August 26 is National Dog Day, which encourages our podiatrists to reflect on the myriad health benefits that “man’s best friend” has to offer: Dogs have a positive impact on their owner’s mental health. Bona fide scientific studies have demonstrated that dogs can increase feelings of self-esteem while also decreasing symptoms of depression and anxiety….
There’s an art to trimming your toenails. But it’s not particularly artistic—no curves, no creative consideration of line, form, or angle. Just trim them straight and not too short. Anything else puts you at risk of getting an ingrown toenail. What’s an ingrown toenail?An infected, ingrown toenail can be very, very painful. Toenails typically grow straight…
In April, here’s something unique to put on your to-do list: Celebrate Foot Health Awareness Month! It’s not a huge commitment, and we promise you’ll be happy in the long run – and so will your feet. Pick any four days this month and tackle these easy foot health awareness tasks: Day 1: Examine your feet. Does…
Just about every packaged food item in any grocery store sports a label with “Nutrition Facts.” Learning how to interpret all the different numbers and percentages is an important skill. When you know what to look for, you can avoid unhealthy foods, lower your sodium intake, and work toward keeping your blood sugar levels steady….
Are your feet killing you, but you’re not sure why? If you haven’t expressly injured or overworked your feet, the cause of your foot pain may seem mysterious. The answer to the mystery may be this: you’ve got an underlying medical condition that’s causing your feet to swell, tingle, or hurt. DiabetesDiabetes is, of course,…
Do you know when something’s going wrong in your body? Sure – you usually have symptoms such as pain, swelling, coughing, or fever. And you fix them, perhaps after a visit to the doctor. However, the human body isn’t always so direct. Some symptoms can be elusive, and you may not recognize them as problematic….
Let’s dive more deeply into some of the effects of diabetes on the feet that we touched upon in last week’s blog. We mentioned five effects: wounds that won’t heal, fungal infections, numbness, cracked heels, and weakened bones: Wounds that won’t heal. For the non-diabetic, a cut or scrape is usually no big deal and will heal quickly. That’s not…
Thirty-four million people in the United States have Type 2 diabetes. Sadly, all of them are at a higher risk of health complications in ways that might surprise you. In observance of Diabetes Awareness Month, let’s look into six of these complications: Legs and feet can develop problems with circulation and nerve function. Our patients with diabetes…
Tingling, burning, or weakness in your feet are signs you may have peripheral neuropathy. What is neuropathy?Neuropathy means “disease of the nervous system.” So right away, you know that it’s a problem with your nerves. Which nerves? That’s where the term “peripheral” comes in. It refers to all nerves not located in the brain or…
What’s an ingrown toenail?With a normal toenail, the nail plate grows up and out beyond the end of the toe. In contrast, an ingrown toenail grows downward and the nail fold, or the frame of the nail, digs into the surrounding soft tissue of the toe. Who gets ingrown toenails?For some, the tendency to have…
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