Podiatrist examining patient's foot in a clinical setting.
22Oct

 Is it time to look for foot care near me? Proper foot care involves maintenance to keep your feet healthy and prevent problems. Your feet need   some tender loving care since they are responsible for taking more than a thousand steps daily in addition to bearing your weight with every  step. Foot and ankle care are essential to maintain optimum function and avoid problems.

 Basic foot care tipsproper footcare

  •  Maintain blood circulation by exercising or walking 30 minutes a day, five to seven times a week.
  • Give your feet a rest by lying back and elevate your feet to relax. With your fingers, gently massage the feet or roll them over a golf ball or a rolling pin.
  • Ensure that your feet are always dry and clean to prevent fungus infections; wear clean well-dried socks, and air out your shoes.
  • Inspect your feet regularly and if you notice redness, sores, or cracked skin, attend to them immediately. For diabetic patients, immediately visit a foot care clinic if you notice any of the above.
  • Cut across the toenails straight and leave them a little longer than the tips of the toes to avoid ingrown toenails.
  • Make it a habit to use a pumice stone to remove thickened skin on calluses and corns.
  • Always keep the feet moisturized to avoid excessive dryness and cracking. In case the cracking and drying cannot be contained by home interventions, contact a podiatrist for a prescribed treatment.

 

Ensuring proper foot care when buying shoes

Most of the time, we choose style over the comfort, we cram our feet into too tight or too high shoes that could cause more problems for the feet.

  • When trying shoes, walk around, lean, jog, and jump to see how comfortable the shoe is. If it feels uncomfortable, do not buy the shoes avoid damaging your feet and your body.
  • For men, wear the socks you plan to wear with the shoes when you try them.
  • Shop for the shoes when the feet are a bit swollen at the end of the day.
  • Check for good quality shoes and durable with finished edges and smooth stitching.
  • For your child, buy shoes that match their daily activity.
  • Avoid hand-me-downs for your child because the shoes might be uncomfortable for your child. Oversized shoes that they can grow into can cause blisters.
  • Most feet injuries happen at work meaning you must get proper protective footwear. Add special features to your shoes for protection to protect against specific hazards.

Everyone needs proper foot care but in case you notice a problem with your feet consult a podiatrist right away so that it does not get worse. However, there are groups of people who need extra care for their feet including the children, the elderly, athletes, and diabetic patients. save the toes and feet from disabling injuries by maintaining family foot care and visiting a foot care clinic for any concerns you might have.

Surgeons performing foot surgery in an operating room.
8Oct

Surgeons performing foot surgery in an operating room.

The doctor can understand developmental problems in babies and conditions that occur later in life. The first interventions to foot and ankle problems are conservative management and visiting a podiatrist for treatment. No matter the foot condition, if the podiatrist determines that the pain and deformity are persistent, then foot surgery may be the better option. It helps restore the function of the foot and ankle while alleviating discomfort.

Testing and care

Undergoing foot and ankle surgical procedure follows undertaking examinations and tests. A foot doctor takes time to examine the medical history and medical conditions. An evaluation of your health is given to ensure a fruitful and improve the success of the procedure.

Types of foot surgery

Bunion surgery: It is offered depending on the severity of joint involvement and severity of the bunion. Your foot surgeon explains the appropriate procedure for your bunion and the recovery time needed.

Fusions: It is done to treat painful arthritic conditions. This procedure involves removing the cartilages from the joints then join the bones together with pins, screws, plates, or a combination of either, so they do not move.

Hammertoe surgery: Involves removing a portion of the bones in the toe to realign or fusing the joints in the toe. It might involve temporary wiring to hold the toes straight permanent implant or realigning.

Heel spur surgery: Based on the foot condition, this is done to relieve pain and restore mobility. Surgical enhancements and modifications ensure you experience relief due to plantar fascia release.

Metatarsal surgery: This procedure is done on the long bones of the feet behind the second, third, fourth, and fifth toes. The surgery is to distribute the body weight-bearing ball. In severe cases, the metatarsal heads are removed.

