Leg to toe, I've got you covered!
Yes, it's true I treat a lot of Victoria runners and other athletes with knee and foot pain. But I also help many regular folks who just want to be rid of their knee, foot and other leg pains so they can get back to doing the activities they love. Maybe your foot is so sore you can’t put any weight on it. Or perhaps your knee pain has been getting worse over a long period of time for no apparent reason. Maybe you are suffering with metatarsal pain that causes your foot to cramp when you walk too far, or you have pain around your hip or in your groin that’s affecting your gait.
Lower leg injuries, especially of the knee and foot, are vast and complex, and finding the right treatment quickly is often difficult. As a life-long runner, I have experienced virtually every type of leg injury first-hand, and know all too well how frustrating it is to have the activity you love curtailed by pain. What I have learned from 50+ years as a competitive runner, and over thirty-five years as a health practitioner, is that the cause of a knee, foot or leg injury may not be as simple as it may appear on the surface. Once I have diagnosed the underlying cause of your pain, I'll provide you with my recommendations for getting better in the shortest amount of time.
How I treat leg, hip and foot pain
Finding someone with the knowledge, experience and right ‘tool box’ of treatment tools to help you get back to pain-free movement as quickly as possible is paramount. My experience is that the best practitioners at treating leg and foot injuries are those with strong sports backgrounds themselves. They understand running and movement, they think it, they live it. They not only know the biomechanics of lower limb movement, but also the psychology of athletes and active people, and how best to harness this to enhance recovery. It is this insight and experience that I bring to every active patient who limps into my office.
Combined, I have been a runner and in practice helping runners and athletes for nearly 100 years. Yes, that’s a crazy amount of time! While the bulk of this time has been spent learning the hard way, first-hand, about various leg and foot injuries and how best to recover from them, I’ve also had the privilege of helping many injured athletes get better. It begins with getting the diagnosis right. To do this, I start with a detailed sports and fitness history, followed by a thorough examination of the area of complaint. I will examine your gait and posture, and perform specific strength, mobility and balance tests. Once I understand the precise nature of your injury or condition, and what caused it, I can begin to help you recover.
Like most doctors, I started practice with a pretty meager ‘tool box’ of techniques and approaches to offer patients. But doctors have good reason to use the word ‘practice’… As the years and decades went by, my experience and learning grew, and my tool box became filled with techniques that are not only evidence-based and cutting-edge, but also ones I have found personally, though extensive trial and error, to be the most effective.
Depending on the nature and severity of your injury, my experience will assist me in selecting the best treatment approach or technique to help you. For athletes and active patients with particular joint problems, this may be precise, gentle movement techniques using my hands or an instrument. For patients with muscle or tendon conditions, I use a combination of techniques such as TRIGENICS, A.R.T., PNF or trigger point therapy, among others, to help restore normal muscle tone and function. Specific strength and balance exercises may be introduced to address particular deficiencies. I might recommend particular strength, stretch or other exercises and techniques to use at home or at the gym. For some patients, their foot and gait mechanics might benefit from custom orthotics made specifically for their feet and running/walking needs.
Years of experience combined with my post-graduate training has taught me that many patients with chronic running or walking-related injuries have an underlying postural or spinal alignment problem. It is critically important for long term symptom relief that these alignment issues are correctly addressed. It goes without saying that if your body is out of alignment, and you’re putting a lot of miles on it, something is going to break. Therefore, as soon as your pain is getting better, I may recommend a rehab program to improve your postural alignment to as close to normal as possible.
Besides teaching you key exercises to help resolve your running or walking injury, I will also provide you with the knowledge and on-going support so you can help yourself stay injury-free.