Items filtered by date: October 2012

Although Ohio NFL teams will not be facing the Washington Redskins for a few weeks, they may still gain an advantage if Redskins’ wide receiver Pierre Garcon does not take extra good care of his feet until then! Foot problems have affected a large number of football players as usual this year varying from Hakeem Nicks of the New York Giants foot infection to Cedric Benson of the Green Bay Packers lisfranc injury. Pierre Garcon’s injury has capsulitis of his second toe of his right foot, meaning that the joint capsule at the base of the toe has become irritated and inflamed.

Garcon’s injury may sound minor, but has been severe enough hinder his ability to play to his full capacity. A number of factors can contribute to an irritation to the capsule at the base of a toe. The second toe is most commonly affected due to a number of structural reasons. A long 2nd metatarsal (the bone at the base of the toe), the presence of a bunion, overpronation and tight calf muscles have all been found to be contributing factors to the development of this condition. Patients with capsulitis will often have a thick callus on the ball of the foot at the base of the painful toe. This callus and the bottom of the base of the toe will often be excruciatingly painful with pressure, as is likely the case for Pierre Garcon. This form of metatarsalgia will often feel like there is a lump in the ball of the foot, like the patient is walking on a stone. Capsulitis of the toe is also known as “predislocation syndrome” because, if not properly addressed, the toe can not only progress to develop a severe claw toe or crossover toe but can eventually dislocate.

For Garcon, hopefully he has had custom orthotics made to correct biomechanical deformities that have led to his capsulitis and to offload the painful area on the ball of his foot. While cortisone injections can be used to temporarily relieve pain in some conditions, they can actually accelerate the degeneration of the bottom of the joint in predislocation syndrome and should be avoided in most cases. After his season, Garcon’s best option for pain relief in the future may be metatarsal surgery to decompress and alleviate stress on the joint and plantar surface of the foot. Predislocation syndrome can frequently be confused with stress fracture, neuroma, or various other conditions and your podiatrist should be contacted to correctly diagnose and treat the true problem.

Please visit www.ColumbusFoot.com for more information or call 614-885-3338 (FEET) to schedule an appointment with a podiatrist in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Podiatry & Surgery is located on the North side of Columbus, Ohio near Worthington.

Columbus Podiatry & Surgery has opened a new location in Gahanna, near Easton. Please call 614-476-3338 (FEET) for an appointment with a podiatrist in Gahanna, OH today.

On rainy falls days around Columbus, many exercise enthusiasts can be found barefoot enjoying a break from the elements at their favorite yoga studio. Yoga has been reported to have many benefits for the body, and the feet are not an area of exception for these benefits. However, as with any exercise program, you need to make sure that your feet and body are physically up to the challenge of yoga before beginning.

Much like barefoot running shoes are said to stretch and strengthen the muscles of the foot and relieve tension placed on parts of the foot by shoes, yoga has similar benefits without the repetitive pressures placed on the foot in barefoot running. There are many poses in yoga that stretch the toes, feet, ankles and legs in a way that is often suggested to relieve painful conditions such as plantar fasciitis. The popular downward-facing dog position, in which the person is in an upside down “V”, reaches the heels towards the ground and offers a great stretch for the commonly tight calf muscles. When calf muscles are tight, a condition known as equinus can result. Equinus is a decrease in the normal range of motion available at the ankle joint and can contribute to many problems and deformities in the foot including overpronation, bunions, hallux limitus, and hammer toes to name a few.

There are also some conditions you should let your yoga teacher know about before beginning your yoga practice that may cause pain in certain positions. A dorsal exostosis, or bony bump on the top of the foot can cause pain in positions such as child’s pose where the tops of your feet are pressed against the ground. If this bony bump is becoming irritated in shoes on a day to day basis, custom shoe modifications can be made to can alleviate pain or foot surgery can be performed to remove the excess bone. Certain transitional movements may also be painful in yoga if you have pain in the ball of your foot, or metatarsalgia. In the sun salutation practiced in certain types of yoga, participants jump from one pose to the next and land on the ball of their foot. In addition to avoiding this painful movement, those with metatarsalgia should contact their podiatrist. Fractures, neuromas and predislocation of the joints in the ball of the foot are all possible underlying causes of this condition. Yoga encourages its participants to listen to their body and its connection to the Earth, which especially means listening to your feet and calling your podiatrist at the first sign of pain!

Please visit www.ColumbusFoot.com for more information or call 614-885-3338 (FEET) to schedule an appointment with a podiatrist in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Podiatry & Surgery is located on the North side of Columbus, Ohio near Worthington.