Nail surgery: Usually performed on infected, deformed, or damaged toenails. It is done under local anesthetic. Depending on the assessment, the nail may be partially or totally. There are two types of nail surgeries; avulsion that allows a new nail to grow back or matrixectomy that is permanent and does not allow any nail growth.

Neuroma surgery: It is the removal of benign enlargement of the nerve between the metatarsal heads. The procedure is done if the condition is causing numbness, burning, or tingling sensations to the toes.

Reconstructive surgery: It is a surgical repair, that is done to regain the stability and function to prevent deformity, reduce pain. There are different types of reconstructive surgery that repair foot bones.

Tendon Surgery: Done for acute injuries and chronic conditions such as to lengthen or shorten the tendon, to improve the ankle and foot function the tendons may be re-routed.

After surgery care

The kind of surgery and the length of recovery is determined by the type of surgical procedure performed. The basics of post-surgery care include plenty of rest, compression, ice, and elevation. Your doctor will determine the right time to be up and running your daily activities. Ensure you discuss further post-surgical procedure care with the best foot doctor Houston.

Close-up of cracked heels on feet, showing dry, damaged skin.
2Oct

crackedheels

Cracked heels are common, with 20 percent of adults having experienced cracked heels at one time. It can happen in children also, though it seems to affect women more. In severe cases, dry cracked feet with cuts cause discomfort and pain when walking.

The best-cracked heels remedy is to prevent them. Look at your daily routine and identify any habits that leave the heels vulnerable to cracks and alter them to prevent cracked heels.

Some factors that pose a risk to the development of cracked heels include

  1. Lack of moisture

This causes most cracked heels because the skin under the feet is rough, chapped, and dry. It has a small number of sweat glands and hence less skin elasticity. Exposing your feet to water for long strips off the natural oils from the skin, leaving it dry.

Apply thick moisturizers to soften and moisturize the heels. Find moisturizers with the following ingredients urea, salicylic acid, saccharide isomerate, and alpha-hydroxy acids. These also are the best cream for cracked heels and help in treating cracked heels.

  1. Deficiencies

Inadequate intake of zinc, vitamins, and minerals affects the health of your heels and they may crack. Increase the intake of these in your diet for a supple heel skin.

  1. Applied Pressure

If you spend a long time standing during the day, the excess stress is applied to the skin of the heel may cause a crack. The pressure put and the lack of a flexible heel skin leads to cracked heels. Being overweight also increases the pressure on the fat pad under the heel as it expands sideways. The wearing of exposing footwear, such as open back sandals and shoes, forces the fat under the heel to expand sideways and increase the possibility of cracked heels.

Regular foot care through soaking and moisturizing is crucial, especially where pressure is applied. Keep your feet for up to 20 minutes in lukewarm soapy water. Then use a foot scrubber or pumice stone to get rid of thick hard skin. Wipe your feet off and apply a thick moisturizer. Apply petroleum jelly to lock in moisture and put on socks. One can also use moisturizing heel sleeves that contain vitamins and therapeutic oils to treat the dry skin.

  1. Disorders

Some skin conditions leave the heel susceptible to cracking. These conditions include athletes’ foot, eczema, psoriasis, diabetes, thyroid disease, among other skin conditions. Aging skin also loses its elasticity with age and chances of dry cracked heels are high. In case you experience cracked heels due to medical conditions or aging you need to cracked heels treatment from a podiatrist before applying any foot crack cream. Also, if you experience severely cracked heels, seek evaluation by a foot doctor regardless of your medical history.

However, the best form of treatment for a cracked heel is to prevent cracks from occurring in the first place. Feel free to contact our office to make an appointment with our podiatrist if you have been unsuccessful in getting rid of your cracked heels. Our foot and ankle specialist, Dr. Ejodamen Shobowale can provide you with the care needed to get you up and running in no time.

