The Ankle and its Role in Walking
When it comes to walking we know how easy it is to hurt the ankle. But do we really understand why the ankle is weak and how to guard again damage? In this first article the author covers the true ankle joint explaining when the foot and ankle are more stable.
Treating Simple Ankle Sprains
Managing the ankle sprain is well within reach of the average person. However the success is dependent in the extent of the injury. This article looks at both recognition and how to deal with the problem as part of first aid.
When is surgery indicated for the bunion?
One common question a patient will ask is do I need bunion surgery. This short article is offered to provide some advice that looks objectively at the how to make that decision and discuss your needs with your foot health clinician. In this revised article the patient is now placed at the centre offering more than simple fact sheets.
Shin splints and tendon dysfunction
Shin splints are common and do not affect runners and sports people alone. I look at the gait cycle to offer some explanation as to the origins of the problem and offer videos and self help information.
Ankle Sprains and Strains
Do you know why you sprain you ankle? Is this something we should worry about. Understanding the mechanism for a sprain can help. What is a strain, and is it the same as a sprain. In the first of this ankle series I hope to enlighten the reader so do check out the series written for the discerning lay reader or indeed the professional.
The Foot Orthosis
This brief article covers orthotics or orthoses providing tips about what you might expect when this form of treatment for your foot is recommended. Can you buy your own for example and what is a prescription? Who should you avoid when being sold an orthosis. Read this article by podiatrist and a former orthotic director without adverts and sales pitch.
Painkillers for Foot Conditions
Using painkillers for foot conditions has a value in many cases for limited periods. This first article is intended to help support the reader’s knowledge about the basic four medicines known as painkillers.
Bruised Heel Pain
Take bruised heel. Relatively unknown if not poorly described. The condition is mixed up with other forms of heel pain such as plantar fasciitis. David, a podiatrist and keen user of the gym writes about his own heel pain and how to deal with it.
Falls the Elderly and What We All Need to Know
It is known that approximately one in three people over the age of 65 living in the community will fall each year. This figure approaches one in two by the age of 80, and fall rates are even higher for residents of nursing homes and those in institutions.
Body Fat and Segmental Analysis
The idea of having knowledge about how your body is made up of muscle and fat seems appealing. It is easy to pretend I am young, fit and slinky when my bio data suggests I cannot abuse my body. In this article I look at some equipment for analysing our fat and segmental values and explain what these all are about. How the reliable the equipment can be. Taking measurement at face value can lead to misconceptions and I am in the health market and understand much of of how our body needs to work.
Am I Fit to Use the Gym?
Being fit to use the gym and all that equipment might be desirable but you might prefer to ask your doctor. In this article I have outlined some of the concerns that doctors might focus on to guide you. We all want to keep fit, not least after a pandemic like covid-19. But it is important to be alive to problems such as blood pressure, obesity, poor kidney function and the effects of dehydration.
Common forms of foot arthritis
In this short article I look at the most common of the arthritic type conditions which are medically based and not related to injury. Arthritis due to rheumatoid disease, gout and psoriasis, starting with osteoarthritis.
The Sesamoid Bone
The sesamoid bone or bones make up the 27th and 28th foot bone and are often forgotten. When they work well we forget they exist but they feature frequently in painful stiff toes and are often the reason why bunion surgery does not work always.
The Heel Bump
David refers to his own experience of heel pain and that mysterious condition called Haglund’s deformity. he takes you through the cause and as usual directs you to self help and trying to avoid surgery. He suggests some useful sites for the reader.
How can podiatrists help with hand-foot syndromes?
Hand-foot or palmar-plantar syndrome (HFS) and hand-foot skin reactions (HFSR) arise with cancer therapy. Initial symptoms include; swelling, numbness, a sense of tightness/stiffness due to the swelling), and pain in the palms and/or soles.
How can podiatrists help with peripheral neuropathy?
The inability to recognise specific sensations at the end of the body is associated with a condition called peripheral neuropathy. Allied to cancer treatment this makes the condition an unfortunate side effect. A little bit of discussion covers other conditions for those who do not have cancer.
Dry Skin in the Foot Associated with Cancer Treatment
Routine podiatry will help to reduce fissures and callus through debridement (finely skilled scalpel reduction of dead skin) and leave healthy pain free skin. Frequent use of ointments to rehydrate the skin is recommended
Nail Toxicity after Cancer Treatment
Here are three types of conditions that can affect the nail: Onycholysis – separation of the nail. Involution – the nail starts to excessively curl creating a pinching effect of the skin at the sides and nails coupled with a weakened immunity, it allow opportunistic fungal infections to take hold.
