Displaying items by tag: foot care

Maedhbh Cleary does not wear heels not because of the discomfort they cause.  In fact, Cleary cannot wear high-heels or even lighter clothes as a result of a rare medical condition. Cleary suffers from a rare condition called Raynaud’s Disease. Cleary’s condition can starve the extremities of blood, cause deformities, and even attack the body’s vital organs, according to Independent.ie.

"I have to wear really warm clothes and I cannot wear high heeled shoes because it puts pressure on my toes and they'll go numb and this will affect my balance,” Cleary said.  Cleary’s condition can cause her skin to discolor if any part of her body is left exposed. One in fifteen men in Ireland suffers from this condition.

Even though they are fashionable, high heels can still cause problems. If you are experiencing pain from wearing heels, see podiatrist Sharon L. Pletcher, DPM of Family Foot Center. Dr. Pletcher can treat your foot and ankle needs.  

Effects of High Heels on the Feet

High heels are popular shoes among women because they are associated with femininity.  Despite their appeal, they can cause many health problems if worn too frequently.

What parts my body will be affected by high heels?

• Ankle Joints
• Achilles Tendon – may shorten and stiffen with prolonged wear
• Balls of the Feet
• Knees – heels cause the knees to bend constantly, creating stress on them
• Back – they decrease the spine’s ability to absorb shock, which may lead to back pain.  Also, the vertebrae of the lower back may compress.

What kinds of foot problems can develop from wearing high heels?

• Corns
• Calluses
• Hammertoe
• Bunions
• Morton’s Neuroma
• Plantar Fasciitis

How can I still wear high heels and maintain foot health?

 If you want to wear high heeled shoes, make sure that you are not wearing them every day, as this will help prevent long term physical problems.  Try wearing thicker heels as opposed to stilettos to distribute weight more evenly across the feet.  Always make sure you are wearing the proper shoes for the right occasion, such as sneakers for exercising.  If you walk to work, try carrying your heels with you and changing into them once you arrive at work. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office located in State College, PA. We offer the newest diagnostic and treatment technologies for all your foot and ankle injuries.

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Women have been wearing various kinds of high-heels for hundreds of years, mostly for aesthetic reasons. Shoes with heels make their wearer appear to be taller and to have longer and thinner legs, and change the wearer’s gait and posture. High-heels’ association with femininity have kept them popular over the years, but there are definite health problems caused by wearing high-heels too frequently.

High heels also limit the motion of the ankle joints as well when they are worn. The ankle is a very important joint in the body when it comes to walking. These joints have a great deal of weight put on them because of their location. This is why it is so important to keep them as healthy as possible. The main tendon in the ankle is the Achilles tendon. Studies have shown that wearing high heels often causes the calf muscle and Achilles tendon to shorten, and stiffens the Achilles tendon as well, which can cause problems when shoes without heels are worn.

By forcing the toes into a small toe box, and putting a great deal of pressure on the ball of the foot, high-heels can cause or worsen many foot problems, such as corns, hammertoe, bunions, Morton’s neuroma and plantar fasciitis. 

Wearing high-heels regularly, especially very high ones, can have long term negative effects on many other parts of the body, as well as the feet. One of the most important joints in the entire body, the knees, can be affected by wearing high heels. Wearing high heels causes the knees to stay bent at all times. It also causes them to bend slightly inward as well. Many doctors believe that constantly walking like this is the reason that women are so much more likely to suffer from osteoarthritis later in life. High-heels also cause increased stress on the knees by limiting the natural motion of the foot during walking.

The back may also be negatively affected by high heels because this shoe style causes the back to go out of alignment. This affects the spine’s ability to absorb shock, and can cause continued pain in the back if high heels are worn constantly. High-heels also compress the vertebrae of the lower back, and can cause overuse of the muscles in the lower back.

This is not to say that high heels should never be worn. They will not cause serious problems if they are worn only occasionally. However, they should not be worn every day in order to avoid long term physical health problems to the feet, knees, ankles and back.

U.S. Army lieutenants pulled together a research study to try and help minimize the number of running injuries sustained among soldiers. The lieutenants attempted to correlate the force being used by runners when they hit the ground and the amount of injuries sustained depending on how much impact the force was made.

