What is Pedorthics?
Pedorthics is the management and treatment of conditions of the foot, ankle and lower limbs requiring fitting, fabrication and adjusting of pedorthic devices.
Pedorthics is the professional field concerned with providing pedorthic footwear, orthotic appliances, and appropriate advice to a patient after assessment and analysis of the patient’s condition(s). Pedorthic services include the provision of prefabricated footwear and orthotic appliances, the modification of prefabricated footwear, custom-designed and fabricated pedorthic footwear, custom-made orthotic appliances, and advice on the need and application of these devices.
Pedorthists are part of Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA)
Allied health professions provide crucial support for people experiencing disability, chronic illness and a wide range of other health issues.
What does a Pedorthist do?
A Pedorthist aims to help people maintain or regain as much mobility as possible by using Medical Grade Footwear and Foot Orthoses (orthotics) to help improve foot function.
Pedorthists employ clinical and technical expertise, and pedorthic services aim to
- minimise impairment,
- maximise function,
- improve mobility and promote the health and wellbeing of clients and patients.
Although pedorthic practice primarily focuses on the foot and lower limb, foot problems commonly also affect the knee, hip, and spine; therefore, Pedorthists understand the structure and function of the entire human body.
Services may include:
- Conducting patient assessments and reviews
- Developing, implementing, and evaluating patient-centred management plans
- Identifying and selecting appropriate footwear and orthotic appliances to meet patient needs.
- Provision, alteration, modification, repair, and dispensation of prefabricated pedorthic footwear and/or orthotic appliances
- Designing and fabricating custom-made pedorthic footwear and custom-made orthotic appliances
Meet our Australian Certified Pedorthic Retailer, John Anter.
Credentials:
- Certified Pedorthic Retailer (CRetPed Au)
- Certified Medical Grade Footwear Technician (Germany)
- Certified member of the Pedorthic Association of Australia (PAA)
- Registered provider for NDIS
- Aged-Care/Home-Care (HCP) Provider
- Registered provider for various Private Health funds
- Registered provider for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)
- Registered provider for W/C and TAC
When should I see a Pedorthist?
There are a wide range of reasons to see a pedorthist, including illness and disease, disability, minor lower limb amputation, and pain management. Pedorthists play an important role in the multidisciplinary health team, and some typical reasons why someone might be referred, or might independently choose, to see a pedorthist include:
- Improve gait
- Reduce pain
- Control and alter lower limb biomechanical alignment
- Offload and support a healing injury (i.e. foot ulcer)
- Increase mobility, capacity, and independence
What services do Pedorthists provide?
A pedorthist’s scope of practice may include diabetes, paediatrics, structural problems, gait and human movement patterns, disability, and treatment of the elderly. A pedorthist can provide a range of services, including assessment, prescription, manufacture, and supply of pedorthic footwear and lower-limb orthotic devices. The pedorthic areas of work may include:
- Offloading devices for the diabetic foot
- Accommodation of minor lower extremity amputation
- Correction of disability-related lower limb and gait conditions
- Correction of neurological gait disorders
- Pain management
- Recurring lower limb injury and sprains