What We Treat
What is Foot & Ankle Pain?
Foot and ankle pain is one of the most common reasons people seek specialist care, yet it is also one of the most frequently undertreated. Many patients spend months or years managing their symptoms with painkillers, rest, and worsening symptoms without ever receiving a clear diagnosis or a structured plan for getting better. As a consultant podiatric surgeon, my role is to change that.
Whether your pain has come on gradually, followed an injury, or has been present for years without explanation, a specialist assessment can establish what is causing your symptoms and what can realistically be done about them — without any obligation to proceed with treatment until you feel confident and ready.
Why Foot & Ankle Pain is Often Complex
The foot and ankle are remarkably complex structures. Between them they contain 26 bones, 33 joints, and over 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments — all working together to absorb the forces of everyday movement. When something goes wrong, even a small problem in one structure can alter the way the whole foot functions, creating a cascade of pain and compensation that can be difficult to unpick without a thorough specialist assessment.
Many conditions also look similar on the surface but have different underlying causes requiring different treatments. Heel pain, for example, can arise from the plantar fascia, the Achilles tendon insertion, the subtalar joint, a nerve, or a stress fracture — and treating the wrong structure will not help. Getting the diagnosis right is the essential first step.
What Your Assessment Involves
Detailed History
I will spend time understanding your symptoms — when they started, what makes them better or worse, how they affect your daily life, and what treatments you have already tried. Your occupation, activity level, and footwear habits all form part of the picture.
Examination
I will examine your foot and ankle both at rest and whilst you are standing and walking, assessing posture, alignment, range of movement, gait pattern, and the distribution of pressure through the foot. This often reveals contributing factors that are not apparent from imaging alone.
Imaging & Investigations
Weight-bearing X-rays, ultrasound, MRI, and CT scanning are used selectively to confirm the diagnosis, assess the severity of the problem, and plan treatment. Not every patient needs every scan — I request only what is clinically necessary.
Diagnostic Injection
Where the source of pain is uncertain, a targeted injection of local anaesthetic or steroid into a specific joint, tendon, or nerve can confirm whether that structure is responsible for your symptoms. This is a valuable diagnostic tool that helps direct the right treatment to the right location.
Treatment Options
My approach to treatment is always to start with the least invasive option that is appropriate for your condition. Surgery is never suggested lightly, and I will always ensure that conservative options have been properly explored before any surgical discussion takes place. That said, there are conditions where surgery is clearly the most effective long-term solution, and in those cases I will be honest and direct about that too.
Conservative Treatment
Many foot and ankle conditions respond well to non-surgical treatment. Depending on the diagnosis, this may include custom orthotic insoles to correct abnormal foot mechanics and offload painful structures, footwear advice, physiotherapy and structured rehabilitation programmes, activity modification, and padding or strapping. These measures are often effective in isolation and are always recommended as part of any broader treatment plan.
Injection Therapy
Ultrasound-guided injection is one of the most powerful tools available for both diagnosing and treating foot and ankle pain. I offer a range of injection techniques tailored to the specific condition and structure being treated:
Corticosteroid Injection
For joint arthritis, nerve irritation, tendon sheath inflammation, plantar fasciitis, Morton’s neuroma, and plantar fibromatosis.
High Volume Injection
For Achilles tendinopathy and tarsal tunnel syndrome, disrupting pathological tissue and decompressing affected nerves and tendons.
Diagnostic Injection
Local anaesthetic injections to isolate the source of pain before planning surgery, particularly for midfoot and hindfoot arthritis.
Surgical Treatment
Where surgery is appropriate, I offer a comprehensive range of procedures covering the full spectrum of foot and ankle conditions. These include minimally invasive surgery for bunions and other forefoot deformities, fusion surgery for arthritis, Achilles tendon reconstruction and decompression, nerve surgery, nail surgery, and soft tissue procedures. A summary of the conditions I treat surgically is available elsewhere on this website.
Where appropriate, I offer minimally invasive surgical techniques — keyhole procedures performed through small incisions under fluoroscopic guidance — which offer significant advantages in terms of post-operative comfort, scarring, and speed of recovery compared to traditional open surgery. I will always discuss which approach is most suitable for your individual circumstances.
NHS & Private Care
I work across both NHS and private practice, and I am committed to providing the same standard of thorough, patient-centred care in both settings. NHS patients can be referred through their GP or via the NHS e-Referral Service. Private patients are welcome to self-refer and can be seen promptly, often with faster access to investigations and treatment than may be possible through NHS pathways.
I hold clinics in Northamptonshire and also see patients privately for sports-related foot and ankle conditions in the Lake District, offering specialist assessment and non-surgical management for active patients and athletes.
Not Sure Whether You Need a Specialist?
If you have been living with foot or ankle pain that is affecting your mobility, your work, or your enjoyment of life, you do not need to simply put up with it. A consultation will give you a clear picture of what is happening and what your options are — without any pressure to proceed with treatment. Please get in touch to arrange an appointment
