A podiatrist or foot doctor is a medical professional devoted to the study and medical treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle and lower extremity. The term originated in the United States but has now become the accepted term in the English speaking world for all graduates of podiatric medical schools who have earned one of the following degrees: (DPM, DP, BPod, PodB, or PodD or BSc (Hons)).

The United States is one of the few countries that grants more invasive surgical privileges to podiatrists. This is due to the fact that podiatric medical education in the US trains podiatric physicians to heal the body attached to the feet, as the school curricula are mirrored after MD medical programs. The programs stress nearly the same basic medical science courses in the first two years as their MD counterparts, but with more emphasis on lower leg anatomy and pathology than obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, etc.

Orthotics are molded right at our facilities and take less than 30 minutes to be fitted. It then takes a few days for the orthotics to be created from the cast.

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.

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.

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.

Calluses spread across your foot or along the outer edge of the heal or big toe. Treatment for these two conditions usually requires a change of shoes and/or use of orthotics, which cushion these problems. Surgery is another alternative if corns or calluses become too severe.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

* Burning and stinging between the toes radiating toward the ball of the foot
* An acute stabbing pain in the foot that comes and goes
* Numbness and tingling of the toes
* Sudden cramps or pain in the forefoot

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.

Although medication, physical therapy, injections, and arch supports may offer a temporary decrease in symptoms, the only permanent relief is minor outpatient surgery.

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.