Foot Injuries Through the Eyes of a Podiatrist

These days, many call themselves podiatrists. I've noticed that nail industry professionals often add podology to their practice and use this terminology as marketing — so the client doesn’t look for the actual specialist elsewhere and stays with them. But let’s try to clarify what exactly a true podiatrist does when working with clients — or more precisely, patients — since the main mission, purpose, or direction of podology is a narrow specialization. That’s how I’ll be writing about my profession — resolving foot injuries.

In my deep conviction, a podiatrist must complete the entire cycle of solving a problem by creating the right conditions for maintaining healthy biomechanics of the foot and ankle.

So how does a podiatrist think when someone comes in with a foot issue? Let’s simulate a case: a patient arrives with inflammation on the side of the big toe — the nail is inflamed in the lateral fold.

A typical "podology specialist" (often working in a beauty salon, providing only aesthetic pedicure/manicure services, having done a few basic podology courses just to fill the niche and offer such services) might comment: “It's an ingrown toenail.” What causes it? They’d briefly list: tight shoes, sports, etc.

A podiatrist sees it completely differently! It's a trauma of the lateral nail fold, deformation of the nail plate caused by onycholysis (which increases the nail’s mobility and alters its growth direction) due to pressure.

Now you may ask: “So what’s the difference? Didn’t both say the same thing, just in different words?”

Yes — but here's the thing. The podiatrist sees three problems, while the other specialist sees only one. And the podiatrist looks for the root cause not in what the person wears — but in how the foot functions while standing, walking, or running. Shoes, clothes, activity — those are just secondary factors that can worsen a biomechanical dysfunction.

That’s why the podiatrist first examines the foot, and only then inquires about the issue that brought the patient in.

The root cause of most foot injuries lies in a dysfunction of the foot’s natural mechanics — only after that come other factors like shoes and clothing.

Unless, of course, we’re talking about direct trauma — like being hit or having something fall on your foot and break it to pieces 😆

There are also autoimmune-related issues — but we’ll talk about those in another article.

So what’s the point I want to make?

Foot injuries are, first and foremost, caused by dysfunction in the foot's support and mechanics, leading to stress on specific pressure points.

If we study the lower limb — the foot’s structure — we’ll see that it consists of many bones, each with its function, ligaments, and as many as three layers of muscles, each with at least as many components as bones.

It’s the muscles that make the bones function correctly. If even one muscle stops working, the strain shifts to the ligaments and bones, disrupting foot mechanics and ultimately leading to injuries.

I’ve seen many times how resolving a biomechanical dysfunction caused the problem to disappear quickly and naturally.

That’s how a podiatrist sees a problem — like a mathematician, immediately mapping out a personal treatment plan, breaking it down into steps, and creating clear algorithms for full recovery and relapse prevention.

And finally:

A good podiatrist is like a good psychologist and lawyer in one — their work is rooted in uncovering cause-and-effect relationships.

Often, people come with injuries rooted in chronic issues they’ve had for years.

And the podiatrist’s job during the first consultation is to thoroughly get to the truth — because from that point on, the entire strategy for effective and lasting treatment will depend.