Healthy Feet.
Better Lives.
How you move, how you feel, how you live, comes down to your feet. That’s why at My FootDr, we believe that healthy feet can lead to a better quality of life.
Don’t let heel pain hold you back! If heel pain is impacting how you move, how you feel and how you live then get help from our podiatrists.
From children to professional sports athletes, our custom-made foot orthotics help improve the foot’s position and function.
Here are five healthy feet tips for carers to remember when looking after people with diabetes.
Fungal toenails effects 10% of the population. Treat fungal nail once and for all with our laser treatment.
Latest News
Foot and Ankle Injuries in Motor Sports
Motor racing is an exhilarating and adrenaline-fueled sport that puts extreme physical stress on the body, including the feet and ankles. With long hours on the track, repetitive pedal use and impact from crashes, drivers are at high risk of developing chronic injuries over time.
A 2021 study on injuries in wheeled motor sports found that foot and ankle injuries represented 5% of all reported injuries. Motor racing is an evolving sport but a large gap remains in research and treatment.
Yellow Flag: Common foot/ankle injuries
Like any sport, motor racing can put participants at risk of a variety of foot and ankle injuries, both acute and chronic. Acute injuries can include fractures, burns, cuts and grazes and are often a result of crashes and sudden impact. Conversely, chronic foot and ankle injuries in motor sports are generally a result of the repetitive operation of the vehicle’s foot pedals. The amount of strain this places on muscles, tendons, joints and bones in the feet and ankles can lead to long term issues.
Chronic injuries to muscles and tendons are common and may include:
Achilles tendinopathy: pain at the back of the ankle
Tibialis posterior tendinopathy: pain inside of the ankle
Tibialis anterior tendinopathy: pain at the front of the ankle
Plantar fasciitis: heel pain
Dorsal compression syndrome: pain at themid-foot/top of the foot
Intermetatarsal neuroma bursa complex: pain in the forefoot/ball of foot
Stress fractures: usually seen in more severe cases
How to get back to the Green Flag: treatment options
For acute traumatic injuries to the foot and ankle, it is important to follow the direction of paramedics and medical professionals on site at thetime.
In certain chronic injury cases, minimal treatment may be required. It may be as simple as buying a new pair of racing boots or altering the driver’s seating position to reduce stress on painful areas of the foot and ankle.
Treating tendon injuries can involve a thorough strengthening program to reduce pain during and after races.
For more severe cases to the heel, forefoot or midfoot, extra padding or orthotics may be required. While traditional foot orthotics or silicone/foam pads can provide comfort, they may melt with extreme heat in racing boots.
In cases where there is a risk of extreme heat, specialised carbon fibre racing orthotics can help to take pressure off painful areas.
Black Flag: Impact of racing regulations
Most motor sports have their own rules to maintain safety within their sport. The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) is a governing body responsible for assessing the protective clothing and footwear for Formula 1 and V8 Supercar drivers to ensure safety. Footwear and all related gear must be fireproof and lightweight for drivers. Foam, silicone padding, and standard foot orthotics can be flammable and do not comply with the regulations for motor sport racing.
If your foot pain is getting in the way of your drive performance, book an appointment with one of our podiatrists. Within our company of experienced professionals, our podiatrist with a special interest in this area is Alexander Awwad. For any specialised motor sport related foot and ankle queries, please contact Alexander at alexander.awwad@myfootdr.com.au. See his full profile here. If Alexander is not available at your local clinic, feel free to reach out to our friendly team and we can help guide you to some of our other experts.
Key Points
It is important to identify the type of injury
Trial new racing footwear or driving seating positions
Be mindful of sporting regulations when following a treatment plan
References:
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2024, Injury hospitalisations from wheeled motor sports, by body part injured, as a proportion, 2021–22, viewed 5 March 2025, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/sports-injury/sports-injury-in-australia/data. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) 2022, FIA Standards 8856-2018 - Underwear, socks, balaclava and shoes QC requirements and documentation v0.1, viewed 5 March 2025, https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/8856-2018-undewear_socks_balaclava_and_shoes_qc_requirements_and_documentation_v0.2.pdf.
Can orthotics help my balance?
This should be a simple question to answer – Can orthotics help my balance? As with most things in life, it’s not always black and white. What academics all agree on is that as we age, focusing on improving your balance is important to longevity and quality of life.
What is balance?
Perhaps surprisingly, those who deal with it have struggled to settle on a single definition. At it’s most simple, it can be defined as the ability to distribute your bodyweight over your base of support. However, balance is much more complex than this. It involves the interplay of several different body parts of the body including the nerves in our muscles, joints, eyes and ears.
Footwear and The Difference It Could Make to Your Feet
Shoes – such an integral part of our daily lives. But how often do we really think about what our footwear can do for us? Or more importantly, how our footwear can be hurting us. When we’re young, often we get our feet sized and shoes fitted appropriately. But how many of us can say that we’ve checked our fit once we’re adults?
We carry our shoe size in our mind’s compendium of life’s important numbers. But unlike other numbers, like our date of birth, our shoe size is not as fixed as we may believe it to be. A shoe size is as variable as the sizing of a pair of pants. Each brand can have a different interpretation of sizing to another. Then let’s factor in the conversions between European, US and UK sizing – yikes!