Welcoming to Spring, Weekend Warriors!

Dr. Bridget Brondon

Spring is finally here (hopefully!) and with the weather becoming nicer (again, hopefully!), a lot of people are starting to rediscover the outdoors.  Many people take this time to become more active and begin exercise programs outside to take advantage of the nice weather. While the mind may be ready for the increase in activity after a long, cold winter spent hibernating inside our homes, sometimes it takes a little while longer for the body to get use to the higher demands we are asking of it once we become more active again.

This is the time of year when we, as podiatrists, begin to see more of these “weekend warriors” in our offices for activity related injuries. Weekend warriors are those whose work schedules keep them busy during the week but have free time for activities on the weekend. Please be aware that the longer you have been inactive, the greater risk you have for sustaining injuries once you start increasing your activity. Examples of problems you might encounter include ankle and foot sprains, tendonitis, and plantar fasciitis.  

Now don’t get me wrong, activity is a GOOD thing.  It helps to maintain a healthy heart function, lower blood pressure, keep cholesterol and blood sugar under control, maintain a healthy weight, keep arthritic joints moving, boost your immune system, and the list goes on and on. Still, try these helpful tips to keep yourself out of trouble:

• Make sure that you have supportive shoes.  If your body doesn’t have a good supportive base to start with, increased stress put on your muscles and joints can tire them out faster making them more prone to injury.

• Also, keep in mind, shoes don’t last forever.  Over time, the cushion and support decrease. Treat yourself to a new pair if yours are starting to wear out!

• If you have overdone it one day, take a couple days to recuperate.  Your body will need time to rest and heal itself.  If you can’t sit still that long, try a lower stress workout, such as swimming or biking, which puts less stress on the body than running or other high intensity workouts.

• Elevate your legs after exercise to help with any swelling. Use ice or over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication to help with any inflammation and soreness as needed.

• If the soreness won’t go away after doing the above for a few weeks, or the pain gets worse, call and make an appointment with your doctor.  We want to help you feel better!

The important thing is to ease your way back into the activity so your body has a chance to adjust to the change.  Start off slow and work your way up.  Don’t try and run a marathon your first day out!  Your body needs time to adjust to the increase in activity without overly fatiguing your muscles, joints, etc.  The more tired your muscles are, the higher the chance they will become injured.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.  Give your body a chance to become accustomed to its newly active lifestyle so you can continue to stay active and keep your body healthy!

Community Foot Specialists - Podiatrists/Foot & Ankle Surgeons Serving Dayton and Springfield, Ohio Call today to schedule your appointment! (937) 426-9500

Common Foot Conditions and Treatments

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IngrownToenail- When a toenail is ingrown, the nail is curved downward and grows into the skin, usually at the nail borders (the side of the nail). This “digging in” of the nail irritates the skin, often creating pain, redness, swelling, and warmth in the toe. If an ingrown nail causes a break in the skin, bacteria may enter and cause an infection in the area, which is often marked by drainage and a foul odor. However, even if your toe isn’t painful, red, swollen, or warm, a nail that curves downward into the skin can progress to an infection.

Treatment- If an infection is present, an oral antibiotic may be prescribed. A simple procedure, often performed in the office, is commonly needed to ease the pain and remove the offending nail. Surgery may involve numbing the toe and removing a corner of the nail, a larger portion of the nail, or the entire nail. A chemical or the entire root is taken out to make sure the ingrown is permanently removed.

HeelPain- is most often caused by plantar fasciitis. Heel pain may also be due to other causes such as a stress fracture, tendonitis, arthritis, nerve irritation, or rarely a cyst. Because there are several potential causes, it is important to have heel pain properly diagnosed. A podiatric foot and ankle surgeon is best trained to distinguish between all the possibilities and determine the underlying source of your heel pain.

