Accessing Health Care

As people get older it's common for them to become less steady on their feet and to start to have falls. While this is sometimes down to medical conditions or medications, it can also simply be something that happens as people get older. If you've noticed this happening with your parent, and your doctor can't find a physical cause outside of their age, then a podiatrist may be able to help keep your parent on their feet. How does this work?

Checking for Foot Problems

A podiatrist can check your parent's feet to see if there are problems that may be making your parent unsteady. For example, corns, bunions and areas of hard skin put pressure on the feet. This pressure may affect older people more than younger people and may make walking and maintaining a good balance difficult for them. Clearing up these problems may make it easier for your parent to get around more steadily; orthotic devices, like lifts and insoles, may help make walking more comfortable.

Checking for Gait Issues

Your podiatrist will also assess how your parent walks generally to see if there are any gait issues that might be affecting balance. The way people walk often changes as they get older. Muscles become weaker and walking may be affected by medical conditions such as arthritis; sometimes, people simply slow down and adopt more of a shuffling walk rather than lifting their feet off the ground. Your podiatrist may be able to help improve your parent's gait by getting them to do gentle exercises to improve muscle strength and to encourage them to adopt more stable ways of walking.

Checking Footwear

Your parent may be having balance issues if they are wearing shoes that don't fit correctly or that don't give them the additional support they need for their age and gait/balance issues. For example, wearing the same pair of slippers for most of the day may not be helping your parent. Basic slippers can become loose over time, and your parent may shuffle along to try and keep the slippers on. A podiatrist can take a look at your parent's footwear and make recommendation on any changes that may make safe walking more achievable.

Bear in mind that the basic fear of having another fall may also be making your parent walk less confidently which could, in turn, make them more likely to lose their balance. Having a podiatry assessment may deal with some of this worry and make your parent walk more confidently.