Medicine has many terms that you would find difficult to understand if you aren’t in the field. Many specialists work in the field with different titles, too. One of those is podiatrists – and not many people know what they do and if they are doctors. Different professionals in the medical world deal with various issues. There are specific issues that podiatrists deal with, you can see a podiatrist in person, but they can also provide Telehealth Podiatry Canberra over a video call if necessary. Below, you can find out more about what a podiatrist is and what they do.
Are Podiatrists Doctors?
The first question that everyone asks when they get referred to a podiatrist is if they are doctors. Podiatrists are doctors, but they are not doctors in the same sense as traditional doctors. They go to different schooling and have another association, and instead of having MD after their names, they have DPM – doctor of podiatric medicine. Some of their care includes surgery, reset broken bone order lab tests, and others. They are also licensed to prescribe drugs.
What Do they Do
As stated above, podiatrists are doctors who provide care for patients. Their profession, though, only allows them to deal with feet or lower legs alone. Here, they can treat injuries and also other conditions that affect this area of the body. Most of the time, podiatrists are referred to as podiatric physicians or doctors of podiatric medicine.
Training
Unlike your traditional doctors, who almost certainly go to the same med school, podiatrists don’t go to the same medical school. Instead, they go to podiatry school for four years, and they need to have taken sciences like biology, chemistry, and physics in high school. Most podiatrists have a bachelor’s degree in biology or something in the same field to back it all up. In podiatry school, they study how the nerves, bones, and muscles work together. They will then have also to learn about injuries and other illnesses and how they can affect feet. That means, once they are done with this school work, they can diagnose and treat most of the complications that come with the lower feet. They can also perform surgery if there’s a need for it in the end.
Conditions they Deal With
Fractures and Sprains – these involve common injuries that may affect the foot or the ankle.
Diabetes – severe diabetes can damage your feet, and a podiatrist in Brisbane at Walk Without Pain can deal with that. However, if you have diabetes, you will need additional medical treatment to help you live a normal life.
Arthritis
Heel Pain – a build-up of calcium can cause heel pains and may cause inflammation.
- Growing Pains
- Bunions and Hammertoes
Morton’s Neuroma is a nerve problem between your feet’ third and fourth bones that can cause severe pain and burning. These conditions usually affect runners, and a podiatrist can give you shots for the inflammation.
What Do Podiatrists Do?
A podiatrist is one of the professions that are pretty common today, and that’s because they deal with lower leg and foot problems. Above is who they are and what they do – in-depth. If you are looking to become one, above is what you need to know. If you use this site you will find a lot of information about sports injury clinic singapore