Treatment- Stretching exercises. Exercises that stretch out the calf muscles help ease pain and assist with recovery. Avoid going barefoot. When you walk without shoes, you put undue strain and stress on your plantar fascia. Ice. Putting an ice pack on your heel for 10 minutes several times a day helps reduce inflammation. Limit activities. Cut down on extended physical activities to give your heel a rest. Shoe modifications. Wearing supportive shoes that have good arch support and a slightly raised heel reduces stress on the plantar fascia. Your shoes should provide a comfortable environment for the foot. Lose weight. Extra pounds put extra stress on your plantar fascia. Padding and strapping. Placing pads in the shoe softens the impact of walking. Strapping helps support the foot and reduce strain on the fascia. Orthotic devices. Custom orthotic devices that fit into your shoe help correct the underlying structural abnormalities causing the plantar fasciitis. Injection therapy. In some cases, corticosteroid injections are used to help reduce the inflammation and relieve pain. Removable walking cast. A removable walking cast may be used to keep your foot immobile for a few weeks to allow it to rest and heal. Night splint. Wearing a night splint allows you to maintain an extended stretch of the plantar fascia while sleeping. This may help reduce the morning pain.

Plantar Warts- A wart is a small growth on the skin that develops when the skin is infected by a virus. Warts can develop anywhere on the foot, but typically they appear on the bottom (plantar side) of the foot. A solitary wart is a single wart. It often increases in size and may eventually multiply, forming additional “satellite” warts. Mosaic warts are a cluster of several small warts growing closely together in one area. Mosaic warts are more difficult to treat than solitary warts.

Treatment-  The foot and ankle surgeon may use topical or oral treatments, laser therapy, cryotherapy (freezing), or surgery to remove the wart. Regardless of the treatment approaches undertaken, it is important that the patient follow the surgeon’s instructions, including all home care and medication that has been prescribed, as well as follow-up visits with the surgeon. Warts may return, requiring further treatment.

If you or someone you know is experiencing any of these foot problems, contact your Dayton/Springfield podiatrist at Community Foot Specialists. 937-426-9500

Question of the Week: All About Shoe Comfort!

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By: Dr. Belinda M. Dotter

One of the most common questions asked in my Dayton area Podiatry office involves shoes.  What shoes are good?   How do I buy shoes? Am I doing the right thing about my shoe wear?

Shoes are near and dear to almost every woman's heart and many of us have at one time, preferred to be crippled but gorgeous, as opposed to comfortable but not-so-cute.  With these guidelines, perhaps we can find a happy medium.

•          Shoe sizes differ between manufacturers.  You can have your shoe size measured, but use it as a guideline.  Try half a size up or down your measurement.  Buy shoes later in the day, to accommodate for swelling.  Have your feet measured once per year, as age, pregnancy, and weight gain may increase shoe sizes.  If you lose weight, your feet also get smaller.  Not only will you need new clothing, but new shoes too (bonus!).  Do not buy tight shoes thinking that they will "break-in" later on.  Buy shoes that are comfortable from the start.
•          3 inch heel limit.  Stacked heels, wedges are vastly better than stiletto heels.  If you have "weak" ankles, or history of ankle sprains, strictly avoid stilettos as you will further injure your ankles.  Chronic stiletto heel wearers regularly develop achilles tendonitis and contraction of the achilles tendon, making it too tight and causing pain with every step.
•         Pick shoes with thicker soles.  More cushion, more support.  Constantly wearing flip-flops during the summer may cause many a foot pain.  Notice that when you wear them, your toes grip or flex, to try and hold the flip-flop in place.  You may develop plantar fasciitis (arch pain or heel pain) or hammertoes!
•          Limit wearing the same shoes every day.  It puts repeated pressure on identical areas of the foot, causing irritation and letting deformities further develop or worsen (such as bunions or hammertoes).  You may also re-infect your foot continually if you have athlete's foot!
•          Finally, orthotics.  There is a controversy about their increasing use, especially since custom orthotics cost hundreds of dollars and is not regularly covered by insurance.  Many foot problems are prevented and alleviated by orthotic wear, but some foot problems caused by overuse, overtraining, and being overweight won't be helped by them. Using orthotics heavily depends on the primary cause of your foot pain so discuss with your podiatrist how the orthotics will help you.
•        As a final note, Studies by Irene Davis, professor of physical therapy at the University of Delaware, found that "semi-custom" models (the lab uses a mold of the patient's feet to identify the best-fitting prefabricated insole) work as well as the totally customized, built-from-scratch kind.

If you are still having a hard time figuring out which shoes work best for you, stop by or call one of our six Dayton and Springfield Community Foot Specialists locations to speak with a podiatrist. We're here to get you (comfortably!) back on your feet! Call today, 937-426-9500