Healthcare Articles
Podiatrists Treat Famous Feet

Walking a mile in a professional athlete's shoes may sound like a dream come true. But podiatrists who care for these athletes' feet say the experience could actually be more painful than pleasant.

Athletes -- from world-class professionals to weekend warriors -- place excessive demands on their feet and have high rates of foot and ankle injuries, say doctors of podiatric medicine (DPMs) who specialize in sports medicine.

For example, runners slam three times their bodyweight into each foot strike, says Perry H. Julien, DPM, who serves as the podiatrist for the professional soccer team, the Atlanta Silverbacks, and coordinated podiatry services for the 1996 Olympics. At the Atlanta Foot and Ankle Center, Julien treats a range of conditions -- from ingrown toenails and stress fractures among the soccer players to tendonitis in 50-year-old power walkers.

The common thread between all the athletes he sees -- whether professional or casual -- is attitude, Julien says. "Most of the people I treat will work hard to get well, whether they're a world-class athlete or a senior who walks at the mall for exercise."

The biggest difference between professionals and amateurs is that pros must be treated and rehabilitated at lightning speed, while amateurs have the luxury of recovering at a slower pace, podiatrists say. "The effect on a professional athlete's career is a major issue," says Jay LeBow, DPM. LeBow is the team podiatrist for the Baltimore Orioles, director of the Mercy Foot Center at Mercy Hospital and a practitioner at LeBow Podiatry.

Not only is the baseball player himself banking on a speedy recovery, but the team's general manager, the player's agent, the team physician and others are also hoping for a positive prognosis. "When the team is paying someone four or five million dollars a year, they want to know how fast he can play baseball again, what his downtime will be and how [a foot condition] impacts his career," LeBow says. "Everybody's got ideas and input."

Working with the Orioles gives LeBow a chance to "be a big kid again and have a lot of fun," he says -- and he gets first dibs on great tickets to games. But "being a fan wears off after awhile," he says. "You start to look at the problems as problems."

Some of the most rewarding moments of Julien's career have involved helping unknown amateurs -- rather than star athletes -- reach their goals. Julien, a marathon runner himself, helped a man in his 60s prepare to run in a charity marathon for leukemia, a disease which had killed his daughter. The man injured the arch of his heel during training and wasn't bouncing back quickly. "We managed to develop a program for him that worked. He finished the marathon and said it was one of the greatest moments of his life," Julien says. "It's great to help average people accomplish above average things," he says.

Links:
American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine
American Podiatric Medical Association