Treatments

Supramalleolar orthoses (SMO) are a form of ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) for children, which is a medical device to help guide the gait development of a child. Unlike the AFO, SMO’s support extends just above the ankle bones (malleoli) and is less visible when worn in shoes.

SMO are most commonly in children with paediatric flat feet, particularly to improve their stability and allow them to develop better motor functions. SMOs are also used in other conditions such as toe-walking or metatarsus adductus.

PACT Antifungal Therapy or Photodynamic Antimicrobial Therapy is an advanced non-invasive treatment designed to treat fungal nail infections. It is a painless treatment with practically no side effects and is commonly used in conjunction with topical antifungal treatment to achieve the best outcome.

Wart needling and curettage is a wart removal treatment and a minimally invasive procedure designed to treat plantar warts (verruca). This method is also known as Falknor’s needling method, which was introduced by Podiatrist Dr Gordon Falknor in 1969.

The principle behind this technique is to break down the wart tissue and allow blood to reach the area. This recruits the body’s immune cells to recognize and kill the viral-infected cells.

Partial nail avulsion is a procedure that involves removing a portion of the toenail from its nail root. The technique is designed to treat ingrown toenails by removing the entire nail edge that is cutting into the sides of the skin.

Several methods of partial nail avulsion are performed, some of which, especially the traditional techniques, can be very invasive and often done in an operating theatre. At Straits Podiatry, a partial nail avulsion can be easily performed in the clinic using a minimally invasive method within 30 minutes.

Magnetotransduction therapy or extracorporeal magnetotransduction therapy (EMTT) is a non-surgical treatment device that uses a high-frequency magnetic field to treat various musculoskeletal diseases. EMTT is an advanced form of traditional pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy, generating higher energy and deep penetration of up to 18cm.

Radial Pressure Wave Therapy (RPWT), commonly referred to as Radial Shockwave Therapy, is a non-surgical treatment device used to treat superficial musculoskeletal disorders. Unlike extracorporeal shockwave therapy, RPWT uses lower amplitude pressure waves to stimulate blood flow to the affected areas. It also increases the metabolic activity of the affected muscles.

Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) is a non-surgical treatment that uses high-pressure acoustic sound waves to stimulate healing and increase blood flow, with many positive effects on the body. ESWT can be used to treat a variety of conditions, including tendonitis, osteoarthritis and other joint problems, stress fractures and more.

ESWT is often referred to as focused shockwave therapy because the shockwaves are converged towards a focal point, where the energy is at its maximum. Depending on the condition or injury, different depths of penetration can be set to direct the focal point to the exact location of the injury

Ankle-Foot Orthosis (AFO) is a medical device that supports and controls the foot and ankle. AFO is used primarily to stabilize our lower limb structure, thereby reducing stress on the structure, and improving our gait functions. Like customised foot orthoses, AFO can be made specific to a condition and there are several designs that a Podiatrist can prescribe.

The key difference between AFO and customised foot orthoses is that AFO can provide higher control of ankle joint motion in all directions when walking. Hence, AFO is often used in more severe conditions, such as foot drop or late-stage posterior tibial tendon dysfunction.

Customised Foot Orthoses are medical insoles that sit in your shoes and control the way that you walk. They are prescribed by Podiatrists to help prevent injuries and improve the alignment of your body’s structures. Customised foot orthoses can be conditions-specific or function-specific, which means that they can be designed to either treat an injury or to improve our posture and gait pattern.