Columbus Podiatry & Surgery has opened a new location in Gahanna, near Easton. Please call 614-476-3338 (FEET) for an appointment with a podiatrist in Gahanna, OH today.

While many falls sports are reaching the midpoint of their season, spring and winter athletes who are currently in their offseason in Ohio should take advantage of the time off to address any ailments. One of the fastest female sprinters in the world, Sanya Richards-Ross had surgery on her big toe last week to address an ailment that had bothered her for years. Although it is not advisable to continue running through athletic foot pain, Richards pushed through her pain to win her first individual Olympic gold medal in the 400 meters this summer. Now she is taking advantage of her time off from competitions to correct the source of her pain!

There are many ailments that can cause pain in the big toe, or hallux that can worsen over time. One common disease that many athletes suffer from in their big toe is known as hallux limitus. This condition is a form of arthritis characterized by limited motion of the big toe, which is especially important for sprinters like Richards-Ross who require more propulsion from their toes than other longer distance runners. Other athletes that are commonly affected by this condition are football players, in which the limited motion results from trauma to the toe, or “turf toe”. A bony bump may develop on the top of the toe and motion may become extremely painful over time.

Hallux limitus can also occur slowly over time in non-athletes. Biomechanical problems where the foot does not function properly cause the base of the toe to jam on the 1stmetatarsal. This jamming instead of the normal gliding motion of the joint leads to inflammation, pain and eventual formation of the bony bump on the top of the top known as an osteophyte. Over time the joint motion may become limited. Overpronation is one of the most common causes of this unnatural jamming motion. Overpronation can also contribute to the development of a bump on the side of the big toe, or bunion, and a similar bump on the side of the smallest toe, called a tailor’s bunion.

Custom foot orthotics can be used to limit the pronation of the foot and thus limit the development and progression of these deformities. Special modifications including what is called a “Morton’s extension” can be added to orthotics to reduce the painful motion occurring at the joint in patients with hallux limitus. In severe cases, surgery may be necessary for hallux limitus pain relief. So start your next sport season like Sanya by addressing any lingering issues with your podiatrist during your off time to ensure you will be able to run pain free when competition begins again!!

Please visit www.ColumbusFoot.com for more information or call 614-885-3338 (FEET) to schedule an appointment with a podiatrist in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Podiatry & Surgery is located on the North side of Columbus, Ohio near Worthington.

Columbus Podiatry & Surgery has opened a new location in Gahanna, near Easton. Please call 614-476-3338 (FEET) for an appointment with a podiatrist in Gahanna, OH today.

Eating a balanced diet is important for all aspects of good health. Certain foods have been shown to alleviate or aggravate specific conditions. Gout especially has been linked to specific types of food triggering the condition, but recently, cherries have been shown to have a positive effect in avoiding a gouty attack.

Gout is known as a metabolic arthritis. Like rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis, this disease affects the joint space located between two or more bones that, in a healthy joint, is filled with synovial fluid. However, gout is different from these other types of arthritis because it is caused by an imbalance in the amount of uric acid in the body. When proteins are degraded, uric acid is the breakdown product that is normally excreted in the urine. If the body makes too much uric acid or does not excrete enough through the kidneys, uric acid molecules become so abundant that they “clump together” to form crystals. These crystals then accumulate in tissues that do not have a large blood supply, including cartilage and the membrane that line the joint space. Some medications may also trigger these crystals to accumulate and a gout attack to occur.

For many individuals who have high levels of uric acid in their body, a gout attack never occurs and treatment for the elevated levels is not necessary. Once a gouty attack does occur though, the affected individual will want to contact their podiatrist immediately. A gouty attack typically causes extreme pain with redness, swelling and warmth of the affected joint. The joint at the base of the big toe (where bunions also develop) is the most common location for gout, however other joints in the foot and the rest of the body may be affected. If you are diagnosed with gout, studies have found that the earlier treatment is begun, the less pain that is experienced and the shorter the attack will last. Your podiatrist will also want to rule out the presence of an infection, allergic reaction or other diseases of the foot, which also may present with some similar symptoms. To prevent future attacks, along with following their medical treatment plan, patients should try to limit their consumption of meats, seafood, and alcohol intake and consider adding cherries or cherry products to their diet. Good nutrition not only helps avoid gout pain, it is also imperative in healing many other conditions of the feet. In extreme cases of recurring gout, surgical options may even be utilized to minimize the joint space, and thus the space for crystals to deposit.

Please visit www.ColumbusFoot.com for more information or call 614-885-3338 (FEET) to schedule an appointment with a podiatrist in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Podiatry & Surgery is located on the North side of Columbus, Ohio near Worthington.