Our Approach to Offering the Best Foot & Ankle Care

Dec 17, 2018

Humans aren’t machines.

Okay, sure, in some ways they are, depending on your point of view. But fixing a person—or a person’s feet—is a lot different from fixing a car or a computer.

For example, if you blow out a tire on a pothole (and what Michigander hasn’t?), the fix is simple: you replace the tire.

Something like heel pain, though, is a lot more complex. And if you try to take a one-size-fits-all approach to treating it, you might not get better as quickly or as completely as you’d likely.

Offering the highest quality foot care to our Southwest Michigan patients is something we take very seriously at Kalamazoo Podiatry. Here’s how we do it.

Comprehensive Treatment Options

If you work in the medical field—and you want to be good at what you do—you know that your education never stops. Not even after four years of podiatry school and three years of residency!

The field of medicine is always changing, adapting, and improving. Every year, more medical papers are published than one could ever possibly read. New treatment techniques are developed. New advanced technologies and therapies become available.

At Kalamazoo Podiatry, it’s our job to make sure we never stop learning and we’re always incorporating the latest evidence-based approaches to our treatment repertoire—on top of being a “one-stop” location for all your footcare needs.

That’s why we’re proud to be the only foot clinic in Kalamazoo offering MLS laser therapy, a revolutionary new way to accelerate healing and quickly relieve pain an inflammation from sports injuries, neuropathy, and other painful conditions.

It’s also why we distribute a wide selection of foot care products straight from our office, including braces, walking boots, splints, padding, creams, and sprays—saving you time, money, and a trip to the pharmacy.

Patient Education

Here’s something most of us can relate to.

You’re at the doctor’s office—a specialist that maybe you’ve never seen before. You’re nervous. You have certain symptoms, but you’re not quite sure what’s causing them.

After waiting forever, you finally get your time with the doctor—and it’s deeply unsatisfying. You only get a couple of minutes, and you don’t feel like you were really listened to. Any questions you ask receive only short responses. You’re given a treatment recommendation, but you’re not quite sure why it was given or if it will help.

We’ve been in that situation before, and it’s exactly the kind of thing we want to avoid in our own practice.

We feel that it’s extremely important to slow things down a bit and take the time. We want you to ask as many questions as you want! And we’ll work hard to answer them as thoroughly as possible so that you can understand the answers.

If you understand your condition, and why we’re recommending what we’re recommending, you’re going to feel much better after leaving the office. You’re going to feel like your treatment has a purpose. If you’re honest with yourself, you’re probably going to be more likely to follow through on your home care.

A Personalized Approach

We alluded to this at the beginning of this blog, but we’ll reiterate it because it’s an extremely important concept.

For many conditions, there is not one single approach to treatment that has to be taken. Often there are several valid, effective treatment protocols we could pursue. But at the same time, what works for one person might not work for someone else—or at least won’t be the best fit.

Why the difference?

In some cases it could be about the underlying cause of the condition. For example, your plantar fasciitis might primarily be the result of poor footwear choices, while someone else is in pain because of a structural problem with their feet. Different causes can require different approaches.

But in other cases, it’s you that makes the difference. Your goals. Your lifestyle. What you want from your treatment.

For example, if you’re playing on a sports team or you have an occupation that keeps you on your feet all day, you might choose an aggressive treatment plan focused on getting you back on your feet in the shortest possible timeframe, rather than one that requires more time and rest.

Or let’s say you have a bunion, and it’s causing you pain when you perform certain activities—like running or playing tennis.

If those activities are important to you and you just won’t be as happy with your quality of life without them, then you might be more inclined to undergo surgery. But if you’re just as happy performing alternative activities that aren’t causing pain, then it might be better to wait and manage your bunion conservatively.

Bringing It All Together

So what’s the logical outcome of a practice that provides comprehensive options, listens, educates, and personalizes?

It boils down to this. Our approach is to:

Give you the fullest possible understanding of your condition—what’s wrong and what caused it.
Offer you as many high-quality and effective treatment options as possible, and explain the pros and cons of each approach.
Work alongside you to select a treatment plan that’s right for you, based on your condition, your needs, your lifestyle—rather than simply tell you what to do.

Educated patients are empowered to get the most out of their foot care and will get the best results—especially from a practice that works hard to make the best treatment options convenient and available.

If foot pain is encroaching on your quality of life, we want you to understand that treatment is available. Your feet should not hurt, and we have a team of professionals who can treat and cure you.

For more information about the services we can provide, please feel free to review the information available on this website—it’s freely available for your benefit. When you’re ready to make an appointment, please fill out a contact form or give us a call—dial (269) 373-1019 for our Kalamazoo office, or (269) 673-8757 for Allegan. We look forward to serving you!