MSK foot and ankle pain

The musculoskeletal (MSK) podiatry service carries out assessment, diagnosis and treatment of lower limb MSK complaints with a focus on the foot and ankle.  Referrals can be sent through to the community podiatry referral system and will be triaged to MSK if necessary.

Patients are initially assessed and treated by Podiatrists in the community service who can escalated to an MSK specialist if required.  Referrals may occasionally be de-escalated from the Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle service where deemed appropriate. 

Typically, a patient examination will involve taking a history of the presenting complaint, a non-weight bearing and weight-bearing assessment, and gait assessment.  After this the Podiatrist will form an appropriate diagnosis and agreed management plan. 

If required, patients may be escalated internally within podiatry to an MSK specialist who can request diagnostic investigations such as X-ray. 

Treatment has a patient centred approach and offers a number of evidence based treatments which can include:

• Advice on activity modification
• Exercise programmes
• Footwear advice
• Foot orthoses/insoles (if required)
• Corticosteroid injections (through specialist service – if indicated).

Please see condition specific pages for common foot conditions, these include advice and patient information leaflets that can be used with your patients.

While these are the most common foot conditions it is impossible to list everything, and other non-specific foot pain/foot problems that do not fit into these categories can also be referred for review/diagnosis in podiatry.