What is a podiatrist ?
Podiatry or podiatrist is derived from the Greek word which pous foot means. Literally translated, so podiatry foot therapy.
In the Netherlands, podiatry since 1982 legally recognized paramedical profession. "Podiatrist" is a legally protected title, which should only be conducted by someone who has completed a bachelor's degree program podiatry. In Belgium, a podiatrist called a podiatrist. This sometimes leads to confusion, because in the Netherlands podiatrist another profession. Below refers to a podiatrist (Netherlands), but is also meant the podiatrist (Belgium).
Treatment
A podiatrist is a certified paramedic and treats people with foot problems and / or complaints caused by abnormal function of the rate, an abnormal foot position and / or an abnormal gait. It is generally to pain and / or discomfort of the feet, ankles, knees, hips and / or back. Podiatrists also give preventive advice and treat abnormal teeth and toe (severe) skin and nail disorders that can not be handled by a (medical) pedicure.
The treatments consist of applying a podiatrist at the foot of remedial and / or protective techniques such as an orthosis and shoe and sole corrections and advising patients. The purpose of these treatments is the removal, reduce or compensate for complaints.
A podiatrist who treats skin and nail disorders which a (medical) pedicure is not competent. With ingrown nails is an example posted bespoke bracket (toenail correction). Deep corns can be removed and, if possible, the cause of pressure and friction is removed (possibly by tools). A podiatrist treats wounds and screens / he preventative diabetic foot and provides advice and treatments to avoid problems at the feet.
Treatment of diabetic patients occurs both in private practices, (para) medical centers and outpatient diabetes (in hospital). A diabetes clinic makes a podiatrist generally part of a team of doctors.
Type symptoms
-State abnormalities feet, including the toes and nails
-Complaints due to overload
-Fatigue
-Specific foot problems in children
-Sports injuries
-Problems elsewhere in the body, caused by an abnormal foot position or an abnormal gait (knee, hip, back)
-Skin and nail disorders in case a (medical) pedicure is not qualified
-Symptoms in patients suffering from diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis, or vascular disease. Examples include open wounds, ulcers (inflammation where necrotic tissue is disposed of, such inflammation often occurs as a crater-like wound) and nail problems.
Specialization diabetes
The timely identification and responding to diabetic issues is essential to ensure proper care for patients with diabetes mellitus. Meanwhile, more than 900,000 Dutch diabetes and each year there are another 70,000 diabetes patients. In addition, an estimated 250,000 people have diabetes without knowing it.
If a person has diabetes mellitus, complications of the foot are very serious and costly complications of this disease. In the Netherlands, about 15% of all diabetic ulcer. Amputation is a real risk if treatment does or does not occur in time. More than 70% of all amputations of toes is performed in diabetic patients and in 85% of these amputations is it an ulcer in advance. More than 70% of all diabetes patients who have undergone an amputation, dies within 5 years after amputation.
Diabetes Podiatrists are specially trained to detect risk factors for wound, even if there are no complaints yet. And are working often with pedicures with diabetes endorsement, medical pedicures, practice nurses and diabetes nurses. Will there still a wound than diabetes podiatrist is often able to overcome that wound that amputation can be prevented. Treatment often occurs in hospitals where multidisciplinary teams treat the diabetic patient with a foot wound.
Diabetespodotherapeuten have knowledge and skills in the field of diabetes mellitus, diagnosis and treatment of the diabetic foot, diabetic ulcers and biomechanical analysis. They are skilled in providing specific information regarding the diabetic foot and in initiating and conducting scientific research.
Specialization sports
Netherlands has an estimated five million amateur and professional athletes. Many of them encounter sooner or later complaints to the feet and / or ankles so they short or long time can not or less sports. A sport podotherapist is specialized in the prevention, recognition and treatment of symptoms with the goal of each level in athletes to improve the quality of the exercise.
A sports podiatrist focuses on the research and (preventive) treatment mainly on the optimal hold and restore the balance between load and load as far as it affects (or may be) on the development of sports injuries. He / she is trained to effectively analyze various sports, a thorough analysis of the movement (injured) to athlete and couples the right therapy to the conclusions of the sports medical (foot) research. Through the functional application of (sports) podiatric methods and techniques a sports podiatrist can prevent musculoskeletal problems, eliminate, reduce and / or offset.
A sports podiatrist is versatile. He / she can work in a private practice, sports clubs, sports federations, the NOC / NSF, a Sport Medical Institution, a Sports Medical Advice, in sports medicine departments in hospitals and professional sports organizations as a professional football organization.
A famous event where sportpodotherapeuten operate are the Special Olympics, the largest multi-day sporting event in the Netherlands, which are held every two years. Special Olympics provides people with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to practice their sport at the local, regional and national level. Sportpodotherapeuten care within this whole the Feet-Fit program where athletes can let their feet investigate and can be screened for possible problems.
Collaboration
The podiatrist can interact with many other health care providers to optimize recovery. In some cases only the podiatrist treats the symptoms. It also happens that the podiatrist is part of a team of therapists.
Locations
One can find a podiatrist in:
-A practice podiatry. The majority of podiatrists in the Netherlands works in a private practice where often other podiatrists are employed.
-A medical center where other (para) medical work.
-A hospital with a foot clinic. More and more hospitals have a special foot clinic where especially diabetes mellitus patients are treated by a multidisciplinary team. That is, the team consists of several (para) medics such as an internist, a vascular surgeon, a general surgeon, a podiatrist, a dermatologist, a rehabilitation physician, an orthopedic technician, a wound nurse, diabetes nurse and a cast master.