How does a podiatrist get pressure of the foot?
Plantar pressure measurement is a method which is being increasingly utilised in clinical assessments. It's used to examine for things like just how much pressure there exists under the feet, that may be important to ascertain in those with diabetes that are at risk of a foot ulcer. Plantar pressures are also used to help decide how people walk and the force changes during the gait cycle. This may be useful information that will help clinicians prescribe and design foot orthoses. This really is such an essential problem that an episode of the live, PodChatLive was devoted to this. PodChatlive is a Facebook livestream that has 2 hosts and a different invitee on every show where they speak about themes of meaning to podiatry and related subject areas. Additionally it is published to YouTube and as an audio podcast.
In that episode, they spoke plantar pressures and pressure mapping together with Dr Bruce Williams DPM from Indiana, USA. He is a Fellow and former President of the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine and owner of Breakthrough Podiatry in NorthWest Indiana and has considerable knowledge on plantar pressure measurements, pressure mapping and their interpretation and clinical use. He uses both the in-shoe method and pressure mat devices in his facility and has been doing this for nearly two decades now. He is well published on this topic in peer reviewed academic journals, so is in a position to talk about this subject. In the episode of PodChatLive they talked about exactly what the centre of pressure can be and the way it can be used clinically to determine what is happening. They also discussed how pressure data affects his clinical decision making, particularly foot orthotic design. They discussed the pros and cons of in-shoe in comparison to the mat technology and then try to offer some guidance to those who may be looking at introducing this kind of service to their clinics.