A podiatrist can help you with a variety of conditions that affect the feet, including Morton’s neuroma. A neuroma is the thickening of nerve tissue in the body, with Morton's neuroma specifically happening in the ball of the foot. It’s caused by an irritation in the nerve between the third and fourth toes. Patients experience pain while walking, with a burning, tingling, or numbness. 

• Trauma or injury to the foot, damaging the nerve and resulting in swelling.
• Improper footwear, like shoes that squeeze the foot together. High heels also increase pressure on the vulnerable areas.
• Recurring stress to the feet through repeated physical activities or exercise. This is common with patients who are constantly on their feet due to their job. 
• Deformities of the foot, like a high arch or flat foot. These lead to instability throughout the foot. 

• Taping and padding: This is a special type of tape and bandages that you place on the bottom of the foot. This helps with your symptoms. 
• Orthotics: These are the custom shoes that your podiatrist can create for you. 
• Medication: Cortisone injections reduce the pain and inflammation in the foot. Anti-inflammatory drugs also reduce your swelling. 
• Surgery is the last resort for treatment. The procedure is done on an outpatient basis. The injured nerve is removed and recovery takes a few weeks.

Exercise is an important aspect of keeping our bodies healthy and happy. That’s why it’s so important to wear the correct shoes for certain activities. Whether you’re an athlete, workout buff, or enjoy walking and hiking, you need the proper footwear. It makes the difference between enjoying your favorite activities and sitting out with an avoidable injury. Talk to your podiatrist to have your feet evaluated for your future workout needs.

• Running requires shoes with shock absorption. Your feet take on a lot of pressure and friction. Cushioning your shoes in the correct areas keeps you from feeling the pain. 
• Traction is important in sports that need quick changes in direction and sprinting, like basketball. Traction should never be too high or low. The right shoes keep you from slipping on the floor while letting you move and pivot.
• Ankle support is a must. It limits the side-to-side movement that knocks your ankle out of alignment. This kind of support keeps ankle sprains at bay. For sports like basketball, hockey, skiing, and skating, make sure that your shoes aren’t too high. Otherwise, they will dig into your Achilles tendon. You can also wear soft ankle braces.
• Arch support varies for everyone. Your podiatrist can test your foot to determine your gait. Depending on the results, your podiatrist can recommend orthotics or special shoe inserts.

Don’t let foot pain tell you how to live your life.

You want to go for a walk, but your bunion is telling you no. You need to run errands, but your bunion is already in pain. Dealing with bunion pain can be tough, but our Columbus, OH, podiatrists can work with you to find ways to help manage your pain and slow the progression of this common foot deformity.

Here are some simple solutions that you can apply to your daily routine to prevent bunion pain,

Wear the Right Shoes

Only wear shoes that fit your feet. This might sound obvious, but many people still wear shoes that are too old, worn, tight or poorly fitted to their feet. These shoes will only aggravate your bunion. Avoid high heels, pointed toes and any shoes that crunch up the toes. If you can’t wiggle your toes around in your shoes, then they are too tight.

Support Your Feet with Inserts

Consider getting prescription orthotics (custom shoe inserts) from our podiatrist here in Columbus, OH. Since bunions can throw off the biomechanics of the feet, orthotics can help to evenly redistribute the weight throughout the feet whenever you stand and walk. This simple podiatric device can take added pressure off the bunion and help make activities easier.

Consider Splinting

Talk with your podiatrist about whether you could benefit from a night splint. Your doctor will be able to show you how to correctly use this device, which can realign the deformed joint of the big toe to alleviate morning pain, stiffness and swelling. While the splint will not correct the deformity, it will help ease any pain you experience by temporarily realigning the joint while you sleep.

Strengthen Your Feet with Simple Exercises

There are a variety of foot exercises that you can perform throughout the day at your convenience. It’s particularly important to strengthen and retrain the muscles, ligaments, tendons and other soft tissue in the body to help provide your feet with proper support. Here are some simple exercises you can do to improve foot mobility while reducing bunion pain.

With two offices in Columbus and one in Dublin, OH, the podiatrists at Clintonville Foot & Ankle Group make it easy for patients to get professional and attentive foot and ankle care when they need it.

Even during coronavirus, we may all be staying home but we still offer in-office and telehealth appointments to help our patients. To schedule an appointment or telemedicine visit call (614) 267-8387 for the Clintonville office; (614) 761-1466 for the Dublin location; and (614) 272-2313 for the Southwest Columbus location.

