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Episode 64 with Matthew Cotchett [Plantar Heel Pain]

In this episode with are joined by Matt Cotchett who has published extensively within the field of plantar heel pain, and in this episode we tackle the topic of terminology (fasciitis Vs fasciopathy Vs PHP), the associated psychological variables, dry needling, and the best evidence based practice/approach to treating heel pain in clinic.

Audio Podcast:

(download all episodes as podcasts here)

About Matthew Cotchett:
Dr Matt Cotchett PhD is a Lecturer and researcher in the La Trobe Rural Health School at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. He works as a Podiatrist in private practice with an interest in the assessment and management of exercise-induced musculoskeletal disorders. Matthew has a particular interest in the management of pain beneath the heel and completed a PhD which evaluated the effectiveness of trigger point dry needling for plantar heel pain. He regularly teaches dry needling courses to podiatrists across Victoria. Matthew’s research interest is in the psychosocial aspects of musculoskeletal pain, with a particular focus on cognitive, affective and behavioural factors as drivers of pain and disability. In addition, Matthew is leading a project to improve knowledge translation and treatment of people with plantar heel pain.

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Episode 57 with Luke Kelly [Intrinsic Muscles]

In this episode we welcomed Dr Luke Kelly who has published extensively in the field of plantar intrinsic foot muscle function. Listen to him talk about the spring-like function of the human foot, and why it is false to assume a flatter foot is a “weaker” foot. He also explains why he is personally NOT a fan of the ‘short foot exercise’ (and the exercise he favours instead) and why strengthening the intrinsic muscles will never make the medial longitudinal arch ‘higher’. Hope you enjoy.

Audio Podcast:

(download all episodes as podcasts here)

About Luke Kelly:
Luke Kelly has over fifteen years of experience helping people with pain due to musculoskeletal injury and chronic health conditions. He has completed a PhD in biomechanics and is actively involved in research that attempts to improve our understanding and management of common foot conditions, such as plantar heel pain, tendon injuries, foot osteoarthritis and children’s sporting injuries. Luke was the Podiatry service coordinator for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018 and is currently the biomechanics consultant to Cricket Australia. He currently is a Senior Research Fellow within the Centre for Sensorimotor Performance in the School of Human Movement & Nutrition Sciences at the University of Queensland. Luke’s research examines how the brain and spinal cord integrate sensory feedback to adapt the mechanical function of the foot during locomotion

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Episode 48 with Debbie Turner [Rheumatology]

In this episode with chatted with Prof Debbie Turner who gave us a taste of the role of a Podiatrist within a specialist Rheumatology service, the pathologies commonly seen and her approach to the assessment and management of these patients. She also gave some great tips for clinicians who don’t work within Rheumatology, but may well be missing conditions due to their ability to masquerade as musculoskeletal issues.

Audio Podcast:

(download all episodes as podcasts here)

About Debbie Turner:
Professor Debbie Turner, PhD is the Director of Academic Program for Podiatric Medicine at the Western Sydney University. Since graduating in 1996 she has always worked clinically and developed a specialist scope of practice in the areas of gait analysis and imaging. Debbie gained an Arthritis Research UK academic fellowship in 2007 and undertook training in musculoskeletal ultrasound and injection therapy to support research activities. The application of an integrated imaging and biomechanical approach to understanding chronic diseases including diabetes and inflammatory joint has been the focus of research activity. She has published extensively in the field of rheumatology, helped to build capacity in podiatry research through PhD supervision and I am currently working on a number of research studies where ultrasound is a fundamental component of the work.

More:
Podiatry Arena threads on rheumatoid arthritis and the foot

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Episode 39 with Dylan Morrissey [Shockwave Therapy]


In this episode we talked with Consultant Physiotherapist, academic and researcher Dylan Morrissey about the evidence base for shockwave therapy, the robustness of the methodology often employed within such research, what foot/ankle pathologies shockwave is indicated for and whether there are any key contraindications or risks associated with its use.

Audio Podcast:

(download all episodes as podcasts here)

About Dylan Morrissey:
Dr Dylan Morrissey has over 25 years experience of working in sports and exercise medicine. He completed his MSc at University College London in 1998 and a PhD in 2005 at King’s College London. He is now an NIHR/HEE consultant physiotherapist and clinical reader in sports and musculoskeletal physiotherapy at Bart’s and the London NHS trust / BL School of Medicine and Dentistry, QMUL. He is a fellow of the HEA and provides clinical leadership to the intercalated BSc and MSc in Sports and Exercise Medicine (SEM). He runs the Human Performance Laboratory. He has gained more than £5m in research funding, with a third as lead applicant, and has authored ~ 60 peer-reviewed full papers. His main research interests are tendinopathy, evidence translation and the link between movement and pathology.

Follow Dylan on Twitter

FYI, Podiatry Arena threads on shockwave therapy.

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Episode 28: Alicia James [Calcaneal Apophysitis (Severs Disease)]

In this weeks episode we talked with Alicia James about the latest thoughts on calcaneal apophysitis (Severs disease). We talked about the issues of it it should be called “severs disease” or “calcaneal apophysitis” and what are the evidence-based methods to treat it.

Audio Podcast:

(download all episodes as podcasts here)

About Dr Alicia James BPod, MHlth Sci(Pod), PhD
Alicia is a podiatrist who has worked in public multidisciplinary clinics assessing and treating paediatric foot and lower leg conditions. Alicia is currently Head of Podiatry at Peninsula Health, Director at Kingston Foot Clinic and Children’s Podiatry.

Alicia has a strong commitment to the podiatry profession, being a director on the APodA (Vic) board, past president of the APodA(Vic), past chair of the Victorian Paediatric Podiatry Special Interest group and was awarded the Jennifer O’Meara Award early in 2010. She is also a credentialed Paediatric Podiatrist as awarded by the Australian Podiatry Council. She is one of the five podiatrists in Australia who have achieved this.

Alicia was recently awarded her PhD. Her research involved undertaking a large clinical trial of treatment options for calcaneal apophysitis (Severs disease) in children.

More:
For more about this topic, see the Podiatry Arena threads on calcaneal apophysitis and this on Severs disease treatment.