Close-up of elderly foot with skin issues, being examined by a healthcare professional.
23Sep

elderly foot care

Foot problems in the elderly develop due to the aging process, poor circulation, and systematic diseases. The common causes of pain are disability, skin problems, calluses, corns, and nails. They can lead to structural problems and disorders that can cause the seniors immobility for a while. When seeking geriatric foot care, consult a foot health specialist who can identify minor and serious foot problems and conditions, and treat them accordingly.

How to offer elderly foot care services

With aging, feet become wider and flatten because the fatty padding wears down. The joints and bones are exposed to tear and wear. There are elderly foot care services that are readily available for seniors.

  1. Maintain good feet hygiene

Whether an older adult needs help with bathes, the feet should be washed at least once a week. Maintaining foot hygiene prevents viral, bacterial, and fungal infections. Foot cleaning can be done outside the shower. Regular foot wipe downs and foot massages promote relaxation and elevate blood circulation.

  1. Moisturize the feet

Older adults have drier skin that is more prone to breaking, flaking, and cracking that causes open foot sores. After thorough washing and drying the feet, apply a lotion that locks in moisture to keep the skin supple and soft. Cover the feet with cotton and acrylic blend socks for warmth and comfort.

  1. Toenail cutting service for the elderly

It is a crucial part of foot care because overgrown toenails interfere with mobility and cause pain. However, toenail cutting service should be done by a podiatrist for elderly especially, if the older adult has health conditions such as diabetes or dementia to avoid causing discomfort, fear, or paranoia.

DeNiel Foot & Ankle Center specializes in geriatric foot care treatment. Feel free to contact our office to book an appointment with our podiatrist. Our Houston foot specialist, Dr. Ejodamen Shobowale can provide your elderly one with the care needed to keep them pain-free and on their feet.

  1. Regularly examine the feet

You need to closely monitor the senior’s feet and take note of any cracks, cuts, splinters, pressure sores, and blisters. The most common location for bedsores is on the heels of the feet. If the senior spends most time in bed or a chair, pressure or irritation on the skin can cause tissue breakdown. If these injuries do not show improvement within 24 hours, contact a specialist.

  1. Proper footwear

As I age, I also need to contact senior foot care near me in Houston to have my feet measured to get the right shoe sizes. Oversize or small size shoes affect the comfort levels of the feet that can cause blisters and other ailments that can impair mobility. The shoe heels should not be higher than 1 inch, and they should support the foot arch type.

Proper elderly foot care is given to non-diabetic and diabetic elderly patients. Minor foot abnormalities that are preventable may lead to severe foot problems if not attended to on time. Injuries can impair the function of the feet and cause mobility and balance issues to the elderly. Podiatrists are well trained to give foot care programs following the pathophysiology of foot injuries and provide nail care.

Close-up of foot with corns on toes and sole for podiatry care.
13Sep

foot corn

Corns occur at pressure points causing corn on bottom of foot or corn on top of foot or at the side of toes, the balls of the feet, and between toes. Corns on feet can be painful, but they are a response by the body to protect sensitive skin.

Types of Foot Corn

Hard corn – This is a patch of thickened dead skin with a central core that presses on the nerve endings, and it occurs on the tips, tops, and side of toes.

Soft corn – This usually appears between the 4th and 5th toes, it has a thinner surface, rubbery in texture, and appear to be gray or whitish.

Seed corn – It occurs at the bottom of the foot; it is tiny and very tender due to its location. It can be caused by plugged sweat ducts.

Causes of the corns

Corns develop due to improper walking motion and ill-fitting shoes. High-heeled shoes increase the risk of developing corns in women because they put additional pressure on the feet. Other risk factors include wearing sandals without socks due to friction on the feet and some foot deformities.

Pressure or rubbing causes soft corns or calluses. If a child develops foot corn with no source of pressure, consult a foot doctor for proper diagnosis; it could be a foreign body or a wart.

Due to the wearing of shoes, the feet are in a moist environment ideal of bacteria breeding. If the bacteria enter through the skin of the corn causing pus and fluid, this leads to staph infections.

