Frequently Asked Questions

Always check our Facebook page for special days/holiday hours. Our current hours are: Monday 9-5 Tuesday 9-5 Wednesday 9-5 Thursday 9-5 Friday 9-2 New Glasgow Shoe Store Saturdays 10 - 4 Seasonally Saturdays closed throughout winter

To book an appointment, you can book online or call the clinic you would like to book at (Truro 902-893-9675 or New Glasgow 902-755-9675). Book online at: https://www.healthwalks.ca/book-appointment Please note we do not make appointments by email or Facebook messenger.

No. However, if you want your private insurance to reimburse you for your visit, they dictate whether or not they require a referral/prescription to see us. Some private health insurance plans in Nova Scotia require a referral/prescription to see our foot care specialists. Because we DO NOT direct bill, it is important that you contact your insurance provider to see what the rules are for you. MSI does not cover our services and we do not direct bill.

We do not direct bill and our services are NOT covered under MSI. We do provide forms necessary for you to add to your insurance paperwork to file your claim and ask for reimbursement.

We do not know of every insurance plan and therefore can not tell you if you will be covered. If you have any questions about coverage, we recommend that you reach out to your insurance provider as each plan is unique and they will be the best informed to answer your question. It is best to do this BEFORE your appointment with us. Our services are not covered under MSI.

You will have a biomechanical/foot assessment and gait analysis. Your feet will be examined first while lying or sitting down. Your feet will then be examined standing and walking. If orthotics are recommended, a scan of your feet will be taken. The therapist will then prepare a requisition with all the necessary adjustments and modifications for the lab to make your custom orthotics. It is important to come to your appointments with detailed notes of your symptoms as you have up to 30 minutes with the therapist and if you take an extended amount of time talking about unrelated topics and asking about insurance questions, the full assessment may not be completed. It will take approximately 3 weeks for your orthotics to be ready.

Off the shelf orthopedic footwear range in price from $165.00 to $285.00. That means you come in any time and shop our shoe store where all of our footwear have orthopedic qualities. This does not mean your insurance will cover them. Custom made orthopedic footwear cost $2500.00 -$3500.00 and are for people who have deformities or major shoe fit issues. This requires several appointments with the therapist who casts your entire foot and leg in order to make a pair of footwear that fits. This is the type of footwear insurance companies cover. Please make sure to call your insurer to find out exactly what it is they cover.

Yes, it is only recommended when your orthotics are still looking after your symptoms. If you have new symptoms, you should be seen by the therapist. Refurbishing is available without an office visit if you choose but you have to come to the clinic to sign a disclaimer explaining that the orthotics are still from an old scan and only the padding and top cover will be replaced. Just remember, refurbished orthotics are not the same as new orthotics. Refurbishing can add cushioning by replacing top covers etc. but refurbished orthotics DO NOT make your old orthotics exactly like new. They may look as good as new after the refurbishing but the support will be unchanged from the state in which you brought them in. We require a signed disclaimer outlining that you understand this before we will proceed. Prices vary depending on the work that needs to be done.

A Pedorthist is an individual who is trained in the assessment of the foot and your gait. Canadian Certified Pedorthists manufacture, fit and modify foot orthotics and footwear for the purpose of alleviating painful or debilitating conditions. If a podiatrist, chiropractor, physiotherapist, occupational therapist want to specialize in orthotics, they can further their education in the field of orthotics by studying to become a pedorthist at the University of Western Ontario. In Canada, a Pedorthic designation is the “gold standard” for assessing and distributing orthotics with footwear. Podiatry is a field of medicine devoted to the study and treatment of disorders of the foot and ankle. The designation is outlined by DPM after a practitioners' name and is a degree program where the podiatrist graduates as a doctor. In Canada there is only one university program offering DPM. In Nova Scotia, we do not have podiatrists with DPM training. In Nova Scotia there are chiropodists but they use the title podiatrists which can be misleading. Chiropodists are NOT doctors. Podiatrist can do everything a chiropodist can but also do foot surgeries and can prescribe medications. Chiropodists are trained with an undergraduate 3-4 year degree. Most of our chiropodists in Nova Scotia come from the UK as they have 15 universities with this training program. They specialize in skin and nail care including wart and fungal treatments, nail cutting, corn and callus removal as well as in office nail removal procedures. They can typically write you an approved insurance prescription for orthotics but can not write medicine prescriptions. A podiatrist and/or a chiropodist can continue his/her education to receive their pedorthic designation if they chose to specialize in orthotics. All of the chiropodists we have had at HealthWalks, have all had training with our pedorthist and owner to assess and provide orthotics. A Foot Care Nurse (FCN) has extra training above and beyond their RN degree. At HealthWalks, we employ an RN as this training is more extensive than most foot care nurses who are not RNs but LPNs. If you are diabetic, your risk is higher for ulcerations and you should be seeing a FCN RN as their scope of practice includes all of the assessment and treatment you may need. Our FCN RN can do everything a chiropodist does with the exception of write prescriptions and remove toe nails.