What is paediatric flat foot?

Flat feet in kids frequently occurs and the majority of of the time it's not a problem, which means this results in a great deal of debate as to if it is a normal deviation involving no consequence or is the beginning of a problem that needs to be addressed. We have witnessed numerous debates on this on the internet and at seminars, however with no serious general opinion. You will find firmly held opinions on both sides of the argument. An episode of the podiatry livestream, PodChatLive ended up being dedicated to commenting on this controversy. PodChatLive is a monthly live chat with 2 hosts that discuss an alternative issue each month with a different invitee or number of guests that's send out live on Facebook and later on the edited edition is put into YouTube as well as the audio version is made available as a podcast. They already have a fairly significant following within podiatry and those curious about the topics which they talk about.

In the final episode on paediatric flat foot the hosts talked to investigator, lecturer and private podiatry practitioner Helen Banwell regarding the disagreement and problems concerning the symptomatic Vs asymptomatic flat feet in kids and in addition pointed out her views when you ought to treat versus when not to. They discussed the need for asking regarding family history for making that conclusion. In addition they spoke of conservative compared to surgical interventions and how to deal with concerned and anxious moms and dads any time offering their advice to to treat or not manage. Furthermore they talked about the foot orthotic useage habits for the younger individual with flat foot. Helen Banwell is a teacher in podiatry and an Academic Integrity Officer at the School of Health Sciences, and also Associate Director for the international Centre of Allied Health Evidence (iCAHE) with the University of Adelaide in Australia. She is a starting member of Making Strides that is a web based collaboration for all those doing work in foot and lower leg development analysis. Helen has been a lecturer in podiatry at UniSA since 1999, instructing paediatric theory and practical as well as introducing 2nd year podiatry students to teaching clinics.

How did PodChatLive get started?

PodChatLive is a regular livestream for ongoing education for Podiatrists. The seri ises live on Facebook after which it is later added to You tube. Each show includes a different guest or number of guests to talk about a different theme every time. Questions are responded to live by the hosts and guests through the livestream on Facebook. There is also a PodCast version of every show available on iTunes and Spotify as well as the other usual podcast sources. PodChatLive have developed a big following that is growing. The show is seen as one of the ways by which podiatrists will get free ongoing education credits.

In the very first stream which started everything, it turned out entirely unplanned and a unexpected move to make. One of the hosts, Craig Payne from Melbourne found himself in England for two days whilst on the way back home from conferences in Spain and Portugal with not a lot to do. Whilst in the UK he dropped in at Ian Griffith’s house and while discussing after dinner they realised neither of them had ever streamed a Facebook Live so they decided to try it and find out what goes on. They did a livestream discussion from Ian’s house. Inspite of the really “amateur” and thoroughly “unrehearsed” nature of the live stream, it was met with amazingly good comments and they got some deep contemplating questions during the live. So they started questioning if there was some mileage in performing a thing like this with greater regularity. And therefore a regular show was developed to in due course be called, PodChatLive. In this PodChatLive, Craig talks about and reveals which was the research paper that changed his beliefs the most, plus they chat about junk science, pseudoscience, research translation. Other topics come up were concerns on what is incorrect with cuboid syndrome – we know it whenever we view it, but its hard to define. Additionally, they talked about Craig’s most liked airport to eat breakfast at.

What do the small muscles under the foot do?

There are many tiny muscles within the bottom part of the feet and possibly because of their small size they haven't yet received much significance. This has begun to change recently as studies have begun to indicate just how essential those muscles will be to normal functionality and biomechanics of the feet. They seem to perform a key roll in the way we balance and disorders of these little muscles is more than likely an issue in most of the digital deformities. This theme was answered at a recent show of the podiatry live show which is broadcast live on Facebook called PodChatLive. In that episode the hosts talked with Luke Kelly who has written widely in the area of plantar intrinsic foot muscle functionality and exactly how essential they are. Luke outlined the spring-like purpose of the human foot whenever walking and running and the function of these muscles in that. Luke also outlined exactly why it is fake to believe a flat foot might be a “weaker” foot. Luke also discusses exactly why he's personally NOT a fan of the ‘short foot exercise’ and just why conditioning the intrinsic musculature would not result in the medial longitudinal arch ‘higher’ that is certainly a commonly believed myth.

Dr Luke Kelly PhD has over 15 years of clinical knowledge helping people with pain because of musculoskeletal injuries along with chronic medical ailments. Luke has carried out a Doctor of Philosophy in biomechanics and is actively interested in research which tries to improve the comprehending and therapy for frequent foot disorders, for example plantar fasciitis, foot tendon problems, arthritis in the feet as well as children’s sporting disorders. He is right now a Senior Research Fellow within the Centre for Sensorimotor Performance in the School of Human Movement & Nutrition Sciences at the University of Queensland in Australia. His present research is analyzing how the mind and spine includes sensory responses to change the mechanical function of the foot during ambulating.