4 Conditions Faced by Ballet Dancers that Podiatrists Can Help with

Leaping in your Pointe shoes or maneuvering those highly athletic moves may give you an adrenaline rush as a ballet dancer, but they could be causing you foot pain and injuries too. From improper technique and fatigues to wearing toe shoes or thin slippers that aren’t designed to absorb shock (and thus making your lower extremities absorb most forces of impact), there are several factors that can make your life and especially, your feet, prone to problems and injuries. Here are four such common foot conditions that a podiatrist can help you with:

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1. Corns and calluses: Ill-fitting shoes that trigger fiction between your feet and the shoes, or wearing pointe shoes without breaking them in, can cause corns and calluses. Apart from being painful and interfering with your performance, these may even cause ulcers, if left untreated. If you already suffer from corns or calluses, a podiatrist can help treat and remove them. If you aren’t yet affected by these conditions, a podiatrist can help you select the right shoes, suggest tips on proper foot care and even offer insights into breaking in pointe shoes the right way to prevent corns and calluses.

2. Cuboid syndrome: This condition is triggered when the ligaments and joint close to your foot’s cuboid bone become torn or injured. When you perform pirouettes or jumps, your foot may sometimes fail to hold its proper alignment, which in turn may cause cuboid syndrome. With joint manipulation, assessing your technique, strapping, and use of in-shoe devices for offloading pressure, a podiatrist can help you continue with your dance moves while letting the injured region get healed.

3. Epiphysitis: Extreme bio mechanical demands that ballet places on the dancer may cause this condition when the first metatarsalphalangeal joint is subjected to extensive (90 to 100 degrees of) dorsiflexion. Epiphysitis is characterized by inflammation, tenderness and pain that subside with rest. A podiatrist can help by suggesting modified activities that you should continue with for four to five weeks until your symptoms subside. After this, your foot doctor would let you resume your normal routine gradually, based on your tolerance level.

4. Stress fractures: Ballet’s repetitive movements often trigger stress fractures, particularly of the metatarsals and toes. When diagnosed with a stress fracture, your podiatrist would suggest you rest, to let your bone get healed properly. This is usually followed by a series of rehabilitation exercises (dance-specific) that would let you return to your dance routine sans any discomfort or pain. Since healing bones is a long procedure that can take about six weeks, consulting a podiatrist is the best way to keep yourself well-conditioned (by following the advised strategies and exercises) while letting your injured bone have the rest necessary for its healing.

Ignoring your foot pain or dancing with troubling issues can often worsen the situation and may even threaten your career as a professional, or even force you to stay away from your dancing shoes in case you are a hobbyist. So, it’s best to consult a podiatrist at the first signs of a problem to make sure the root cause is diagnosed the right way and treated promptly. After all, you don’t want to hang up your dancing shoes due to a foot injury or serious foot condition, right?

5 Foot Care Myths Debunked

Many myths and old wives’ tales are fun to laugh at; however, when they involve your health, you must get your facts right, or run the risk of making worse seemingly harmless conditions. From cuts and bunions to broken ankles, you do have anecdotal myths galore; but podiatrists advice getting right the facts behind them instead of blindly believing them. We bust five common foot care myths here for your benefit.

Myth-1: Shoes trigger bunions

Fact: In most cases, bunions stem from either congenital deformities (which refers to deformities present at birth) or inherited faulty foot types. Foot injuries too can trigger bunions. Although many wrongly believe bunions are inherited conditions, the foot type lies at the root of the problem. Wearing high heels or shoes that are too tight and narrow can crowd your toes and increase your risk of bunions or worsen them over time; but shoes are not the culprit to blame.

Myth-2: My injured ankle/foot isn't broken if I can walk on it

Fact: Despite the extent of your injury and the level of pain you can bear, it’s not impossible to walk on a broken ankle/foot. However, podiatrists strictly advice against doing this, since it will worsen the damage already caused by the broken bone. It’s wise not to put any undue pressure on it (by standing, walking, etc.) and to get your injured foot diagnosed immediately by a foot doctor. You may apply ice on the injured foot and keep it elevated to get some relief from the pain.

Myth-3: Foot pain with old age is normal

Fact: Suffering from foot pain isn’t normal, no matter what your age is. Therefore, instead of taking old age as the cause of any foot pain that you might be experiencing and neglecting the condition, you should make an appointment with your podiatrist right away. A proper diagnosis of the condition is necessary for timely treatment and quick relief from the pain. 

Myth-4: Any foot wound would heal on its own

Fact: Remember that a majority of deep wounds won’t heal on their own. It is important therefore to get your foot wound examined by a podiatrist within 24 hours. If you wait for too long, the wound may become infected. In some cases, the condition may worsen and require hospitalization that might end in amputation. Limb loss statistics of the Amputee Coalition of America show that almost 185,000 lower extremity amputations are recorded in the US on a yearly basis and an estimated 2 million Americans live with limb loss.

Myth-5: Duct tape can ‘suffocate’ warts

Fact: Warts are commonly caused by viral skin infection and you can’t suffocate them with duct tape. This is especially true if you have pre-existing conditions like diabetes or suffer from neurological, immunological, or circulatory problems: you need to be extremely careful with warts removal, which should ideally be done under professional care. It’s best to consult your podiatrist for carrying out the right process of warts removal rather than try doing it on your own with duct tape: it could aggravate the harm already done instead of doing any good. 

