Explainer | Plantar fasciitis, ingrown toenails, bunions – podiatrist explains how high heels and flat feet make foot problems worse, and why we need to show our feet some love

We subject our feet to a lot of stress, so it’s no surprise that they suffer injury. Our choice of shoes can make things worse, says Brock Healy, a podiatrist

‘I get a lot of job satisfaction, especially from patients who come in hobbling and walk out pain free,’ says Healy, whose practise is in Hong Kong

Reading Time:3 minutes

Our feet are prone to overuse injuries such as plantar fasciitis and stress fractures, and our foot shape and the shoes we wear can make these conditions worse, a podiatrist explains. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 6:15pm, 20 Jul 2023

Feet are funny, are they not? You probably do not spend much time thinking about them until you suffer an injury or feel the chill of a stone floor beneath your soles.

We do not cherish our feet with regular tests the same way we do our hearts, ears, eyes or teeth, or gauge their health like our cholesterol count or blood pressure.

We really do not think about them until we have to – and yet they are the things that keep us upright and mobile.

When walking, says Brock Healy, principal podiatrist at the Hong Kong Foot Clinic, “Our feet generate ground reaction forces of about 1.2 times our body weight and when running, around 2.5 times”.

Brock Healy is the principal podiatrist at the Hong Kong Foot Clinic. Photo: Brock Healy

Not surprisingly, your feet are likely to get hurt at some point. “Due to the large loads that pass through our feet, they are susceptible to overuse injuries in both soft tissue and bone,” he says.