Footmech – Ensuring Quality Footcare

Welcome to Footmech Podiatry

About Iain Johnston

I qualified as Podiatrist at Witwatersrand Technikon in South Africa in 1989. It involved a 4 year Higher national diploma. I went on to start private practice in Benoni, near Johannesburg, after a year, I purchased a practice from a retiring Chiropodist in Durban, where I went on to practice for 12 years.

I was the 1^st Podiatrist in the natal region to introduce the Biomechanical approach that underpins my experience today. Natal is the home of the Comrades Marathon, and as a consequence I saw a high number of Long Distance runners as patients. I attended the Comrades Expo for 10 years in a row , representing various Running Shoe Brands, providing advice to Runners on Footwear and Biomechanical Running Injuries. I was also involved in seeing rugby, football and cricket players, some at a provincial level.

Moving to the UK in 2003, I started a practice in Reigate and have been here ever since. I purchased the building I currently operate from in 2005 and have upgraded to building to current spec. We now have a pleasant clinical environment to see my patients.

Since coming to the UK, I have had the privilege of expanding my skills into understanding the functional cause of the symptoms we complain about. We aim to utilise the most up to date conservative techniques understanding the cause of the injury or complaint. Once a hypothesis of cause is obtained, it provides a roadmap to improving, the condition presented with.

A Full Range of Podiatry Services

We offer a variety of podiatry related services. We also offer a range of products available for online purchase – check out our store!

Musculoskeletal Conditions

Footmech takes an holistic view of the reasons behind chronic, repetitive or migrating injury. The symptom of a condition is often the latest manifestation of a history before. Footmech uses a combination of foot structure assessment, range of motion, pelvic alignment, soft tissue palpation, movement tests and an in depth previous history to determine the cause of the prevailing symptoms.

Treatments involve , manual therapies including joint mobilisations, Stecco Fascial Manipulation, soft tissue massage, acupuncture, Compex Muscle Stimulation , taping , footwear advice and orthotics to assist improvement in function.

Footmech takes pride in assisting as far as possible without the use of orthoses. These are used only when absolutely necessary to assist improvement.

Tools we use:

The Fascial Manipulation^® – Stecco^® method is a manual therapy based on biomechanical models that introduce new paradigms for incorporating the fascial system into the interpretation of musculoskeletal and internal dysfunctions.

Compex Muscle Stimulation helps maximize your muscular effort by engaging a greater percentage of muscle fibers. Compex targets both Type 1 slow twitch muscle fibers which impact endurance and Type 2 fast twitch muscle fibers with impact power and explosiveness.

Verrucae

Verrucas (verrucae) or plantar warts are small, rough, raised or flattened lumps that occur over the pressure areas of the feet. These are commonly caused by infections with different strains of the human papilloma virus (HPV). The virus may be isolated from the skin cells of verrucae.

Childrens Verrucae……we treat children ultilising a non-invasive, non-caustic, non- inflammatory approach which is very well tolerated with a high success rate.
Adult Verrucae …..We have several techniques depending on the size , site and severity of infection. A discussion on the best approach will determine the technique to be employed.

Treatments:

Faulkner needling, under local anaesthetic, the lesion is pierced multiple times with a thick gauge needle in order to drive viral tissue deeper into the dermis where the body can identify that it has a virus to contend with, and stimulate an immune response.

Swift …This is the latest technology in the battle to beat verrucae. It utilizes microwave to penetrate and disrupt the cells leading to an immune response, as well as disrupting the cells that the virus inhabits.

Electrosurgical Removal – Under Local Anaethestic, the lesion is cauterised and removed with a blade, until the lesion separates from the dermis. The technique is somewhat radical, however, it has a high success rate.

Nail Surgery

Nail surgery is the removal of all or part of the toenail. This is done when a patient is suffering from one of a number of conditions that cause ongoing pain / discomfort and / or infections.

Ingrown toenail

Ingrown toenails have many causes and come in many forms.

They are common in young growing adults, here the sweaty feet, and soft skin can push over the edge of the nail.

Excess pronation can also lead to nail trauma and an ingrown toenail, so improving the biomechanics can assist reduction of nail problems.

Inherited version of ingrown toenails can run through the family. These types normally need nail surgery to rectify.

Nail trauma can lead to an ingrown toenail as the nail may be damaged.

Tight footwear, particularly ladies shoes, can lead to Involution of the nail, which squeezes the edges into a tunnel and forms an ingrown toenail.

Age, nail changes and poor circulation can lead to ingrown toenails.

Fungal infections can contribute as well.

Nail Fungus - Onychomycosis

This is a condition that is becoming more and more prevalent in society. It however is complex in that there are multiple causes. There are also different types of pathogens than can invade the toenails. The initial assessment is to determine the potential source of the condition.

Foot Function, like flat feet can lead to nail trauma that can invite the infection.
Inappropriate footwear can put pressure on nails.
Nail cosmetic application and Shellac can lead to infection.
Sport trauma
Systemic Fungal infection can manifest due to gut fauna and flora imbalances.
Diabetes, obesity ( metabolic syndrome )
Hyperhydrosis – creates a sweaty environment for fungal development.
Isolated trauma – dropping something on the toe, which then gets an infection.