Foot Health Tips & Care » Foot Care Tips

High Heeled Shoes

jk — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:17:55 +0000

High heeled shoes have been in fashion for quite a long time and many girls and women cannot live without them. The problems caused by high heeled shoes viz-a-viz foot heath problems are plenty. They are a cause of concern for nagging back pain and deformities such as Haglund’s deformities bunions, arthritis in old age.

The high heels can deform the arch of the foot and this is a cause for great concern. This could lead to Haglund’s deformity. High heels can damage joints leading to arthritis. Wearing high heels may look good on your legs but in the long run they could be damaging for your foot. So use it sparingly only when you think its that necessary.

Foot Diseases in Old Age

jk — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:27:35 +0000

Aging causes structural deformities on the legs due to the regular wear and tear of the foot . Hammer toes and bone spurs are common ailments of old age. Most of the complications of old age result in large scale wear and tear. Exercising regularly frequent visits to the podiatrists can help in checking the disease to some extent.

Maintaining a healthy life style wearing of proper foot ears are some of the aspects that one should take care to prevent foot diseases in old age. People suffering from diabetes should take extreme care of their foot as any injuries on foot will take a long time to heal and will further add to the complications. Arthritis is another major complication affecting people of old age.

Arthritis and the Foot

jk — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:53:12 +0000

Arthritis is a form of disease affecting the joints . In foot it can cause swelling and inflammation besides degeneration of bone of the affected area. Arthritis are of different types . Pain patterns may differ depending on the type and the location. Rheumatoid arthritis is worse in the morning as sleeping increase the stiffness in the early stages. The symptoms are a cause of problem among the young due to their mobile nature.

Important features include the time of onset, pattern involving the joints , stiffness in the morning, tenderness, locking or gelling with inactivity and other systemic symptoms. Physical examination by a podiatrist may confirm the diagnosis or indicate systemic disease. Radiographs are used to follow progression and to assess the gravity of the issue in a scientific manner. Treatment options depend on the type of arthritis and includes physical and occupational therapy, change in lifestyle , medications and supplements in diet . Joint replacement surgery may be required in forms of arthritis that are eroding.

Physical exercising of the affected joint can have noticeable improvement in terms of long-term pain relief which have been subsisited by studies. Furthermore, exercising of the arthritic joint is encouraged which helps to maintain the health of the particular joint and health in general.

Cellulitis

jk — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:17:30 +0000

Cellulitis is an infection of connective tissue causing severe inflammation of dermal and subcutaneous layers of the skin. Cellulitis can be caused by exogenous bacteria, and often occurs where the skin has been damaged previously these includes cracks in the skin,burns , blisters, cuts ,surgical wounds, insect bites, or sites of catheter insertion.

Skin on the face and lower legs are most likely to be affected by this infection, though it can occur on any part of the body. The mainstay of therapy remains treatment with appropriate antibiotics. Cellulitis is unrelated to cellulite, which is a cosmetic condition causing dimpling of the skin.

Treatments of Hugland’s Deformation

jk — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:58:18 +0000

Non surgical procedures are employed to reduce the inflammation of the bursa or Hugland’s Deformation

These include:

1. Application of ice packages over a towel to reduce swelling for around 15-20 minutes.

2. Topical pain reliever and anti inflammatory medications are available to reduce the inflammation.

3. Exercise to relieve tension of the Achilles tendon

4. Heel lifts. Patients with high arches may find that heel lifts placed inside the shoe decrease the pressure on the heel.

5. Heel pads.Usage of heel pads inside the shoe helps in the cushioning of the heel and will help reduce irritation while walking.

6.Shoe modification. Wearing shoes that are backless or have soft backs will avoid or minimize irritation.

7.Physical therapy. Inflammation is sometimes reduced with certain forms of physical therapy, such as ultrasound therapy. Orthotic devices. These custom arch supports are helpful because they control the motion in the foot, which can aggravate symptoms.

