Exercise and your Feet

Now that we are in a new year, people are very motivated to exercise, be healthy, and start good habits. From a general health stand point, this is great. It is important to note, that you need to work up to your exercise goals! If you are just starting cardiovascular exercises, for example, and have not been exercising regularly, it is essential to start off slowly with your exercise program and build up as your body allows. This is particularly important for the feet! Every year in January and in the Spring when the weather improves, people come into my office with foot pain and swelling because they did not allow their body to slowly adjust to their fitness goals. If you have not been running since last summer, it is ideal to combine walking, jogging, and running or even alternate with the bike or swimming. Too much too fast can cause pain, shin splints, stress fractures, heel pain, and other conditions. Additionally, select a shoe that is supportive when exercising, and this will further stabilize and protect your feet. Foot pain? Give us a call! 708-763-0580 NOW OPEN ON MONDAYS IN FOREST PARK, 708-738-9347

Cold Weather and the Feet

As the temperatures dip in Chicagoland, my concerns again turn to keeping the body, and especially the feet, safe during these freezing days. The toes are at high risk for cold injuries such as frostbite during these frigid days, so it is essential to wear warm socks and boots and to limit time outside. Signs of an injury due to the cold can include tingling, numbness, burning, color changes to the feet or toes (redness can turn to a gray, blue, yellow, or mottled discoloration), pain, difficulty with movement or stiffness, and eventually blistering (often after rewarming of the skin). Elderly patients and people with chronic diseases like peripheral vascular disease (poor blood flow), diabetes, and other conditions are at very high risk for frostbite. Frostbite can lead to nerve damage, chronic pain, future cold sensitivity, ulcerations, gangrene, infection, limb loss, and loss of life, so it is important to stay warm. If you have signs of a cold injury, it is important to report to the nearest Emergency Department for care.

My feet ache...Why shoes are important.

Every day, I have patients come into my office with vague foot and ankle pain. In many cases, there are actual structural issues that are causing the pain: bunions, hammer toes, flat feet, high arches, etc. However, to compound the problem, the patients are frequently wearing the wrong shoes. What do I mean by wrong shoes? Shoes that can be twisted, rolled into a ball, bent in half, or that have heels that I can compress or bend are often the wrong type of shoes for foot and ankle pain. These shoes are also not ideal for any type of foot, as they can lead to foot and ankle issues down the road, and this is especially important with growing children. Certain shoes do not support the foot and allow it to function efficiently. Additionally, they can cause structures to be overused or strained, and this can lead to inflammation of tendons, muscles, fascia (often, heel pain) and nerves, and this can result in pain. Patients can develop stress fractures of bones due to improper shoe gear choices, as well. Some of these issues can be chronic and recurrent if the same bad shoes are selected day after day. This is obviously, a tricky problem for working professionals, but supportive shoes with or without a custom orthotic device can help with foot pain. Foot pain? Give us a call, 708-763-0580, or schedule on oakparkpodiatry.com or zocdoc.

Why shoes are important for people with Bunions!

A bunion occurs when there is a bump in the area of the big toe, and bunions can be inherited or caused when certain bones shift over time due to poor mechanics, flat feet, arthritis, trauma, or other conditions. Surgery is the one way to deal with this problem, as the bump can be removed and the bones realigned. However, surgery cannot create a perfect toe and is often challenging for busy people, as it may require time off of work, driving, and most activities. Conservative options for bunion pain are favored by many of my patients and can include ice, medicine for pain or inflammation, taping and padding, orthotic devices, and shoegear modifications. The purpose of this blog is to stress the importance of proper shoegear for people with bunions. Shoes must have a larger toe box so that there is no rubbing of the bunion on the shoe. Additionally, the material of the shoe is important, as harder materials are more irritating than softer materials in the toe area that give and stretch. Shoes that are more rigid on the bottom or have a slight rocker tend to feel better for people with bunion pain. If the shoe can be bent under the forefoot or twisted, the bunion may be aggravated. If you have a bunion and are in pain, give us a call, 708-763-0580, or schedule on zocdoc or oakparkpodiatry.com for added convenience.

Heel Pain-Part 3

There are some patients that have heel pain that is not caused by plantar fasciitis. Another frequent cause of heel pain is a stress fracture of the heel bone or calcaneus. The calcaneus is the biggest bone in the foot and can become injured from repetitive microtrauma (walking on a hard surface all day, running, jogging, marching), an injury (falls, jumps) and other causes. Poor bone density, chronic diseases (diabetes, peripheral vascular disease,cancer,autoimmune diseases), poor biomechanics, and poor shoegear can also contribute to an injury of the heel bone. Injuries to the calcaneus may be visible on x-rays, but sometimes, a more advanced test like an MRI may be needed to properly visualize the fracture or injury. Stress fractures of the calcaneus require immobilization. On some occasions, bone stimulators or surgery are indicated for severe cases. Heel pain? Give us a call, 708-763-0580.

Obesity and Heel Pain

This is the second blog on heel pain, and as September is Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, it is important to know that obesity causes foot problems for adults and kids. One of the main causes of plantar fasciitis (the leading cause of heel pain) is an increase in weight. For some people, this can be five pounds that they gain over the winter, but for others, it can be the extra pounds that they carry around every day for many years. For those with heel pain that are obese or have gained some weight recently, it is important to consider dietary changes and exercise to shed some pounds. Many people have such significant heel pain that they cannot run, walk, or do other weightbearing exercises. Some great alternatives are biking, swimming, and water exercises. These are gentler on the feet and also good forms of cardiovascular exercise. There are many other causes of heel pain, but Childhood Obesity Awareness Month made me think that this would be a great topic for this week's blog. Dr. Bender, 708-763-0580, oakparkpodiatry.com

Heel Pain-Part 1

The heel bone or calcaneus is the largest bone in the foot and has many important soft tissue structures that attach to it. The most common cause of heel pain is plantar fasciitis, which is inflammation of the band that extends from the bottom of the heel along the arch. Plantar fasciitis can occur with weight or activity changes, gait abnormalities, based on foot structure abnormalities, injury or trauma, overuse, and sometimes no cause can be identified. Typically, there is pain after rest (sitting at a desk, getting up from bed) with plantar fasciitis, but pain can also occur at a lesser level during the day in some patients or be aggravated by exercise or activity. Common treatments of plantar fasciitis include the following: icing, stretching, changing shoegear, no barefoot walking, medicine, injections, strapping the foot, orthotic devices, physical therapy, and night splints. There can be other causes of heel pain, so if the condition is not improving after 2-4 weeks, x-rays, MRI, and immobilization may be needed for the pain. Dr. Bender, 708-763-0580 oakparkpodiatry.com