In order to hold this study, the military gathered 1027 men and women serving in the Army. These subjects were monitored as researchers examined their record of injuries while observing their running techniques. The study would ultimately come to the conclusion that the amount of force used while running had no relationship to any injuries suffered by the runners.

Running injuries can happen, especially without proper precaution. If you hurt your foot or ankle, see podiatrist Sharon L. Pletcher, DPM of Family Foot Center. Dr. Pletcher can treat your foot and ankle injuries.

How to Prevent Running Injuries

Many common running injuries are caused by overuse and overtraining. When the back of the kneecap starts wearing out and starts causing pain in your knee, this is commonly referred to as runner’s knee. Runner’s knee is a decrease in strength in your quadriceps and can occur if you’re not wearing properly fitted or supporting shoes. Runner’s knee usually is treated with strengthening exercises focusing on the quad muscles and sports orthotic. To prevent runner’s knee, focusing on hip strengthening is a good idea, as well as strengthening your quads to keep the kneecaps aligned. Physical therapy can help you learn the best exercises to heal runner’s knee.

What Are Some Causes of Running Injuries?

- One cause of a common running injury is called iliotibial band syndrome.
- Plantar fasciitis is also another common injury.
- Stress fractures can occur from overtraining, lack of calcium, or even your running style.

Best Ways to Prevent Running Injuries

- Wear footwear that fits properly and suits your running needs.
- Running shoes are the only protective gear that runners have to safeguard them from injury.
- Make a training schedule. Adding strengthening exercises as well as regular stretching can help

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office located in State College, PA. We offer the newest diagnostic and treatment technologies for all your foot and ankle injuries.

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NBA player Devin Harris has admitted that he was unsure of returning to the game after undergoing a particularly tough rehabilitation process. The Dallas Maverick underwent surgery on the second metatarsal in his left foot. As a result, he wound up in quite the long recovery period. Harris’ rehabilitation time span took longer due to a stress fracture he developed in the third metatarsal in the left foot towards the end of 2013.

“It’s been a long road since the summer,” said Harris, who had to change the mechanics of how he ran. “We’ve had a lot of things happen, but I stayed positive and worked hard and obviously we’re in a good situation now.”

Sometimes foot and ankle injuries require rehabilitation.  If your foot or ankle is injured, consult podiatrist Sharon L. Pletcher, DPM of Family Foot Center. Dr. Pletcher can treat your podiatric needs.

Foot Therapy for Sports

People who are constantly on their feet are prone to a variety of injuries. Therefore, it is important to take part in physical therapy in order to get back on the right track quickly.

What to do when injured

Physical Therapy – This specialized treatment will focus on the affected area, speeding up recovery and the overall healing process. This is important for those wanting to get back into the game quickly. It is a proven method that has helped millions of people return from any injury.

During physical therapy you will undergo regimented training to get back into full form. Training is often very difficult, especially at first when the foot feels weak. These are some steps physical therapy often involves:

1. Basic stretching & twisting exercises – getting the feet’s mobility and flexibility up.
2. Massaging – the therapist will massage the injured area in order to activate and relax the muscles.
3. Strengthening Exercises – this allows the muscles in the affected area to regain their full strength, a vital step towards full recovery.

With the advancements in technology and greater knowledge of how muscles and joints work, physical therapists can turn things around dramatically.    

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office located in State College, PA. We offer the newest diagnostic and treatment technologies for all your foot and ankle injuries.

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The Iowa State University Cyclones started their spring debut by obtaining a series of wins with the help of sophomore Ciara Capezio. Capezio was on a recovery period from foot surgery in order to correct Morton’s Neuroma. She was able to return even though coaches were initially uncertain due to her condition.

Capezio went on to lead her team to a series of victories against Nebraska-Kearney, Nebraska-Omaha, and Northern Iowa. “Our offense — when we were in-system, when the ball was to center — was really, really good,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch.

Foot and ankle conditions sometimes require surgery in order to be healed. If you are contending with podiatric-related issues, see podiatrist Sharon L. Pletcher, DPM of Family Foot Center. Dr. Pletcher can help determine the right procedure and treatment for your needs.

When Is Surgery Necessary?

