their feet to prevent serious complications as the disease can cause damage to the nerves and blood supply.

The loss of nerve function (neuropathy) in the legs and feet typically develops overtime and foot injuries, ulcers, infections, and other problems can occur painlessly.

Blood supply becomes reduced or altered, which prevents foot injuries from healing.

Symptoms of diabetic foot problems include pain or a tingling foot sensation in the feet at night. Common diabetic foot problems include:

• Foot ulcers
• Swelling
• Cuts and sores
• Corns
• Ingrown toenails
• Deep infections
• Charcot fractures (unrealised fractures because lack of sensation does not cause pain)

Diabetics should see a Podiatrist regularly. Your Podiatrist can provide comprehensive ongoing treatment, in conjunction with your Doctor and other diabetes professionals.

Treatment options range from regular foot maintenance, ulcer care, footwear advice and in some cases customised orthotics (insoles).

Orthotics are shoe inserts that improve foot function and lower leg mechanics. The main purpose of orthotic therapy is to adjust the position of your feet to improve foot function and overall biomechanics. They can help reduce a number of symptoms including back, hip, knee, leg, ankle and foot pain.

Custom orthotics are made specifically to suit your feet. Uncomfortable custom orthotics are those that have been poorly prescribed.  Torben makes custom orthotics in his clinic, they’ll be made to suit your unique needs.

When custom orthotics are required, your feet will be plaster cast, to enable the production of an exact model of your feet.

If your orthotics are looking tired but are functionally correct, recovering them is a simple way of extending the life of your orthotics. Modification of orthotics is common and Highgate Podiatry can make these minor changes.

Bunions are often seen as a bump on the side of the big toe. A bunion occurs when the joint at the base of your big toe becomes enlarged, sore and swollen.

Your big toe may start to angle toward your second toe, or move underneath it, this puts the other bones out of alignment, producing the bump that we call the bunion.

Bunions are progressive. They begin with the leaning of the big toe, gradually changing the angle of the bones over the years and slowly producing the characteristic bump, which can continue to become increasingly prominent.

Bunions can be painful; if you are experiencing problems with your feet then come and our Podiatrist and find out your treatment options.

An ulcer is breakdown of the bottom layer of the skin (dermis). It provides a direct route into your bloodstream and other deeper structures like bone. If neglected an ulcer will lead to infection and this infection may spread to the bone and other parts of the body.

Ulcers on the feet can be caused by excess pressure, poor blood supply or poor blood flow.

Neuropathic ulcers are pressure ulcers caused in patients who have neuropathy (no feeling in their feet) and can be common in diabetic patients.

Heel pain commonly causes pain when getting out of bed in the morning. It often recurs throughout the day especially after rest and prolonged movement.

Plantar fasciitis or more correctly Plantar Fasciosis is often referred to as ‘stone bruise’ or ‘heel spurs’.  It is an inflammation or irritation of the plantar fascia that extends from the heel to the toes. The attachment at the inside of the heel becomes irritated and then inflamed resulting in heel pain.

The pain often decreases a short time after being on your feet. The pain may or may not increase with time on your feet. The pain may increase over a number of months.

People with either overly flat feet or high-arched feet are most prone to developing this heel pain.

Plantar fasciitis is an overuse injury where excessive pronation (fallen arches) adds additional tension to the plantar fascia causing the initial irritation.

Spending long periods of time walking on hard surfaces and wearing low flat shoes that have little support can increase symptoms.

On X-ray, heel spurs can be found in patients with heel pain, these are great indicators of tension at the attachment however these are rarely a source of pain.

Sever’s disease is the most common cause of heel pain in pre-adolescent and adolescent children. It occurs most commonly in (but is not limited to) physically active children between 7 -14 years of age.

Sever’s disease is most often caused by inadequate footwear, playing sport on hard surfaces, calf tightness and biomechanical problems.  The disease is caused when the leg muscles become tight and overstretched or by repetitive stress being placed on the growth plate of the heel bone. Over time this stress causes micro-trauma, inflammation and pain.

The treatment for Sever’s disease can vary from resting from sports, cold packs, stretching and strengthening exercises, footwear advice and heel inserts for shoes and trainers.