About Your Feet

Just like our faces and the rest of our bodies - which we tend to be more aware of! - our feet also show signs of ageing and suffer wear and tear.

Your feet deal with a lifetime of constant heavy use – over 75 years, the average person walks around 100 000 miles.

In order to withstand this, the sole of a healthy foot has a thick layer of fatty tissue under the heel, at the toes and, in particular, under the forefoot or ‘ball’ of the foot. This helps to provide protection and shock absorption to your feet and lower limbs while you walk, run, play sport and wear high heels.

As we age, this layer of fatty tissue starts to thin (‘atrophy’), often leading to damage to bone and tissues, difficulty walking and in some cases, immobility. This of course causes severe pain, often felt as a burning sensation under the ball of the foot. This pain is referred to as ‘metatarsalgia’ and is extremely common in people from all walks of life. To make matters worse, this can then lead to the development of corns and calluses - creating even further discomfort and requiring ongoing care.

And age isn’t the only culprit – genetics, high arched feet or just spending prolonged periods on the ball of your feet can all contribute to metatarsalgia caused by atrophied fat padding

Many shoe brands attempt to combat this by increasing the amount of padding in the forefoot area and there are cushioned inserts you can buy to place in your shoes. However, keeping the inserts in place with weightbearing can be difficult and you would have to wear the inserts and/or padded shoes all the time to maintain your comfort levels.

Difficulty walking of course affects the whole body, including the knees and hips and spine and patients have traditionally been referred straight to surgery, as this was seen as the only option.

Fortunately, we now have some great minimally-invasive options that can be done in a clinic setting, without the need for hospital stays and down time.