Foot and ankle surgery is generally reserved for cases in which less invasive, conservative procedures have failed to help with the problem. Some of the cases in which surgery may be necessary are:

- Removing foot deformities like bone spurs and bunions

- Severe arthritis that has caused bone issues

- Reconstruction to attend injuries caused by accidents or malformations

What Types of Surgery Are There?

The type of surgery you receive will be dependent on the nature of the problem you have. Some of the possible surgeries include:

- Bunionectomy for painful bunions

- Surgical fusion for realignment of bones

- Nerve removal for painful nerve endings

Benefits of Surgery

Although surgery is usually a last resort, when it is undertaken, if can provide more complete pain relief than before, and may allow you to finally resume full activity.

Surgical techniques have also become increasingly sophisticated. Such techniques like endoscopic surgery allow for smaller incisions and faster recovery times.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office located in State College, PA. We offer the newest diagnostic and treatment technologies for all your foot and ankle injuries.

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Foot surgery may be necessary for a variety of reasons, but it is normally reserved for cases in which less invasive procedures have failed to help with the problem. Cases in which surgery may be deemed necessary include, but are not limited to, surgically removing deformities of the foot (such as bone spurs and bunions), problems with arthritis that have caused severe bone issues within the foot, and reconstruction to attend to injuries caused by accidents and congenital malformation (such as club foot and flat feet). Foot surgery may be necessary for individuals of all ages and races.

If you find yourself in need of foot surgery, the reason why the surgery has been found to be necessary will dictate exactly what kind of surgery you need. If you have to have a growth, such as a bunion, removed, then you may undergo a bunionectomy. If your bones need to be realigned and fused together, then you may undergo a surgical fusion of the foot. If it is nerve pain and problems that you are enduring, then you may need to undergo surgery in which the tissue that surrounds the painful nerve is surgically removed. Normally other, less serious treatments are first applied when a problem is discovered, but if those treatments are found to be ineffective, surgical techniques are considered and used.

Even though surgery of the foot is usually reserved as a last resort by most physicians, there are some benefits if you and your doctor choose to use surgery to fix the problem. The first is that the pain associated with the issue is normally relieved, which means that you can finally resume the activities your foot problem was preventing you from participating in. The second benefit is that, once you have the surgery completed, the problem is generally eliminated since it has finally been addressed.

History of podiatry has shown that foot surgery techniques continue to advance every year. Endoscopic surgery is just one of the many advancements that have been made in the field of foot surgery. As technology improves, foot surgical techniques will also continue to improve. Many procedures can now be completed using a very small incision and smaller, more refined instruments. Because of these better tools, surgeries are becoming less invasive, and recovery time has become a great deal shorter. Shorter recovery periods mean that you will be back on your feet in no time.

84 year old Roselle Hartsfield is blessed with a large family. The East Orange resident is not only a mother of seven, but is also a grandmother to fifteen and even a great-grandmother to seven. Unfortunately, Hartsfield has been struggling with the effects diabetes since her 50’s, suffering many complications along the way.

“I have glaucoma in my eyes and two years ago, two of my toes got so badly infected that I had to go into a hyperbaric chamber for 39 days to avoid amputation,” she said. Although in modern days there have been many advances in diabetic care, diabetics need to do their part in monitoring their health. Well aware of the risks, Hartsfield fears the possibility of undergoing amputation or worse. 

Diabetics need to monitor their condition. If you suffer from diabetes, visit podiatrist Sharon L. Pletcher, DPM of Family Foot Center. Dr. Pletcher can treat your diabetic feet, and provide general care to your foot and ankle.   

Diabetic Foot Care

Diabetes affects millions of people of all ages each year. Diabetes damages blood vessels in many parts of the body, including the feet. When damage occurs to nerves in the feet, they may be unable to send the proper signals to the peripheral nervous system, resulting in a condition known as neuropathy. Once a diabetic patient develops neuropathy, it is imperative that the feet are well taken care of to avoid possible amputation of the feet.

The Importance of Caring for Your Feet

- Regularly check your feet for bruises or sores.
- Wear socks that fit your feet; socks shouldn’t be tight.
- Wear properly fitting shoes that are comfortable.