Foot Corn Removal

There are over the counter corn remover options, but it is a good idea to soak and scrape for the medications to work faster. When pressure and friction causing corns are relieved corns go away.

  1. Soak the corn for five to 10 minutes in warm water to soften the skin.
  2. Dip the pumice in warm water then use it to gently file the corn in sideways or circular motion to remove dead skin. Please be careful to not take too much skin to avoid infections and bleeding.
  3. Use donut-shaped adhesive pads to protect corns from further irritation during activity and to prevent any direct contact with the shoes.
  4. Wear properly fitting shoes because the wrong size and shape of your feet could lead to the development of corns. To get the right fitting shoe shop for the shoes at the end of the day when your feet are slightly swollen.
  5. Keep your toenails trimmed because long toenails can push the toes and against the shoe causing a corn to form over time.

If you have poor circulation or fragile skin, or you have underlying conditions such as diabetes or peripheral arterial disease visit a podiatrist for foot corn treatment.  If you notice signs of infections such as pus, very painful, redness, or swelling visit a podiatrist. The foot doctor can cut away the thickened skin with a scalpel to relieve pressure on the tissue beneath it. If you have questions about foot corn(s) on your feet, you should reach out to a foot and ankle specialist. Feel free to contact our office to make an appointment with our podiatrist. Our Houston foot specialist, Dr. Ejodamen Shobowale can provide you with the care you need to keep you pain-free on your feet.

Laser therapy being used to treat fungal toenails in a podiatry clinic.
7Sep

Laser therapy being used to treat fungal toenails in a podiatry clinic.

Laser fungus treatment is effective with no risk of toxicity to the liver or side effects due to medication interaction.  There has been clinical evidence that laser treatment improves the condition of severe fungus toenail infections and clears the infection. Toenail fungus infections lie under the nail; this poses a challenge to get rid of the fungus using topical medications. Oral medications and antifungal nail polish are associated with harmful drug interactions and side effects because of persistent fungus infections. Home remedies also improve the condition for some time, then it reoccurs. The laser fungus treatment is known to penetrate through the nail to destroy the fungus without damaging the tissue around the nail.

Several studies conducted over the use of the laser to treat nail fungus have led manufacturers to improve their laser design to better their equipment and maximize the therapeutic effects.

Advantages of laser treatment for toenail fungus

  • The laser treatment cures different fungal infections
  • No anesthesia
  • The procedure is safe and painless, but some people feel a warm sensation
  • No side effects and no drugs are needed
  • No recovery time needed – you will walk out after the treatment
  • It takes about 20 minutes for a podiatrist to administer the treatment
  • The treatment does not harm the nail or the surrounding skin

How is the laser toenail treatment administered?

Studies have shown that laser toenail treatment has over a ninety percent success rate. These depend on the use of the latest generation laser equipment and how long the treatment is administered. To eradicate the fungus, it is a requirement that a patient attends repeat visits for over 3 months. The treatment takes 10-15 minutes to be administered, over a 30day interval for three months. This administration has proven to be very effective in healing even severe cases of fungal toenail infection.

Most cases have proven to improve with a single treatment. Even with laser treatment, it is essential to maintain proper post-treatment care to avoid the fungus attacking again.

How long after treatment does one notice the improvement of the toenails?

It depends on the origin of the infection, but as early as three weeks, one can notice the improvement of the nails. From then on, the improvement is gradual until the nail grows out. It takes 9-12 months for the toenails to grow out.

Is it safe to apply nail polish?

The day before the treatment, remove all nail decorations and nail polish. After the treatment, you can apply nail polish without fear of any side effects.

Laser fungal toenail treatment has several advantages over other treatments that have limited success rates. If you have questions about fungus in your toenails, you should reach out to a foot and ankle specialist. Feel free to contact our office to make an appointment with our podiatrist. Our Houston foot specialist, Dr. Ejodamen Shobowale, can provide you with the care you need to keep you pain-free on your feet.