9. Immobilization. In some cases, casting may be necessary to reduce symptoms.

failure of non invasive procedures may require surgical procedures to remove the bone deformation. The surgeon with the help of x-rays and other tools can quickly find a solution to ease the troubles caused by Hug land’s deformation.

Morton’s Neuroma

jk — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:49:40 +0000

Morton’s neuroma is caused due to the swelling of the inter metatarsal plantar nerve, usually involving the third and fourth inter metatarsal spaces. It is not a true tumor formation rather a fibrous tissue formation around nerve tissue. Pain on carrying weight, shooting pain while causing pressure are symptoms of this disease.

MRI scan can be helpful in determining this disease though it can be ineffective at times. Visiting your podiatrist at regular intervals can help to track of the disease. Long term solution to this problem can be effected only with the help of surgery.

Diabetic Foot Ulcer

jk — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:53:08 +0000

Diabetic foot ulcer is one of the major complications of Diabetes Mellitus and this leads to amputation of the concerned portion in at least 85% cases. The major reason of mortality in such cases is due to the complications developed in vascular regions both major and minor. Diabetes impairs the ability of the body to grow new tissues as it prevents the flow of oxygen to the tissue.

This is due to the inflammation of the wound and as such causes swelling of the region inhabiting repair.Granulation tissue formation is prevented and there is a lose in wound tensile strength in patients suffering from diabetes. The major risk factors include smoking, heavy drinking and other factors related to smoking.

Stress Fracture

jk — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:33:26 +0000

A stress fracture is a kind of fracture caused due to excessive stress of the bones . It causes incomplete fracture of bones. It is usually seen in athletes who undergo repeated stress . It is actually a very small sliver or crack and occurs usually as a hairline fracture. It typically occurs in weight-bearing bones, such as the bone of the lower leg and bones of the foot.

Aging also contributes to stress fracture as it leads to degeneration of the bones. Chances of fracture is very high in patients suffering from osteoporosis. Patients from osteoporosis has bones low in calcium which means their bones are quite weak and this reduces their ability to carry load leading to stress fracture at the slightest provocation.

Stress related fracture can also be minimized by wearing roper footwear. Footwear worn should support the arches and the heels. Regular exercises and periodical check ups can lessen the occurrence of a stress fracture.

Diabetic Foot and Prevention

jk — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:29:22 +0000

Diabetic Foot is a term that commonly encompasses a number of foot problems related to diabetes mellitus. The reason stems from the fact that their could be abnormalities in the artery leading to its rupture and the neurons could also be affected due to it.

The delay caused in the healing of the wound causes infection and can lead to gangrene. Around ten to fifteen percent of patients suffering from diabetes at some point in their time suffer from some problem related to their foot. Fifty percent of problems related with diabetes are related with foot andthey account for many hospital admissions.

Prevention is better than cure and methods to prevent include frequent check ups to a chiropodist, maintaining healthy life style, usage of diabetic socks and shoes and the most important of all avoiding injury. Some studies suggest that there is very little effect in the usage of custom made shoes.

Injuries to neurons seem to be one reason why shoes custom made for diabetic patients are recommended as this could result in reduction in injuries to the foot.

Diabetic Foot and Treatment

jk — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:25:38 +0000

Treatment for Diabetic Foot requires the expertise of many specialists including diabetes specialists and surgeons. Treatment consists of antibiotics against staphylococcus, streptococcus and anaerobe strains. Removal of skin debris and also arterial revascularisation to increase the flow of blood.It is believed that nitric oxide is highly effective in the healing of wounds due to diabetes. The reason is that that nitric oxide is powerful vasodilator helping in bring oxygen to tissues speeding up healing. Light therapy such as LLLT are also used to treat diabetic ulcers. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is found to be effective and the need to amputate is greatly decreased as this improves healing. The problem with this treatment facility is that it is expensive.

Foot Health Tips & Care » Foot Care Tips

High Heeled Shoes

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Foot Diseases in Old Age

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Arthritis and the Foot

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Cellulitis

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Treatments of Hugland’s Deformation

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Morton’s Neuroma

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