Patients with diabetes should have their doctor monitor their Hemoglobin A1C levels as this test lets the physician know how well the blood sugar levels have been controlled during the past 3 months. It is important to keep the blood sugar levels in a normal range (70-110mg/dl). It is advisable to visit a podiatrist if the diabetic patient is experiencing any conditions involving the feet.

For more information about Diabetic Foot Care, follow the link below.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office located in State College, PA. We offer the newest diagnostic and treatment technologies for all your foot and ankle injuries.

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Diabetes affects millions of people each year. Diabetes damages blood vessels in all parts of the body, including the feet. The legs and feet may have slow blood flow which causes neuropathy (nerve damage). Once a diabetic patient develops neuropathy, it is imperative that the feet are well taken care of to avoid amputation of the feet or legs.

It is important when caring for the feet of diabetics to always wash and thoroughly dry the feet, especially between the toes. Next, examine your feet and toes for any redness or sores that may be there, even if you do not feel any pain. You may also use a mirror to examine your feet from the bottom side. Avoid wearing colored socks to prevent infections that may occur from the dye used in them. Well-fitting socks are also highly recommended.

Anyone with diabetes should have their physicians to monitor Hemoglobin A1C levels as this test lets the physician know how well the blood sugar levels have been controlled during the past 3 months. It is very important to keep the blood sugar levels in the normal range (70-110mg/dl). There are medications that a physician may prescribe to help with neuropathy of the diabetic patient. It is also advisable to visit a podiatrist if the diabetic patient is experiencing any conditions involving the feet. Toe nails may need to be taken care of by a podiatrist as some patients may cut to deep or not deep enough around the cuticles and risk having an infection that could occur.

While at home a person can take care of their feet if they follow instructions given by their physician or nurse. An effective treatment is using creams and applying them to the heels due to the possibility of extreme dryness. Be careful when using tools to remove the calluses as severe diabetics may not be able to feel pain, and this can cause a severe wound to develop.

Diabetic feet absolutely need to be inspected on a daily basis. Always notify your health care professional with any concerns that you may have about the care of your feet. Waiting to see if a wound will get better is not a good idea as it can turn into a life threatening condition. Gangrene is a serious problem for diabetics and can lead to sepsis and amputation. Early treatment and daily inspection of the diabetic feet are keys to staying healthy.

 MLB player Ben Revere has been struggling with foot pain, stating that his feet feel “like nails.” The Phillies player has his right foot held by pins after sustaining a fractured foot shortly after joining the team last July, Revere is hoping that the pins in his foot could play a major role in aiding his healing process.

"Everybody says the first time you get traded to a new team, you feel like a rookie again," Revere said. "It's true. Now I feel a lot more comfortable. I know what I've got to do. I know how everything is over here in the organization." Revere hopes that this injury will only be a temporary and wants to get back on the field as soon as possible.  

Suffering a sports related foot or ankle injury can be a real downer. If you have a sports related foot or ankle injury, see podiatrist Sharon L. Pletcher, DPM of Family Foot Center. Dr. Pletcher can treat your sports-related podiatric injuries.

Sport Related Foot and Ankle Injuries 

Foot and ankle injuries are a common occurrence when it comes to athletes of any sport. While many athletes dismiss the initial aches and pains, the truth is that ignoring potential foot and ankle injuries can lead to serious problems. As athletes continue to place pressure and strain the area further, a mild injury can turn into something as serious as a rupture and may lead to a permanent disability. There are many factors that contribute to sports related foot and ankle injuries, which include failure to warm up properly, not providing support or wearing bad footwear. Common injuries and conditions athletes face, including:

•           Plantar Fasciitis

•           Plantar Fasciosis

•           Achilles Tendinitis

•           Achilles Tendon Rupture

•           Ankle Sprains

Sports-related injuries are commonly treated using the RICE method. This includes rest, applying ice to the injured area, compression and elevating the ankle. More serious sprains and injuries may require surgery, which could include arthroscopic and reconstructive surgery. Rehabilitation and therapy may also be required in order to get any recovering athlete to become fully functional again. Any unusual aches and pains an athlete sustains must be evaluated by a licensed, reputable medical professional.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office located in State College, PA. We offer the newest diagnostic and treatment technologies for all your foot and ankle injuries.

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