The Achilles Foot Health Centre
is a 3,800-square-foot, comprehensive health care facility
offering first-class expertise, top-of-the-line diagnostic tools and cutting-edge treatments for medical conditions of the foot.

Here is some of what we offer:

Experience and Expertise    

With over 18 years of experience and board certification by both major boards of his profession, Dr. Schumacher can provide you with traditional and unique solutions to your foot complaint. Click here to learn more about Dr. Schumacher's credentials.

We make a concerted effort to procure the best, most up-to-date diagnostic tools available anywhere.  Three examples of unique diagnostic tools available at the Achilles Foot Health Centre are:

• State-of-the-art C-arm fluoroscopy:  Not only does fluoroscopy show bone and joint conditions just like a traditional X-ray, it shows their actual movement and function, live, in real time, on a television-like screen. 
   

• Brand-new diagnostic ultrasound to image soft tissues (like muscle, tendon, ligaments, growths, and injuries)--tissues that are normally invisible to X-ray.  Like fluoroscopy, diagnostic ultrasound shows these tissues actively moving, in real time, on a television-like screen. 
   

• High-tech vascular testing capabilities for patients with circulatory concerns.  Some of the vascular testing we can provide is Doppler, photoplethysmography, ABI, toe pressures, and segmental pressures.  

Our facility is simply unique in British Columbia, perhaps in all of Canada, in that each of these diagnostic tools are all available in-house and in most cases available the same day of your visit.  There are no lengthy waiting periods to be assessed. 

Cutting-edge, innovative treatments

The Achilles Foot Health Centre offers a host of unique treatments difficult to find in other facilities.  Here are some examples:

• We offer a unique heel pain specialty clinic for difficult-to-treat and frequently disabling conditions of the heel, whether caused by injuries, work-related disorders, heel spurs, plantar fasciitis, and rheumatological and other disorders. 

• For biomechanical problems, we offer a thorough biomechanical assessment and treadmill gait analysis.  And where indicated, we can provide assesment, prescription, and design of custom-made orthotic appliances, AFOs, Richie, Sure-step, Arizona, and other orthopedic braces.  We can also provide custom-made footwear including traditional molded shoes, sandals, hiking boots, work boots, steel-toed shoes and cowboy boots. 

Dr. Schumacher is board certified  in podiatric orthopedics by the American Board of Podiatric Orthopedics and Primary Podiatric Medicine (ABPOPPM) and he is a Fellow in the American College of Foot and Ankle Orthopedics and Medicine (ACFAOM). 

• The Achilles Foot Health Centre also offers the newest generation of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) in North America--the piezoelectric version out of Europe.  ESWT is particularly helpful in treating long-term, chronic pain of the plantar fascia, the Achilles tendon, posterior tibial tendonitis, slow-healing bone, neuromas, and a variety of other conditions.  
  
  This version of ESWT is so new, it is still unavailable in most of Canada, or anywhere in the United States.  We've had patients come from throughout the United States and Canada, and as far away as Japan, South Africa, and South America for this treatment. 
   

• We also have a fully-equipped, in-house surgical suite, allowing us to offer comprehensive surgical care of the foot for conditions like Bunions, Tailor's Bunions, Hammertoes, Ingrown Nails, Neuromas, Fractures, Heel Spurs, Foreign Bodies, Cysts and Other Growths, and a wide variety of other procedures.  We have state-of-the-art equipment and no waiting lists.

Dr. Schumacher is board certified in foot surgery  by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery (ABPS), the gold standard in board certification for foot surgery.  Dr. Schumacher is also a Fellow in the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS).

• We are pleased to be able to offer, for the first time available in western Canada, digital radiosurgery. Radiosurgery is similar to laser, but instead of using light waves, radiowaves are used, with the benefit of even less peripheral tissue destruction. Radiosurgery is great for eradicating warts, neuromas, cysts, varicose veins, and a host of other complaints. 
  
  With radiosurgical techniques, for example, ingrown toenails are often completely healed within a week instead of the 4-week recovery traditional methods demand.  
   

• Because diabetes is the number one cause of amputations in Canada, and the vast majority of the time they are preventable, the Achilles Foot Health Centre also provides thorough diabetic screening.  We can detect and treat circulation abnormalities and neuropathy, (the major causes of diabetic foot problems)--before they become a problem.
   

• We also offer in-house physiotherapy services such as whirlpool, ultrasound, and interferential muscle stimulation / TENS. 
   

• We also have on the premises, a foot pharmacy offering  a wide variety of difficult-to-find retail foot products, including compressive stockings, night splints, bandage materials, crutches, padding, and supports. 

Of course, this is just some of what we offer.  Let us know how we can help you.