The arches of the feet play a role in supporting your body’s weight when standing or in motion. The tarsal and metatarsal bones make up the arches of the feet, also receiving additional support and stability from tendons and ligaments; however, our feet, like the rest of our body, can be affected by infections, disorders, and structural changes that can impact not only the health of our feet but also our mobility. It’s important to recognize the warning signs of arch problems so you know when you to see a podiatrist.

Arch Pain Causes

If you are dealing with arch pain it is most likely caused by an injury or by structural abnormalities in the foot. For example, those with very high arches as well as those with flat feet may experience arch problems due to these common structural issues.

As a result, there are other factors that could also lead to further arch problems including:

• Being overweight or obese
• Aging
• Plantar fasciitis
• Cavus foot
• Posterior tibial tendon dysfunction

It’s important to understand a little bit more about these common foot disorders and how they could affect the arches of your feet.

Plantar fasciitis

This condition that causes inflammation and microtears in the plantar fascia is also the most common cause of heel pain. Of course, because the plantar fascia (a ligament that connects the toes to the heel bone) also supports the arches of the feet this can also lead to arch pain. This condition is usually the result of overuse and is seen most often in runners. If you have plantar fasciitis it’s important to avoid physical activities until the fascia has fully healed.

Cavus foot

This condition, which affects the structure of the foot, leads to excessively high arches. People who’ve had a stroke, as well as people with certain conditions such as cerebral palsy may be more likely to develop cavus foot. This problem causes arch pain when standing or walking and can increase the risk for ankle injuries. Your podiatrist may choose to treat cavus foot through custom-made orthotics (shoe inserts), bracing, or by recommending specialized and supportive footwear.

Posterior tibial tendon dysfunction

The posterior tibial tendon runs from the calf muscles to the inner portion of the foot. This condition leads to changes in the tendon, which in turn affects its ability to support the arches of the foot. Flat feet can be caused by posterior tibial tendon dysfunction, and this is often the cause of flat feet that develop in adulthood. Like the other conditions above, treatment for PTTD usually involves bracing, orthotics, or providing custom devices that provide additional support to the arches of the feet.

If you are experiencing foot pain, swelling or other problems that affect mobility then it’s time that you turned to a podiatrist for care. Conditions and injuries that don’t respond to rest and at-home care may require more advanced treatments and therapies.

Athlete’s foot is a common fungal infection of the feet that is typically characterized by itchy, burning patches of skin between the toes that may also crack or bleed. Since untreated athlete’s foot can spread to the toenails, it’s particularly important that you treat this problem as soon as you notice it. Athlete’s foot won’t typically clear up by itself; however, home remedies and treatments may be all you need to eliminate the fungal infection.

Treating Athlete’s Foot

If you are an otherwise healthy individual who is just dealing with an unfortunate bout of athlete’s foot chances are pretty good that you’ll be able to treat the problem on your own. There are a variety of over-the-counter antifungal creams and ointments that can be applied directly to the skin. Make sure to read and follow all instructions to ensure that the medication gets rid of the infection.

Along with properly treating your athlete’s foot it’s also important to keep feet as dry as possible. After all, fungus thrives best in warm, damp environments. By keeping feet dry you make it a less hospitable environment for this infection. This means wearing clean socks and shoes every day. Opt for socks with natural fibers, which are breathable and can wick away sweat. If your feet are particularly sweaty you can also apply an antifungal powder throughout the day.

When to See a Podiatrist

If you find that cracked, painful feet are making it difficult to stand or move around then this means it’s time to see a podiatrist for treatment; however, if the fungal infection isn’t impacting mobility then you may be able to treat the problem on your own with over-the-counter medications.

If you notice signs of an infection such as a swollen foot, pus draining from the foot, increased redness, or open sores it’s also important that you see a doctor right away. Antibiotics will be necessary in order to treat the infection.

If you are dealing with diabetes, nerve damage in your feet or other problems that impact the health of your feet it’s even more important that you see a podiatrist right away if you notice symptoms of athlete’s foot or other problems. Do not try to treat the infection on your own, as this could lead to more serious complications.

If you are dealing with persistent or recurring athlete’s foot it’s important that you also have a podiatrist that you can turn to for answers. While this condition may seem harmless it’s important that you don’t leave it untreated. A podiatrist can provide you with the treatment you’re looking for.