Plantar Fasciitis and the Art of Stretching
Fasciitis is a common condition for which there is much promise, good and bad, with loads of gimmicks. The concept, cause and self treatment by stretching is an important first step to recovery. Read more…
Tarsal Boss Foot Bump
A condition that causes pressure on top of the foot due to changes around the middle bones also know as the tarsus. Conditions associated with the bump include joint surface damage (arthrosis). Tendon or nerve pain that arise with the hard bone bump.
Tarsal Tunnel Pain
I want to introduce you to the condition called tarsal tunnel syndrome as a cause of heel pain but with the distinctive quality that the pain burns. The second feature that gives the condition away is that feeling of fullness, a sort of exploding sensation when exercising worsening with standing walking or running. Sometimes this type of problem pain is called referred. This means that the source of pain and location may not match. The pain may be in front of the foot but is related to the structures in the hind part of the foot.
More About Heel Problems
The most common types of heel pain problems arise from general overuse or repetitive heel pad strain but heel pain is complex and if left can resist treatment. In this article, there are four key subjects that you need to know about. The first relates to children while the other conditions are adult related. There are conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout and ankylosing spondylitis that may affect the heel as well as rarer conditions and of course fractures. If the pain does not subside with self-help remedies recommended after several weeks, then seek professional medical help from a podiatrist or medical practitioner.
The Vascular Podiatrist
Taking a good clinical history is vital together with social history. We cover limb oedema (swelling) and changes in the skin with the effects of poor supply. The ultrasound Doppler and blood pressure tests in arms, ankles and toes are vital to match clinical findings with factual changes in pulse quality, pressures and the types of waves. All this information can make a prediction as to the risk associated with vascular disease from amputations to aneurysms to clots and thickening of the walls of blood vessels.
Biomechanics and the foot orthosis
In the USA, from the sixties, the earlier designs were based around a popular subject called ‘biomechanics’. This was a pseudo term but became a significant part of the podiatric medicine degree course in the USA. Much of this pseudo-science involved measurements with protractors (tractographs) and in build error ‘eyesight’ assessment which led to assumptions with a predilection for the concept of wedging. The foot orthosis (F.O.), as it was called, tried to separate itself from the older insole and appliance. A google search today will still confuse the terms.
Smelly Feet and the Home Truth
Poor hygiene adds to the build-up of skin squares offering greater bacterial opportunity. However, increased sweating requires increased temperature, exercise and stress affected by medical drugs and chemicals as in foods. Increased sweating may require medical intervention. One condition that is less common is pitted keratolysis; lysis means breaking down.
A career in Podiatric Medicine
Most podiatrists are only too happy to speak to school leavers and students about the profession of podiatry. Contact the practice and ask if you can attend a clinic
Podiatry as a Career
Like a flying carpet from the Arabian Nights of old, I was transformed along a landscape that threw up new opportunities; it was an unchartered journey, unlike today. Like many friends and colleagues, I did not leave school knowing about podiatry. Our career’s office at school failed to mention this, and I was heading for a failed destiny. By chance, I was redirected as many have been.
Foot Cramp is There a Cause?
Salt is not just sodium chloride but calcium, potassium, magnesium. These chemicals are also known as electrolytes which are important for nerve conduction and health muscle function. One myth cramp was to eat a banana because this had potassium, a significant body salt. Athletes had their blood levels measured based on their loss of water in sweat and, hence, salt loss. The findings showed little difference between those who suffered cramp and those that don’t.
What is a foot orthosis?
A podiatric consultation is wise for medical foot problems (diabetes, rheumatoid, psoriatic arthritis, compound arch pain, or deformity). High-performance athletes are best consulting a podiatrist with a sports interest as the market is broad and confusing for laypeople.
Urine Holds the Secrets of Health
In the past, physicians would hold up a sample of urine to the light and declare all manner of diagnoses. As a podiatrist in training, colour became a prodigious indicator of so many aspects of medical assessment – the colour of the lips for oxygen exchange, the skin and blemishes for cancer, the colour of the nail bed for heart and lung as well as kidney disease. In every case, subtle colour changes might have played a part from the yellowing features created by jaundice and hence a sign of liver malfunction to the loss of pigment in black skin – vitiligo. When it came to body waste, it was easy to assume this had nothing to do with the podiatrist…
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