Podiatry Assessment and Report

Podiatry Assessment and Report

If you have suffered a foot or lower leg injury you may find yourself being referred for podiatry assessment and report. You may be referred for this by a doctor or physiotherapist if you are suffering from a disorder or if recovery from injury or surgery is not going right; being referred for this is usually for long term problems.

Podiatrist

If you are referred for podiatry assessment and report you will be required to visit a podiatry clinic and see a qualified Podiatrist. This is someone who is trained and registered with the Health Professionals Council (HPC) to provide assessment, diagnosis and treatment specifically to the foot, ankle and lower leg. They will determine if the problem is biomechanical meaning that the problem is being caused by the motion and function of certain joints, it may be determined that the problem is dermatological such as fungus based skin diseases such as athlete`s foot and verrucae`s.

Assessment

The first part of the podiatry assessment and report will be the assessment. The Podiatrist will consult you and gain information on your medical history and any medication that you make take. Knowing the medication is important as any tablets or injections you make be taking can affect the body, certain drugs such as high blood pressure pills can cause the feet to become abnormally cold while others can cause the blood to thin out which can prolong recovery time.

You will be asked for GP address and contact details as-well as next of kin, this is standard procedure with any assessment form, you will also be asked to sign the form giving consent for a full assessment of the lower limb.

The assessment will then be carried out with thorough assessment of foot function including motion of the ankle and big toe as-well as an evaluation of the rear foot. If necessary, motion of the hip will also be assessed. This is all part of a biomechanical assessment; you may be required if possible to walk on a video treadmill where details of your motion can be detected.

Report

The second part of the podiatry assessment and report is the evaluation report. This is formed after all tests and assessments have been carried out. The findings in the report will determine what course of treatment is necessary. The Podiatrist will go through the findings of the report and decide if you would like to go ahead with treatment. If this is the case you will be asked to sign forms confirming this.

With conditions such as verrucae`s photographs will be taken to refer to when checking the progress of recovery. Treatments of the podiatry assessment and report may require surgery or orthotics, other time advice on footwear is all that is required.

Surgery is a last option while simple insoles and orthotics are more common, simple insoles alleviate pressure on the affected area while orthotics are custom made to help compensate for any misalignment in the lower limbs.