Veruccae

Most parents are unaware that veruccas, usually found on the soles of our feet, which are the blight of children who swim (as they’re often picked up on damp surfaces such as pool surrounds), are caused by the HPV virus.

Verucca is actually another name for ‘wart’ but commonly refers to the black-headed warts that affect our feet. The black head is actually a result of the way the wart pulls blood vessels up towards the surface.

Avoid catching them by:

• Wear flip-flops around the pool and changing room


• Don’t cut toenails too short

If your child has one: Don’t panic – most veruccas clear up of their own accord, although it can take anything up to two years.

The current medical advice is to treat veruccas only if they’re painful. See a podiatrist if they persist or are sore.

From www.supplefeet.com/products you can buy tea tree oil with lemon which is great in the early stages and for more active treatment moderate strength salycyclic acid preparations such as Duofilm and Occusal are recommended for At Home use.

Keeping them covered with a simple elastoplast also helps speed up the resoution of these.

How to Cut your toenails properly

A simple task you would think but as with all things there is a better way.

Best to avoid jagged, sharp edges and for this reason I was asked by the Daily Mail to write a short piece on how to cut your toenails!

My main advice is to follow the natural contour of the nail, ie not just straight across and more gently rounded. Use clippers, not scissors ( they slip) and no digging down the sides.

See a podiatrist for advice on thickened or difficult nails. We can painlessly pare them down for you. What you do not want is to creat the nasty ingrowing toenail pictured.

Use tea tree oil to keep the nails clean and olive oil is always great for adding moisture to the nail plate and gives a nice healthy shine.

BBC newsround

We were featured today on BBC newsround. A programme specifically for kids so we had wonky camera angles and fun "worse feet" stories. With my daughter's assistance we demonstrated flat feet in kids and various insoles to be used to help. the main message was that bad shoes equals bad feet!

Take a look at http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_8290000/newsid_8290100/8290117.stm

keystone effect

I am always reminded about the need to restore the arch.
We do it as Podiatrists in many different ways, usually with insoles or orthotics.
The real arch of the foot is across the middle and is known as the transverse arch. Get this right and the foot is a stable structure. Any problems here lead to hyper pronation and a tilting and rotating of the foot.
Hence the need to stabilise the arch with shoes, insoles or the Hyprocure or other arch procedures.

Buying shoes

Took my child to get a pair of shoes today and the

process was dreadful, she was measured one whole size different and told the shoes did not come in her size, but they do!

We went specifically to get a pair of Start rite lovely red patent shoes for my Dorothy aged 3.

We have had these before and love the style. Classic, good heel counter, well made and in a lovely colour. Her sister has them for school and my only request is that they extend the colours into the bigger sizes.

First stop John Lewis who despite no queues keep us waiting for half an hour. (Why?) Chap comes out and measures her on a Clarks gauge and declares that she is a size 8 and a 1/2 and that the requested shoes are not in stock as they finish that colour (not the style) at size 6 and a 1/2. Not true! We try another style of red patent but they are the last pair and the display shoe, ill fitting and not what we had set out for.

Next stop Russell & Bromley who did pay attention to the queue and the wait was brief. We were measured again, this time on a Start Rite gauge. The young shoe fitter tried the bigger gauge first ,too small, and then the baby gauge which is non-weightbearing. Dolly was declared to be a size 7 and a half! I decided not to ask why she had measured one whole size smaller than the last measurement and thought I would see how it panned out. I asked for the red Mary Jane patents, that were in the shop. The response; that was not possible as they started at 8 and a half!

I insisted on trying the 8 1/2 pair and they fitted well. However when I asked to recheck the sizing and this was duly done and then I agreed to buy the shoes. I was told I would be a "self fit" as I had not gone with her measurement! Apparently this means that any blisters or tripping up caused by the shoes would be my fault!

So in summary

I am invited to speak on womans hour about childrens shoes as a foot expert and am met with this ridiculous scenario when buying for my own child.

Two well known stores, one classic brand and so much mis-information. Actually the red colourway is available on the wonderful Start Rite website easily and simply in a size 9.

So much for getting them professionally fitted!