By Noimot Olayiwola/Staff Reporter

The orthopaedics and traumatology department of Al Ahli Hospital (AAH) yesterday hosted a symposium on ‘Happy Feet - The Treatment of Common Foot Problems’.
Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Dr Stanley Jones described how to look after feet in order to avoid problems and things to do as an individual and health care provider when problems arise.
“In contrast to the general belief that foot problems only occur in old people, it affects all ages and they can be disabling as well as cause high morbidity,” he said.
Dr Jones added that foot problems can also lead to social stigma, citing school as an example of places where children can face stigma due to a problem with their feet.
According to him, the most common adult foot problems are hammer toes (affecting mostly women), bunion hallux valgus deformity, corns (callosities affecting the sole, side of the foot and the toes), plantar fascia, achilles tendinosis, heels spur as well as many other foot injuries.
Common among children are flat foot and club foot, which is congenital.
“A bunion is a deformity involving the big toe and it commonly affects women as some 60% of women wear shoes smaller than their feet and wearing shoes with heels can be particularly painful for those affected. A bony prominence develops at the base of the big toe. Symptoms include pain and deformity,” Dr Jones explained.
Treatments for bunion can be operative or non-operative depending on the cases, he said.
He mentioned that there a number of plantar fascia cases here in Qatar, which occur due to walking with bare feet.
“This condition is common among runners and its cause is unknown and the sufferers always say they experience pain in the morning or after sitting for a while. It can be diagnosed clinically or through the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Ultrasound or X-ray,” he noted.
According to him, the best treatment for the condition is to stop walking bare feet on tiles or ceramic floors while other treatment are stretching exercise, the use of tablets steroid injection and surgery, which he said could have 50-50 outcomes.
He said achillies tendinosis is also sport-related and common among athletes with symptoms like pain, swelling along the achillies tendon.
“Achillies tendon rupture is very common among the runners and they describe their condition as their feet being through shot or hit in the calf. We can treat achillies tendinosis with foot wear, stretching exercise, heels lift and the use of tablets,” he said.
Other problem he mentioned were foot problems due to diabetes which is a very prevalent here.
“Diabetes is known to cause infections, ulcers, deformity, neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease as they have compromised immune. Foot ulcer is causing highest admission rate as many of them tend to ignore the problem until it got worse because they have lost feelings in their nerves,” he stated.
Dr Diane Stevens, podiatric consultant at Al Ahli Hospital,  spoke about the field of podiatry, which was reported to have decreased lower limb amputation and how podiatrist can help those with foot problems.
Guest speaker Eiman Osama Bedawi shared her experience overcoming flat feet while thanking the team at Al Ahli Hospital for their support throughout her treatment.
AAH deputy chief executive officer and Projects director Jamal Saleh Hammad gave the closing remarks.