Don’t neglect your foot and ankle conditions, carried away by common myths. Treat them in earnest by consulting an experienced and reputed podiatrist for the right diagnosis and treatment.

Troubled with Foot Pain? 5 Shoe Types that could be the Trigger

Love wearing flip-flops when taking a walk around the neighborhood? Can’t do without your high heels at work? Most people don’t apply their mind when picking their shoes – for the workplace, a trek, or a vacation on the beach. It’s only long after pain and discomfort set in, they start searching for reasons.

More often than not wrong choice of shoes emerges as a major contributing factor. If you are one of the many suffering foot pain or other foot ailments, take a closer look to check if your shoes are your undoing.

5 Shoe types that could wreck your life

1. Flip-flops:  

Your love for flip-flops notwithstanding, you should acknowledge that they provide little support or protection to your feet. When you use flip-flops for intensive walking, you are sure to miss heel cushioning, arch support and shock absorption. This can trigger foot pain, plantar fasciitis and tendonitis. In case you trip wearing your flip-flops, you may even suffer from sprained ankles. Therefore, it’s best to think of minimal wear of this kind of footwear at the swimming pool, beach or shower.

2. Ballet flats: 

They may feel comfortable at first but in reality, they are just like wearing an extremely thick sock. With no arch support and very small padding in insoles, the ballet flats do nothing good to your feet. Walking with them can tear, overstretch, or inflame the plantar fascia. No wonder why wearing ballet flats worsens plantar fasciitis and triggers problems in your hips, knees or back. 

3. Platform shoes: 

Though they are better than high heels to add to height, they are bad to wear since they compromise your normal gait. They add height to both the forefoot and the hind foot, but decrease forefoot pressure. Additionally, the shoe’s height leads to ankle instability, which in turn can cause sprains.

4. Stiletto heels:

Despite being the stylish choice for most women, they cause your front feet tremendous pressure, which can aggravate bunions, trigger sesamoiditis (inflammation of the small bones located below your big toe), metatarsalgia (inflammation of and pain in the ball of your foot), stretched Achilles tendon and other biomechanical forefoot problems. Wearing tight heels that pinches your toes and squeezes them together can even lead to irritated and thickened nerves, or neuroma (swelling of the nerves in the ball of your foot). 

5. Worn-out shoes:  

Podiatrists advise you to throw out your worn-out shoes without any hesitation. If foot problems have already afflicted you, worn-out shoes can worsen them depending on the kind of your footwear. Since the soles of such shoes have flattened out, they offer little shock absorption, thereby making your feet prone to injuries and problems like Achilles’ tendonitis, plantar fasciitis and knee pain.

As online shopping is steadily becoming popular, many people these days tend to buy shoes going by digital pictures of fashionable wear. Unfortunately, they might end up with a very uncomfortable fit. So, choose your shoes wisely and correctly in consultation with an experienced podiatrist especially when you suffer foot ailments.

4 Common Foot Problems Plaguing Runners

Of all parts of the body, the feet happen to be the boon or bane of runners; that is perhaps why most runners have a love-hate relationship with their own feet, depending on the fortunes or misfortunes of their chosen profession. Runners have to deal with various foot problems – from overuse injuries and blisters to fractures and soreness.

While some of these conditions can be treated easily with medication, shoes with proper support and orthotics, others may need elaborate treatment together with staying off the running track for quite some time. Listed below are four most common foot problems that are anathema to runners:

Plantar fasciitis

Runners who intensify their training sessions all of a sudden, or use shoes with improper support may feel acute pain on the bottom of their feet. This happens because of the inflammation of plantar fascia, a thick fibrous layer of tissue that connects the heel bone to the toes. This foot problem is known as plantar fasciitis. Those with too weak or tight calf muscles are also prone to this condition.

Foot doctors advise using proper running shoes with inserts or orthotics to avoid this ailment, the victims of which would benefit if they stretch their feet, apply ice on the bottom of their feet and roll the affected foot (after the pain has subsided) on a tennis ball.

Stress fracture

Though stress fractures can occur in any of the several bones comprising the foot, they are most likely to affect the metatarsals (a group of five long bones that lead to the base of each toe from the mid- and hind-foot). Runners do suffer from stress fractures when they step accidentally on potholes, stones or uneven surfaces. Staying off the running track is the only solution in such cases to let the affected bone heal.

Athlete’s foot

This is a fungal infection affecting the foot skin, especially between the toes. Runners who sweat a lot and leave their skin moist for a long time are prone to this ailment. Since this is a mildly contagious disease, contact with an infected person or towels, shoes, etc., can increase the risk. The fungus could also be present on the floor of showers or locker rooms shared by runners. The best way to guard against this disease is to keep the skin dry between toes, wear absorbent socks and change wet shoes as soon as possible. 

Friction induced problems

Shear force works on foot skin while one runs; it can cause accumulation of fluid in some areas leading to blisters. Corns and calluses can occur when shear forces aren’t strong enough to form blisters. To reduce the friction at work between the feet and the shoes, a runner should wear well-fitted shoes along with absorbent socks. Applying petroleum jelly on the affected area or using prescription treatments would offer speedy relief from these friction-induced foot ailments.

The foot is an amazingly complex mechanism that comprises several muscles, tendons, bones and ligaments. All these parts have to work well together for a good running practice. A single disruption, injury or ailment of any of these parts would affect the proper function of the feet. Runners should never ever ignore foot pain or any other discomfort: they should consult promptly an experienced foot care specialist.