LEISURE AND RECREATION

 

 

Arguably it is during leisure and recreation that the feet are at highest risk of injury because people during competition, play and leisure activities often have their attention focused elsewhere and are neglectful of warning signs which may be damaging to feet. Further, the risk of injury is often at its peak while participating in high impact activities such as running.

 

 

For the podiatrist in practice, the primary concerns of patients range from performance maximisation and injury management, such as in sports podiatry which is an industry unto itself, to maximisation of leisure time by preventing foot and leg pain and the management of factors such as skin and nail conditions, which can arise as a result of environmental factors associated with leisure and play. To provide a full range of services podiatrists should be mindful of all of the above when treating any given patient, even in circumstances where the patient has not made particular complaint about each of those areas.

 

Sporting footwear should often be viewed suspiciously as appropriate footwear is not always used for the activity to be undertaken, cost factors may play a part, the activity itself my be inherently damaging to feet requiring a particular footwear and in some cases, particularly in competition superstition such as lucky shoes, may play a part in particular footwear being used well beyond its useful lifespan.

 

Intervention may be frequently requested by patients in this category and podiatrists should be aware of recent research concerning the disparity between the function of the foot outside of a shoe, which is as it is most commonly diagnosed, when compared to the function of the foot inside a shoe. In this regard we refer you to the research of Cutcher (2008) which indicates that there may be a disparity of up to 30% in biomechanical measurements in the functionality of the foot when barefoot compared to that within the shoe.