In message <[email hidden]>, Peter Clinch
<[email hidden]> writes
Quoted message said:Chris Townsend said:The fitter should have an understanding of foot biomechanics. That is
part of the standard and advanced Fitsystem training, both of which
I've done.
Again, up to a point. If a fitter /really/ understood all of foot
biomechanics then they'd very possibly be a podiatrist, rather than a
boot fitter in an outdoor store!
Very likely. Not that all podiatrists really understand all of foot
biomechanics.
The key is to find a good fitter and/or a good podiatrist.
I've been in shops and listened to staff spout garbled half-truths and
downright rubbish about boot fitting. I've also seen orthotics
prescribed by podiatrists that were worse than useless.
Quoted message said:
I must make it clear I'm not trying to knock trained boot fitters here:
they're so much better than ignorami shifting boxes, but the degree of
professional reassurance that one is dealing with someone who really
knows what there at is rather less than someone with the relevant
anatomy degrees registered as a podiatrist and with electronic gait
pressure measurement sensor plates in the surgery.
Not all podiatrists are qualified however. "someone who has completed
less than an approved 3 year course but who has been working privately
as an unregistered Podiatrist for at least three years has a chance to
become registered and will then be regulated".
http://www.podiatrypages.co.uk/faq.htm
This is not to say that most podiatrists aren't very good. I'm sure they
are.
Quoted message said:
And also I must emphasize I'm having a degree of doubt about the
knowledge limits here, rather than saying "they aren't good enough".
And of course, knowledge limits, and in particular the knowledge of
exactly where those limits lie, will vary from fitter to fitter and
shop to shop. What a fitter should know and should suggest can be
clouded by too much belief in the marketing spiel and/or the prospect
of a sale. Sad, but I think probably true.
Fitters who take the Fitsystem course are advised that their shops
should have a close working relationship with a local podiatrist.
Knowing the limits of their knowledge is an important part of the
fitter's training. That way they should know when to recommend a
podiatrist.
Quoted message said:
My own knowledge limits on the matter are, of course, not terribly far
out there! But you can come away from some advocates thinking
Superfeet will do everything short of curing cancer ;-/
Any advocate who takes a totally uncritical approach is to be avoided.
Superfeet can only do so much and that if the need is there and in
conjunction with properly fitted footwear. Superfeet should only be
mentioned after a proper foot examination and the fitter establishing
that the customer over-pronates enough to benefit from Superfeet.
One reason for checking out the Fitsystem website is so that customers
can inform themselves as to what proper fitting involves and so have a
chance of distinguishing between fitters who know what they're doing and
those who don't or who are rushing the process or skipping important
steps.
