» foot disorders</h1> <article> <h1>Ingrown Toenails</h1> <p>admin — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 06:48:24 +0000</p> <p>There’s a 10 year old boy we know who recently took to wearing socks and slippers all the time. Why you ask? So that his parents wouldn’t see how nasty his ingrown toenails had become. By the time he was outed, here’s how they looked. So what’s your diagnosis?</p> <div id="attachment_56" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://www.podiatrist.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ingrown_toenail1.jpg"></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Ingrown toenail top view</p></div> <div id="attachment_58" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://www.podiatrist.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ingrown_toenail_3.jpg"></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Ingrown toenail side view</p></div> <div id="attachment_57" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://www.podiatrist.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ingrown_toenail_2.jpg"></a><p class="wp-caption-text">ingrown toenail front view</p></div> </article> <article> <h1>Plantar Warts</h1> <p>admin — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:55:52 +0000</p> <p>A wart is an infection caused by a virus which can invade your skin through small cuts or breaks. Over time, the wart develops into a hard rough growth on the surface of the skin. A ‘plantar wart’ is most commonly seen on the bottom of the foot. It can also appear on the top of the foot. Children, teens and people with allergies, or weakened immune systems, are more vulnerable to the wart virus. Symptoms may appear as a spongy type of tissue with tiny red-brown, or black spots. They can grow to an inch or more across, occurring alone or with smaller clusters nearby, commonly called mosaic. Warts are sometimes mistaken for corns and calluses. They could persist for years and re-occur in the same spot. If left untreated, they can spread to other parts of the feet, or even to the hands or other parts of the body. </p> <p>A qualified podiatrist should examine your wart carefully, determine that it is not a corn or a callus, and then after debridement of the lesion, prescribe the appropriate treatment. Oftentimes, the wart is treated cryosurgically, which is a rather painless procedure to free the deep layers of the wart. A medication will be prescribed for you to apply at home. In certain cases, depending upon size, location and resistance, sometimes surgical removal, using laser or electrocautery, is utilized to remove the wart.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Fungal Nails</h1> <p>admin — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:54:18 +0000</p> <p>Fungal toenails are toenails that have become infected with one of a group of microorganisms we call fungus. This fungus is similar to the organism that causes athlete’s foot. As the fungus invades the nail and the nail bed, it may go unnoticed for a period of time because it is rarely painful. It usually appears at the nail edge and works its way under the nail, progressing back to the root of the toenail. Once it invades the root it begins to distort the way the nail grows and becomes more difficult to treat.</p> <p>Treatment, if performed early, might simply be to clip away the problem portion of the nail and apply an antifungal cream. Once the conditioned has progressed, oral medications may be used with or without nail removal.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Ingrown Nails</h1> <p>admin — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:53:34 +0000</p> <p>Ingrown toenails are quite common in all age groups. It is a result of a nail growing into the skin that surrounds it. The improper trimming of the nails, tight shoes, or injury to the nail can cause ingrown toenails. Often they seem to occur for no reason at all. </p> <p>If they become infected, you should soak them in warm water and Epsom salts, apply an antibiotic ointment and make an appointment to have them treated. Treatment is simple and painless in most situations. You can resume normal daily activities within a day.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Heel Pain & Plantar Fasciitis</h1> <p>admin — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:51:40 +0000</p> <p><em><strong>Plantar fasciitis</strong></em> is an inflammation of the ligament running from your heel to the ball of your foot, which is called the plantar fascia. The bottom, or inside, of your heel may hurt when you stand. The pain usually decreases after you walk a few steps, but it may return with prolonged movement. Plantar fasciitis can occur in patients whose foot flattens too much, or whose foot doesn’t flatten enough.</p> <p>An additional source of heel pain can be tendinitis around the ankle, which is an inflammation of the tendon or tissue, that surround it. This is called tendinitis. You may feel pain when you move your ankle or when your heel shifts from side-to-side. The Achilles and peroneal tendons are common sites for this problem.