What your podiatrist can help with

The commonest reason people book. Pain under the heel on the first steps of the morning, pain at the back of the heel, or an arch that has never been comfortable.

• Plantar Fasciitis
• Heel Spurs
• Achilles Tendon Pain
• Flat Feet

Pain in the ball of the foot, a joint that has changed shape, or a toe that no longer sits flat. Assessment works out which of several causes is behind it, because they are treated differently.

• Bunions
• Hammer Toes
• Metatarsalgia
• Morton's Neuroma

Hard skin, splits, itching and odour. Most are a response to pressure or moisture rather than a problem with the skin itself, so the appointment covers what is causing it as well as clearing it.

• Corns and Calluses
• Cracked Heels
• Athlete's Foot
• Foot Odour

Injuries from training, and the ones that build up quietly when load goes up faster than the tissue can adapt. Getting the diagnosis right first, because the return-to-sport plan follows it.

• Ankle Sprains
• Shin Splints
• Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome

Heel and knee pain in active children during growth spurts. Both are stages rather than faults, and both are worth assessing rather than waiting out, because the advice usually is not to stop sport.

• Sever's Disease
• Osgood-Schlatter Disease

Foot problems whose cause sits outside the foot. Diagnosis and any medication are your GP's, and what a podiatrist manages is the foot itself.

• Gout
• Chilblains
• Foot Pain During Pregnancy