London Marathon 2015: Foot doctor reveals worst case he has seen… and gives … – Evening Standard

Matthew Fitzpatrick, a podiatrist and Dean of Podiatric Medicine at London’s College of Podiatry, told of the worst case he has seen at the finish line of the gruelling 26-mile race through the capital, he wished it would have been something else like bunions.

“It was probably about five years ago,” he said. “The person came in saying: ‘it just felt funny, it felt like my sock had rucked underneath my foot’.

“He said it felt like it went from the front to the back and I thought ‘OK, that’s a strange sensation’. So we carefully took the person’s show off and it was a bit red and a bit bloodied, but it wasn’t horrendous.

“And then we went to try and take their sock off and they were screaming in agony, and then basically… we call it ‘de-roofing’. The skin from where their toes meet their foot back to the heel had basically torn off and concertinaed around their heel. And they were running on raw flesh.

“So we had to basically cut the sides, pull it back up, re-attach it, apply a very big padded bandage on there and tell them in two days to go and see someone in the hospital.”

Mr Fitzpatrick, who is a Fellow of the College of Podiatry, also revealed some tips for avoiding a similar fate as around 40,000 runners tackle the route through central London.

But he warned: “If you ask the question ‘what should I be doing before?’ the first answer is you should have done it by now.”

The “cardinal sin” among podiatrists is to change footwear in the six to eight weeks before the race.

Runners are also advised to choose the right socks for them well in advance of Sunday’s race, Mr Fitzpatrick said.

1) Make sure you thoroughly check your feet for blisters and cuts: you want to make certain there are no hidden problems;

2) Give your feet a rest: this means wear soft comfortable shoes that you are used to and allow your feet to breath and recover. You can also use a 4 Chamber Compression Leg Sleeve Garment when recovering;

3) If you have a problem or new pain that you have not experienced during training then seek advice from a professional foot doctor.  A  professional will be best placed to assess and give appropriate treatment including foot surgery if necessary;

4) Stay active don’t completely stop all running – do some short runs to allow those muscles that have become used to being used to ‘warm down’ in a controlled way;

5) Be aware of the whole of your body…..focusing on your feet can sometimes be easy as they take a lot of the impact but your legs, lower back and arms may also be affected – take care of it all;

6) Don’t worry if it seems to be taking a long time to return to ‘normal’ the impact of a really big run under pressure to get a good time can mean you have stressed your muscles and joints a little more than in training;

7) Look up and read blogs and other community advice groups – share your experiences too;

8) If planning another ‘big’ run make sure you go back to a training schedule don’t rely on the last run to be the whole sum of your training;

9) Enjoy your success – a lot of people think they can run a marathon – not all do!

10) Learn from your mistakes and injuries – augment your approach to help maximise your next effort.