Troublesome feet

[val douest]

Does anyone have experience of chiropodists or podiatrists in

France?  I have troublesome feet (or rather a troublesome foot)

and used to see a podiatrist regularly in England who sorted me out

with special shoe inserts with padded soles and arch supports which

helped a lot.  We have now been here more than two years and I

have managed reasonably well on my own but the original supports (which

are quite tatty) are not doing the job as well as they did and there

are other problems too which make walking quite painful at times.

I visited our doctor and he had a quick look at my feet which at the

time did not hurt when he manipulated them.  I asked him to

recommend a chiropodist (pedicure) and he jotted down the name of a

local person for me.  From this (no letter or prescription given)

I gather that I shall not have any refund from the state or our

complementaire.  In the UK I paid for private treatment as the

waiting list for chiropody was horrendous but I have no idea what the

system is here.  Meanwhile, following a trip to the UK for a

funeral (walking with luggage and wearing smart shoes!) my foot is more

painful and the pain is also affecting that leg.  I am wondering

if I should go back to the doctor and ask for a referral to someone

(specialist, pedicure??) as I have a feeling this could be a longdrawn

out business.  But maybe chiropody is not a French health system

service?  If anyone has any knowledge of how it all works (and the

approximate cost of treatment from a pedicure) I would be most grateful.

Val

[Judith]

Val

I can't help re the French system as I am still paying for my foot care in the UK privately, but when I retire to France I will be needing to know this also. My orthotics (the name for the inserts) are the only thing that has kept me being able to walk the distances I do (to get to work and back!) for the last 8 years, but like yours they too are getting beyond their sell by date, and I am noticing the difference, now also affecting my hips, so it could be that a replacement orthotic is the best way forward for you as for me. I sympathise - there is almost nothing worse than painful feet. (And this is not the place for everyone else to discuss what they think is more painful than feet - please!) Because of this I have (almost) given up on smart shoes!

I would have thought from my (admittedly) limited knowledge as yet of the Fr health service that you will find someone - but costs of treatment may depend on whether they are within the public or private sector, and what your top-up covers. I have certainly seen brass plates for chiropodists in town centres etc. There are probably people more knowledgable than who can contribute to whether this treatment is also available on the state.

As I am not old enough to qualify for NHS "free" treatment for either chiropody or my orthotics, I pay (through the nose of course) privately, but at least it has kept me mobile!

Good luck!

[Jo53]

Have visited a 'podologue' a few times with my small son, who has a problem with ankles and knees turning in. Not sure whether podologues do chiropody as well, but they certainly deal in support insoles. The insoles for a 5-year old cost 50 euro a pair as I remember it, and adult ones more. You certainly can get some reimbursement, but the amount the system says they should cost (ie the amount it will base your 65% reimbursement on) is a lot less than what they actually cost. How much your complementaire will pay will depend on how expensive your policy is. You can get reimbursed even if you are not referred by a doctor, but a small mount may be held back under the new system (where your 'medecin traitant' should act as a gateway to specialists).

Good luck

Jo

 

[Teamedup]

My husband needed an insert which was made for him and we handed in what we thought was a prescription. If we got anything back it was next to nothing, as I seem to remember us paying us paying a lot at the time, if not the lot.

[Chrissie]

Our GP regularly writes us prescriptions for new "semelles" or inserts, which we take to the podalogue and get fully reimbursed (up to last year anyway).  The cost was about 65 euros per pair.  Our podalogue also does chiropody.

Hope this helps.

Chrissie (81)

[opas]

we visit the Orthopodiste  on a regular basis , we found ours through pages jaunes.

The first one we visited seemed to just want to make money and after having 2 pairs of shoes with semelles made and not being satistied with the results have changed. The `new `one `  just looks like a cobblers shop from the outside and when you arrive on the inside just loks like a shoe bar.

This one does more measuring and checking than we ever saw at the more `proffessional looking ` outlet or the Hospital in the UK.

we have to have prescriptions from the doctor and are then cross checked with CPAM to ensure that the entitlement is there, cant help you with the costs as we get 100% for our daughter .

But my suggestion would be to look in your pages jaunes, go and visit and talk with the Orthopodist or 2 or 3, explain your situation and see what they recommend.

hope this helps.

[hastobe]

[quote user="Judith"]As I am not old enough to qualify for NHS "free"

treatment for either chiropody or my orthotics, I pay (through the nose

of course) privately, but at least it has kept me mobile! Good

luck![/quote]

I have always had chiropody and orthotics (and, for a while, even the

'tres chic' made to measure shoes) on the NHS.  I was born with

club foot and had corrective surgery (not completely successful) a few

years ago aged 35.   I am 44 now (so wouldn't consider myself

'old' - though my kids would disagree!) and have never been told

that that there was an age limit.

Can't help with the French side of this though - sorry - though, like others, would be very interested.

Hastobe

[Gardian]

My wife needed treatment for 'hard skin' on her feet - probably nothing near as troublesome as the other problems posted here, but needed dealing with nonetheless.

Our GP recommended a podologue in the nearest local town (who was also in the Yellow Pages), rang for an appt, visited, superb.  Spoke good English, though we didn't especially need it, was charming, and charged 20-ish euros for half an hour.

Moral of the story - get a recommendation, pick up the phone, see someone, chances are that they'll be at least as professional as anyone you'll find in the UK. If not, try someone else. No different what you'd do in the UK. All the best.

  

[val douest]

Many thanks to everyone for their helpful replies. I shall ask around

locally for a recommendation and if I find out anything of general

interest to others with troublesome feet I will post again.

Val

[Judith]

Hastobe

My apolgies - it is chiropody I am too young to get on the NHS. I do have one pair of orthotics from the NHS but can only wear them in one pair of shoes (my slippers!) so when I needed a design more appropriate for the majority of my shoes I went private. NHS is fine if you only wear a certain style of shoe, (but I am woman enough to want to try to look elegant when I ca) and can wait in a queue for treatment. As I walk to work waiting wasn't an option, else I couldn't do the walk.

I think my problems are much less than your club foot and for that and other such serious problems, I would assume that all help is available via the NHS.

I am however, reassured as it is obvious that orthotics are to be found in France - again from the prices quoted, considerably more cheaply than I paid for the two I had done privately here. So the French health service still wins over the UK!