FOOT HEALTH AND CARE.

“The human foot is one of nature’s works of art and as such, it has not yet been fully recognized and explained. It will require a deal of scientific investigation before this structure is fully understood” – George Hohmann.

The American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) considers your feet a marvel of engineering. Together, your two feet contain more than 50 bones, accounting for about one-fourth of all the bones in your body. And somehow they also make room for more than 60 joints and 200 muscles, tendons, and ligaments that hold them together and help them move. (Source: Google)

The health of our feet can affect our overall health. The simple walking around an average puts tons of force on our feet. We must not ignore any foot related condition as it seriously affects our quality of life we live.

I love running. And every time I run, I end up with shin splints that severely inhibit my speed and endurance.

It wasn’t till a couple of months ago that I learnt about Orthotics. I got myself a customized insoles made and it has made a lot of difference in my posture and gait.

Rushabh Shah is the founder of Podiapro, who make custom orthotic insoles for sport and medical uses, using state-of-the-art French technology and material. 4 years back, Rushabh had a severe ligament injury in his right ankle while training for Parkour, a sport also known as Free Running that needs ballistic strength. He never fully recovered from the injury and would experience pain in his ankle whenever he tried to run or put impact on the foot. He then learnt about this technology and got a pair of insoles make from Sidas, France. They provided him with much relief and restored his ability to run. And that’s how he decided to offer this technology in India and launched this technology under the brand Podiapro. He is also a freelance radio jockey with All India Radio’s FM 107.1 since 10 years.

He answers a few questions for us.

How different is sports orthopedics from the general orthopedics? Do you think sports orthopedics has come of age or is there a still long way to go...in Indian scenario?

Sports orthopedics is a part of general orthopedics. It revolves around the well being of an athlete. The focus of a sports orthopedic professional is the diagnosis and treatment of a sports injury that has affected the musculoskeletal system and complete rehabilitation of the injury so that the patient is able to get back to being able to participate in the sport, as they normally would have.

Sports medicine has recently started becoming noticeable in India, mainly in metros like Bombay, Bangalore, Chennai. There are physiotherapists who specialize in sports medicine as well. Of course it has a long way to go as we have only a handful of practitioners compared to the burgeoning number of individuals taking to sports and fitness activities like running, cycling, fitness training etc. We also are far behind when it comes to technologies that are available to treat sports injuries.

Podiapro contributes by bringing in world class custom insoles technology to help athletes improve their efficiency, reduce their chances of getting injured, reduce recovery times and also help in rehabilitation and pain relief in case of an injury.

    How important is a good foot wear and how does a person choose a good foot wear according to his/her needs?

Correct footwear is of prime importance for an individual regardless of whether or not they are into sports and fitness. Ill-fitting footwear can damage your foot anatomy which lead to incorrect foot and lower limb biomechanics. This can cause pain in areas like the ankle, knee, hip, pelvis, lower back, spine, neck.

Good footwear is one that has a flexible forefoot, a toe box wide enough to accommodate your toes without having to cringe them, and that has a length that is one centimeter more than the length of your foot to allow the foot to expand after a long day of walking. The shoe should not be too heavy or made of very rigid material.

The problem is that most off the shelf footwear is mass produced and forces the feet to adapt to the footwear. This is the main cause of foot damage and related foot pain. Custom insoles made as per your foot profile can help the footwear adapt to the feet. 

Is orthotics a latest trend or have we started realizing the importance of it? How aware are people about it these days?

Foot orthotics is yet to become a trend in India. It’s a trend in most developed countries and it’s been around for more than 25 years. The awareness of podiatry and foot orthotics is very low in India and that’s what we aim to change by conducting foot assessment camps and workshops.

Orthotics are extremely important for anyone into sports and fitness as they restore a more correct ankle-knee-hip alignment and this reduces excessive loads on the knee and pelvis and reduce the micro-damage that is caused to these joints otherwise.

 

I have been working out in the gym for the past 5 to 6 years. But not all the gym trainers are aware of this foot bio mechanics. Are you doing anything to create awareness among   the trainers?

Yes, we are aware that we haven’t been able to reach out to fitness trainers and we are working on a training module by which we can help them evaluate basic foot posture and gait pattern of their clients, and educate them on how Podiapro’s custom orthotic insoles can be used to alleviate pain in a wide range of cases. Last week we conducted a training seminar on the importance of orthotic insoles at Vesoma, Bangalore – one of Bangalore’s premium fitness and sports rehabilitation centers, where we have recently started a Podiapro clinic as well. The response was encouraging and now we plan to conduct workshops to help the gym trainers do basic gait assessments themselves.

 

 For whom do you recommend Orthotics?

Sports persons and athletes should absolutely use orthotics as the shock absorbers used in them provide protection to their feet and knees from the shock (Ground Reaction Force or GRF) that enters the body as a result of the impact of the foot with the ground. Insoles improve your posture and alignment and thus reduce the chances sprains or stress injuries. Those who have flat feet or excessively pronating feet should also use orthotics. Anyone who experiences pain in their feet, ankles, knees will get pain relief with orthotic insoles. Patients of diabetes should use orthotics to offload excessive pressure points on their soles as these could lead to corns or ulcers. Seniors can get more stability in their step with orthotics; children with flat feet can experience correction when insoles are complemented with the right exercises. Anyone who wants more comfort in their shoes can use orthotics.

A lot of individuals are taking to running these days; however they don’t have the right orientation and they take to running without having the adequate strength or training. They run a risk of getting foot, ankle and knee injuries due to overuse. Running insoles are strongly recommended for this group in order to prevent injuries. At Podiapro, we have a special module for running and other sports like cricket, football, tennis, badminton, cycling, golf and skating. These are designed by French podiatrists in association with sports authorities. These are excellent to be used in these sports to improve efficiency and reduce the chance of injuries. 

Thank you Rushabh for this informative Q & A session.