About Me
The inspiration for Newmans Foot Health came from my 91-year-old nan who through age and health issues struggled to confidently leave the confines of her home to see a Foot Health Practitioner and take care of her ageing feet. The sheer logistics of such a need encompassed organising appointments, taxis to and from a clinic as well as the worry of any treatment needed. Even asking for a chaperone became a task in itself. Looking into getting help down different avenues highlighted that the NHS was sadly overstretched leaving a void for a private footcare providers to fill. We were recommended by a friend of a private mobile footcare practitioner and was very fortunate to book my nan in a home visit on a regular basis. She continued to take care of her feet when she had to go into a care home. Over my working years I had always felt my job was missing something. I felt that the ‘rewarding feeling’ people would speak about was missing for me. So recently after losing my father it made me look at things in a whole different perspective. I wanted to make a change to my life and other people’s lives. So, I decided to make Newmans Foot Health a reality. A mobile foot clinic that would bring care back to those who needed it in the comfort of their own home, and at the same time give me that rewarding feeling I had been looking for by knowing I was helping people and making a difference to their lives. After lots of hard work and studying, it resulted in gaining a Diploma qualification from Stonebridge College which now has allowed me to run an successful business doing a job I love.
I am a member of the Accredited Register of Foot Health Practitioners, and DBS checked. I am bound by the Code of Ethics, Rules of the Association and professionally insured. I provide a highly professional service where comfort, safety, hygiene and confidentiality are paramount.
Services
What is a Foot Health Practitioner?
A Foot Health Practioner (FHP) is qualified to provide routine footcare and maintenance for your feet. They can assess the condition of your feet and treat as appropriate and refer you if necessary.
Our feet are with us our whole lifetime and more and more people need some form of simple footcare to maintain the well being of their feet and ensure they remain mobile and have an excellent quality of life. Having diabetes means that the well being of your feet is of even greater importance and a FHP can provide a service where your feet are well maintained and any troublesome conditions can be spotted in their infancy and referred on.
Foot problems are very common and can affect every one of all ages. From corns and calluses, to bunions and hammertoes, what often may appear as something small and insignificant, can pose great difficulties with footwear and with many daily activities like work and exercise. Additional problems may complicate matters, such as diabetes and poor circulation. With regular foot care, foot problems can be prevented.
Looking after your feet is one of the most important aspects of personal health care, whatever your age. During your lifetime, your feet could walk the equivalent of four times around the world! When we are young, the joints and ligaments in our feet readily adapt to the shock of absorbing our weight. As we grow older, structural changes like bunions and hammertoes can afflict these joints and limit their range of movement. Ligaments and tendons become less flexible and the foot needs more support and padding to adapt to the strain of carrying you around.
To make sure that your feet stay healthy, you need to look after them, keeping them clean, warm and well supported. Caring for the feet is important to avoid foot pain as well as foot problems in the future.
Why Use a Foot Health Practitioner?
There can be many reasons for using a Foot Health Practioner, from routine nail cutting to general foot improvement and health or even for specific foot complaints such as verrucas or ingrowing toenails. The service offered is to ensure your feet are healthy and in the best possible condition, whatever your age.
An FHP maybe used if you have mobility and/or flexibility issues or simply don’t have sufficient hand strength to operate nail clippers. It could be that your eye sight is not sufficient for accurate nail cutting and once a nail has thickened it can be very hard to cut. An FHP can deal with all of these issues for you.
To be a FHP you need to study and complete a Diploma in Foot Health Practice, where you are taught correct procedures and safe techniques, including safe scalpel technique.
Foot Health Practice requires practical skills, but these need to be backed up by a good understanding of the structure that we work upon (the foot), and how it relates to the rest of the body.
The foot cannot exist without the systems that support it:-
• the skeletal system means that it can take weight and support us
• the musculature makes the skeleton work
• the vascular system supplies nutrients and oxygen to the tissues, and removes waste products
• the lymphatic system helps defend us from infection
• the nervous system gives sensation and protection
• the endocrine system is involved in supporting our cells and keeping tissues healthy
In order to work safely upon the foot and understand the processes which must occur to keep the foot fully functional, FHP's learn how these systems work so that they are able to recognise what happens when the systems fail.
What is the difference between a Foot Health Practitioner, a Chiropodist and a Podiatrist?
Foot Health Practitioners and Podiatrists both have important roles to play in the community. Nowadays there are fewer Chiropodists in the community. In 2005/6 the terms Chiropodist/Chiropody/Podiatrist/Podiatry became “protected” following government legislation. This meant that the schools that used to train Chiropodists then had to re-name their graduates, so from mid-2004 onwards the Foot Health Practitioner came into existence!Foot Health Practitioners provide the routine foot care that the majority of people require on a regular basis ie. Toenail Trimming, Ingrown Toenails (that do not require surgery), Corns, Calluses, Fungal Infections, Verrucae, Diabetics (who have their condition under control) etc. They are privately trained (ie. self-funded) to diploma level. Some Foot Health Practitioners undertake post-graduate studies to qualify in bio-mechanics, Cryo-surgery etc. and some even go on to undertake Podiatry degrees. Podiatrists provide care to “at risk” patients ie. Diabetics whose condition is out of control, surgical procedures, biomechanics etc. Very often a Podiatrist will specialise in particular area. They can also provide the more routine footcare that the Foot Health Practitioner provides. They are trained and funded within the NHS and trained to degree level. They can be registered with the Health and Care Professional Council (HCPC). Foot Health Practitioners do have the option to register with the Accredited Register of Foot Health Practitioners which is overseen by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (who also oversee the HCPC).
Would you like to book a treatment?
Whether you would like to book an appointment with a Registered Foot Health Practitioner on behalf of yourself or a loved one, or whether you are interested in finding out more about the foot care services we provide, please don’t hesitate to give me a call.
Find Us
Capel St Mary, Suffolk