Foot Health Information?

You can also read my article on Factsheets as an essential guide to understanding the value of foot health information.

Check out the links tested by ConsultingFootPain.

Where to Go for Your Foot Health Information?

Does it matter who produces information? No, not really. The most important matter is that the information is current, appropriate and recognised by a group of peers within the same speciality. Of course, each clinician may have a slightly different approach, and it is helpful to embrace those personal aspects of care. Here are a few thoughts on where to find some national-based information.

In the USA, there are more sites, but many have more advertising than in the UK. The use of video material has expanded, and as a guide, I suggest short videos of 4-7 minutes in length are better produced than long, wordy entries that say little. YouTube has a vast amount of material, again much of it from the USA. As a guide, information older than 5 years may need to be viewed cautiously, but please do not dismiss it outright.

NHS Choices  offers a useful information resource for the UK. User-friendly YES, Detailed, rarely and is written for ease of reading.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE ) website covers evidence about treatment. Sometimes, the level of writing can be heavy for the non-medical reader. Although this site is a nationally funded database and website, the information can become out of date. The reason for this is that it takes a while to review scientific data. The other point about NICE is the fact that they are the advisers to the Government on whether to use specific treatments in the NHS. Helpful YSE, user-friendly, NO.

The USA probably still offers more with Mayo Clinic being helpful, easy to access and search. A good source all-round.

Medscape, UK, Medline Plus, USA, and Healthline, UK, are all useful general resources, but you may need to sign up, although each is free. You may find yourself having to search, and sometimes the material is very generic, but then so is most of the information on the internet.

This dedicated book covers behind-the-scenes facts about bunion surgery. These and more guidebooks have been written by the same author.

Factsheets for Patients & Professional Bodies

Professional bodies tend to have no dedicated patient pages, although some factsheets for patients appear if one can navigate some of the more complicated websites, with the exception of ACFAS (see next paragraph), which has a user-friendly site. I have used 'bunions and bunion surgery' as my search condition to test each site.

Foothealthfacts.org is a site from the American College of Foot Surgeons (ACFAS podiatry). Professional bodies in the UK include The Institute of Podiatrists, The Royal College of Podiatry and the British Orthopaedic Association. These UK sites do not carry detailed information, although the Royal College has more on surgery; however, finding the material is not easy.

The British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) have no specific foot conditions mentioned, and its sister, Bofas, no longer carries patient information. (Accessed Aug. 2025). Patient information is available on another site, but it's limited and only useful for quick reference.

In my opinion, Footeducation is still one of the best sites for information. This is a US orthopaedic site based in Denver.

FootEducation.com is one of the best sites when it comes to surgery, but as with many professional sites, the value of patient information varies enormously. Aside from foot conditions and surgical treatment, there are organisations based around patients that offer information on arthritis and rheumatism, epidermolysis bullosa, which is very specific for skin and, of course, diabetes.

Few organisations provide dedicated information just about feet unless, as in the case of diabetes, feet play a significant role in the disease and loss of limb. ConsultingFootPain tries to bridge the gaps. 

Many independent foot specialists—podiatrists, physiotherapists & orthopaedic surgeons have developed quality websites with videos. This form of information is excellent for illustrating treatments offered, and if supported by factsheets, can provide a great resource.

Thanks for reading 'Foot Health Information'. If you find any useful links, do let David know and please use the CONTACT on this site.

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