A podriatrist, also known as a podiatric physician or doctor of podiatric medicine, is a health specialist who has completed a rigorous four-year period of schooling. They specialized on problems that affect the feet and lower legs. Unlike orthopedist, podiatrist are not medical doctors. They study in a podiatric medical school and then perform three or four more years of residency training in hospital and clinics.
Differences between an orthopedist and a podiatrist
The main difference between orthopedist and podiatrist is the areas of the body they can treat. In the case of podiatrist, they can treat only ankle and foot areas while orthopedists have the authority to treat the entire body if needed. For instance, those cases in which foot or ankle problems originate from other parts of the body like the hip are treated by orthopedist.
The other difference is the academic training they do. Orthopedists is a medical doctor because after completing a four years degree at a medical school, they go through five years of residency training and finally specialized to treat specific disorders. As we said before, podiatrist just complete a degree at a podiatrist school and then do residency training.
Common foot conditions
Podiatrist treat a wide range of foot conditions. They can also be specialist in surgery, wound care, sports medicine, diabetes or pediatric. The more common foot problems are:
Fractures and sprains: Podiatrist usually treat this kind of problems in sports medicine, treating athletes and recommending ways to avoid future injuries.
Bunions and hammertoes: These are bones-related problems. A bunion happens when the joint at the base of the big toe grows bigger or knocked out of place. This problem makes the big toe bend towards the rest. A hammertoe is one that doesn’t bend in the correct way.
Diabetes: This condition occurs when your body either doesn’t make a hormone called insulin or doesn’t used it in the correct way. Insulin helps your body to process the sugar. Diabetes can damage nerves in your feet or legs preventing blood from reaching those parts. Around 65,000 people with diabetes a year need to amputate a foot. A podiatrist can prevent that.
When you should go to the podiatrist?
Feet are composed by 26 bones and include tendons, joints, muscles and ligaments. Both time and certain activities can damage your feet. Any problem must be treated on time to prevent future complications. If you have constant foot pain, thick or discolored toenails, cracks or cuts in your skin, growths like warts or scales on your feet maybe is time to call the trusted podiatrist Wellington Florida.