PROFESSIONAL PODIATRY PRODUCTS

Specialists in natural products for footcare

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

So who are Professional Podiatry Products?
What qualifies us to advise professional podiatrists?
What's so special about 'natural' products?
If natural products are so special, why aren't they more widely used?
Are natural products really so effective, and if so, why?
Aren't these just old wives' tales, and not proper science?
Are natural products completely safe?
What about allergic reactions?
Safety Data Sheets are so boring - where is there some more interesting information?
I would like to report my own results with these products.
What about answering other questions!

So who are Professional Podiatry Products?
We are a business run by a qualified biochemist with over a decade of experience supplying podiatrists. We source and test our own oils, we manufacture our own products, and we specialise in providing the technical advice and back-up that podiatrists ask for in order to use our products. There are other suppliers who offer natural products to podiatrists, but none of them offer the degree of technical back-up that we do - and none of them seem qualified to do so...
For more information go to About Us.

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What qualifies us to advise professional podiatrists?
Our oils are sourced and tested by a Biochemist with 36 years experience as an industrial chemist. Our products are also formulated by our Biochemist, in consultation with a qualified Podiatrist, to be appropriate for podiatrists to use in footcare.
Podiatrists specialise in footcare, Biochemists specialise in product design and formulation. To appreciate how to use products, get advice from a Biochemist...
We also listen to our Podiatrist friends, who give us feedback on our products and feedback on what we write. If you would like to comment in any way, please Contact Us. If you would like to contribute to the body of information that we are collating for general use, please let us know.

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What's so special about 'natural' products?
The glorious thing about natural products over synthetic products is their complexity. For example, Tea tree essential oil contains over one hundred active chemical compounds. Microbes are demonstrating their ability to develop resistance to whatever antibiotics we use against them, but we stand more chance of keeping the upper hand if we use complex mixtures against them rather than single-component, synthetic antibiotics. That way, we vastly reduce their chances of developing resistance to all of the component compounds being used against them!

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If natural products are so special, why aren't they more widely used?
Sadly, that's all about politics, and the clout of the big pharmaceutical industries. Natural products can't be patented, so no company is ever going to invest the vast amounts of money required to have them licensed as medicines because they can't then protect their investment with a patent. Even sadder, our governments just go along with this ridiculous situation and even strengthen the laws that favour the big pharmaceutical companies - and which increasingly back us into a corner where the microbes are winning the battle to develop drug resistance.
For more information go to the website The Oil Profiles Project and click to 'The Law'.

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Are natural products really so effective, and if so, why?
Yes, they really can be very effective, and the key is their complexity. You don't have to take our word for it, there has been a lot of serious research done on the anti-microbial properties of Tea tree, mostly in Australia. Tea tree is actually the world's most thoroughly researched essential oil, and much of the research has been carried out at the University of Western Australia. For more information go to the website The Oil Profiles Project and click to 'Pure Essential Oil of Tea Tree'.
There is even a growing body of opinion that Tea tree products can be used to control MRSA. (We are referring to the topical carriage of MRSA infections, not to systemic infections.) Whether or not this is true, it is a pity that the matter is never properly investigated - and the reason for this is not scientific scepticism but political stupidity and the commercial interests of the large pharmaceutical companies. For more information go to the website The Oil Profiles Project and click to 'The Law'.

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Aren't these just old wives' tales, and not proper science?
Not at all! Tea tree oil is a product of Australia, so it is not surprising that most of the serious research has been done there. Since the early 1990s, research on the medicinal properties of the essential oil of Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree oil) has been conducted by a group of scientists within the School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences at The University of Western Australia.
The primary aim of the group is to investigate and characterise the medicinal properties of tea tree oil, in particular the antimicrobial properties. So far the group has shown that tea tree oil has broad-spectrum in vitro antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral activity. Laboratory studies are ongoing and some clinical work has also begun.
For further detail see http://www.tto.bcs.uwa.edu.au/ or for more information go to the website The Oil Profiles Project and click to 'Pure Essential Oil of Tea Tree'.

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Are natural products completely safe?
Well, there's no way to guarantee that a product will cause no reaction at all other than to make it so innocuous that it has no therapeutic value. That's what is done in the formulation of Tea tree products sold in high street chemists and health food shops throughout the UK. They play on the fact that the public have heard that Tea tree, Calendula etc have some beneficial properties, but reduce the active ingredient to such a low level that they are virtually useless. Of course, they are worried that because they sell vast numbers of bottles with no control over how they are used, that there will be high numbers of complaints - so they listen to the advice from their legal departments rather than their technical departments and churn out tons of product that are completely ineffective. We formulate products with a high level of active ingredients knowing that you, the podiatrist, need effective products - and that if we help you to understand how to use potent products safely, then you can advise your clients on how to use them safely.

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What about allergic reactions?
It is completely impossible to design products that no-one will be allergic to... Let's face it, there have been people who have demonstrated allergic reactions to water! (See Wikipedia: Aquagenic Urticaria and Aquagenic Pruritis.) The reason for this is that allergies aren't entirely the fault of the product, they are often a consequence of the unique physiology of individual people. The allergic reaction is a combination of product and person. What is important is that anyone encountering a product that is new to them should do so with caution. And that is particularly true of 'atopic' individuals. See Safety for advice on how to introduce new products to patients.
If anyone reports an allergic reaction to any product there is no need to feel bad about it and immediately condemn the product, what's necessary is to explain to them that it is the combination of product and individual that is to be avoided and they need to proceed with more caution next time...

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Material Safety Data Sheets are so boring - where can I find some more interesting information?
We provide SDS's to comply with regulations, and to help you comply with regulations too. In fact, Health & Safety regulations such as CoSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) are generally regarded as applying to quantities greater than a kilo (or litre), however if you operate a clinic within a building controlled by someone else, they may ask you to present SDS's even though it isn't strictly necessary. It may be best to have SDS's to keep insurance companies happy if they insist.
Once you have seen them, you will find that there is very little information that is relevant to the safe use of a 10ml bottle of oil! However, if you browse around the other pages of this site, and follow links that we have provided to other websites, such as The Oil Profiles Project you will find a great deal of interesting information. Let us know if you want more...

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I would like to report my own results with these products.
We'd love to hear from you! If you are willing to write a testimonial that we can use in our promotions, then that would be fantastic. However, if you would like to have us publish a more serious article on your own research, then we would be very happy to help you. Both this website, and other websites that are in preparation, could be a forum to host a report.

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What about answering other questions!
Just let us know your question, and we'll answer as best we can... And if the issue seems to be of general interest then we will add it to this page as well.

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Professional Podiatry Products is managed by the Sunbird Management business consultancy.

We prefer that you contact us by email at footcare@sunbirdmanagement.co.uk

Or phone on 01795 537598 or 07922 081541
We are a small business, and can't always guarantee that someone will be free to answer the phone - but leave a message, or email us, and we promise to get back to you.