What Being Active Means for Your Feet
Working at his prestigious position as team podiatrist of the Washington Wizards for 25 years and the Washington Mystics since their inception, Dr. Howard Osterman has treated a myriad of foot, ankle and lower leg injuries. Every sports doctor’s dream would be getting players back out doing what they do best while at the same time keeping them safe, mitigating to the highest-degree the chance of becoming re-injured. Featured in an article in this month’s issue of LER Foot Health, Osterman talks about conveying the benefits of orthotics to athletes using high-level data and medical imaging, which resembles heat maps and weather radar images, showing what’s really going on “under the hood” of their feet.
When it comes to shoes athletes prefer, Osterman says “They want a softer insole, but that doesn’t really help with controlling their foot and ankle motion”. Osterman hopes that athletes better understand the impact not wearing the right shoes really has in the short-term and long-term. Pressure Management Technology is relatively new, and although it is not definitive in discovering why players get injured, it is definitely a start. But pressure mapping technology has therapeutic uses, too. David Levine, DPM, Cped says, “There are mechanical issues that may lead to ulcers…there’s always something clinically that you think you know, but it helps to see the data to confirm that.” Keeping athletes healthy is of top priority for Osterman and the players, and pressure management technology may be the start to obtaining definitive answers for athletes with chronic and acute foot, ankle, and lower leg injuries.
Howard Osterman is a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine and member of the Foot and Ankle Specialists of the Mid-Atlantic.
Washington D.C. Location
1720 I Street, NW, Suite 402 Washington, DC 20006
Silver Spring Location
8630 Fenton Street, Suite 1 Silver Spring, MD 20910
Dr. David Levine is a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine and member of the Foot and Ankle Specialists of the Mid-Atlantic.
Location
Frederick, 63 Thomas Johnson Dr Suite C, Frederick, MD | (301) 696-0818 (301) 696-8872
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