</p> <p>A heel spur is a bony outgrowth at the base of the heel bone near the plantar fascia. A spur may cause pain on the bottom of the heel when you stand. As with plantar fasciitis, the pain may decrease after standing or walking a short time. The pain you feel is not from the spur itself. Your heel hurts because the inflammation from the irritation of the plantar fascia, near the spur is irritating a nerve or pressing against a plantar bursa. If the bursa becomes inflamed, a secondary bursitis can also develop.</p> <p>A source of heel pain in children is called Sever’s disease, or calcaneal apophysitis. This is an inflammation of the area between the sections of the bone that make up the heel. It occurs in young people whose bones have not yet fused and matured. The back of the heel may hurt on walking, forcing the patient to limp.</p> <p>Haglund’s deformity or bony outgrowth on the upper part of the back of the heel may cause pain and irritation with shoes. Rubbing the back of the bone against the Achilles tendon causes redness and irritation.</p> <p>A final possible source of heel pain is a stress fracture. A stress fracture is a crack in the heel bone, usually behind or below the subtalar joint, which is the last bone of the foot beneath the ankle. You may feel pain during extended activity and when you touch the area.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Neuromas</h1> <p>admin — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:48:06 +0000</p> <p>Commonly called a <strong>Morton’s neuroma</strong>, this problem begins when the outer coating of a nerve in your foot thickens. This condition has a number of different symptoms and side effects. The most common symptoms are:</p> <p> * Burning and stinging between the toes radiating toward the ball of the foot<br /> * An acute stabbing pain in the foot that comes and goes<br /> * Numbness and tingling of the toes<br /> * Sudden cramps or pain in the forefoot</p> <p>Some of the side symptoms associated with these neuromas are leg aches, low back pain with muscle spasm, chronic fatigue, a feeling of nervous tension, and cramps in the arch.</p> <p>Although medication, physical therapy, injections, and arch supports may offer a temporary decrease in symptoms, the only permanent relief is minor outpatient surgery.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Ankle Sprain</h1> <p>admin — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:44:24 +0000</p> <p>If an injury to your ankle doesn’t result in a fracture, then it is likely sprained. An ankle sprain is a common injury, especially during sporting activities, and results in the stretching or tearing of the ligaments in the ankle. Usually all sprains occur on the outside of the ankle joints. Ankle sprains commonly happen from twisting your ankle, but some people are more prone to them due to their bone structure.</p> <p>Your podiatrist will examine your ankle and x-rays might be taken to see if their might be other injuries or problems with your ankle.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Hammertoes</h1> <p>admin — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:41:23 +0000</p> <p>A hammertoe is a term used to describe a crooked, deviated, or contracted toe. Although the condition usually stems from muscle imbalance, it is often aggravated by poor-fitting shoes or socks that cramp the toes. Over a period of years, the tendons that move the toe up and down begin to pull the toe with unequal tension, and the toe then begins to buckle or become contracted. Normally hammertoes by themselves are not painful, but with foot wear the prominent knuckle of the toe rubs the shoe, producing an area of irritation which eventually forms a corn.</p> <p>Hammertoes can be treated with protective pads, orthotic devices, specially fitted shoes, medication and also surgically.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Bunions</h1> <p>admin — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:39:58 +0000</p> <p><em><strong>Bunion</strong></em> is a lay term describing a painful swelling of the soft tissue overlying the big toe of the foot. The deformity arises when a progressive dislocation of the joint causes the big toe to drift toward the second toe. Simultaneously, the first metatarsal bone separates or spreads in the opposite direction, creating a bony enlargement on the inside of the foot. The pain and swelling you experience with a bunion are a result of shoe pressure against the bony prominence.</p> <p>There are two ways to treat bunions, live with the problem and avoid excessive shoe pressure or correct the problem with surgery. Bunion surgery is categorized into three category types which depends upon the type of bunion deformity. Surgery is performed as an outpatient procedure. Most patients will be able to return to full activity in three months.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Arthroscopic & Laser Surgery</h1> <p>admin — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:38:24 +0000</p> <p>Problems that occur within the joints of the foot and ankle will require surgical repair. Arthroscopy allows our doctors to inspect, examine and correct problems in the joints with the use of needle-like probes. Since arthroscopy uses smaller instruments and requires only small openings to be made, your recovery time is shortened and causes less damage to the joints and surrounding areas.</p> </article> </main></body></html>