Podiatry or chiropody: which one do you need?

Let us deal with the confusing part first. Chiropody and podiatry are two different disciplines, but they are very closely connected. The training is the same, which is why the clinicians who practise them can do both. Podiatry is also the more modern term and is the one used internationally, while chiropody is the older word that many people in this country still use and understand.

Both are protected titles in the UK, which means anybody using them must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. That registration is the thing worth checking, rather than which of the two words appears above the door.

So the real question is which kind of appointment suits what is happening to your feet.

The skin and nail side

This is chiropody. Corns, hard skin, calluses, blisters, problem toenails, thickened nails and ingrowing nails. It also covers routine foot care for people who find looking after their own feet difficult, whether through arthritis, reduced mobility or eyesight.

It is particularly important for anybody with diabetes or circulatory problems, where reduced sensation means a small problem can progress a long way before it is noticed. Regular professional foot care in that situation is not a luxury.

Our article on corns and calluses covers that side in more detail, including what not to do at home.

The biomechanical side

This is podiatry. It looks at how the foot functions, how it meets the ground and how load travels through it, which is a rather different question from what the skin is doing.

Feet vary enormously. Plenty of people have feet that roll in or out to some degree and never have a day's trouble. Whether that variation causes you a problem depends on your age, your weight, how active you are, what you do and how much of it you do. The same foot can be entirely fine for thirty years of ordinary walking and start complaining after two months of marathon training.

Abnormal loading does not only cause problems in the foot. It can contribute to pain in the shin, the knee and the hip, which is why a biomechanical assessment sometimes turns out to be the answer to a knee problem that has resisted everything else.

Where it is needed, treatment may include a change of footwear, exercises, or insoles. Those range from simple off the shelf supports to fully bespoke ones, which we make on site here in Haslemere.

Where the two overlap

Constantly. A callus is a skin problem caused by a loading problem. Treat the skin and it feels better immediately. Find out why that part of the foot was taking more pressure than the rest, and it stops coming back. Adult acquired flat foot is another example, where the symptom is pain but the answer is usually about how the arch is being supported.

That is why the two disciplines sit so closely together, and why it helps to have both under one roof. The difference still matters when you book, because it gets you to the right clinician for what you need.

Which appointment to book

If your problem is skin, nails or comfort, book chiropody. If it is pain in the foot or lower limb, a sports injury, or a recurring problem you suspect is about how you walk or run, book podiatry or a biomechanical assessment.

If you are not sure, ring reception and describe what is going on. They are good at working out which appointment you need. Our clinicians work alongside the physiotherapy team in the same building, so if the problem turns out to belong somewhere else, you will be pointed in the right direction rather than treated regardless.

Where insoles are the answer, our page on custom orthotics explains what is involved and how they are made.