Our Foot & Ankle Care FAQ

From aqua shoes to FiveFingers styles to minimalist varieties, bare footwear is becoming a popular fad. There are opposing opinions, however, as to the safety of wearing these trendy types of running shoes. The theory behind them is that people have been running for millions of years, historically barefoot or in simple shoes like moccasins or sandals. Some feel that modern-day running shoes provide too much control and cushioning, reducing the ability of foot muscles and tendons to strengthen naturally. Opposing views suggest that foot and ankle injuries can be prevented by choosing running shoes with strong stability and support. As of today, the jury is still out on what’s best for the health of your feet.

Are You Looking for a Sports Injuries Expert in Austin, TX?

If you are looking for sports injury care, you should reach out to an experienced podiatrist. Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists can help. Our office provides a wide variety of advanced, effective treatment options for all kinds of painful conditions. Ready to schedule an appointment? Contact us online or call our Austin office at 512.328.8900.

There are various methods of treating warts at home, with varying rates of success. Home remedies that people use include rubbing garlic on them, applying a paste made of castor oil and baking powder, and soaking warts in pineapple juice, but these techniques are not effective. Others believe that using duct tape can help clear up these growths, although evidence does not support this practice.

A better approach to at-home care for warts is to buy over-the-counter products, especially those containing salicylic acid, or using cryotherapy. Something to keep in mind when trying these approaches is that treatment will take time and reapplications. Do not expect warts to clear up overnight.

Are You Looking for a Plantar Warts Specialist in Austin, TX?

If you are looking for plantar wart care, you should reach out to an experienced podiatrist. Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists can help. Our office provides a wide variety of advanced, effective treatment options for all kinds of painful conditions. Ready to schedule an appointment? Contact us online or call our Austin office at 512.328.8900.

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These corns are more accurately described as a distal clavus. These are formed when the deformity of the digit turns the end of the digit towards the ground.  The repetitive trauma of walking on this skin causes the body to try and protect itself, thereby building up space-occupying lesions. When these become very thick and hard they may become painful when walking.

Are You Looking for a Skin and Nails Expert in Austin, TX?

If you are looking for skin and nail care, you should reach out to an experienced podiatrist. Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists can help. Our office provides a wide variety of advanced, effective treatment options for all kinds of painful conditions. Ready to schedule an appointment? Contact us online or call our Austin office at 512.328.8900.

An Ankle-foot orthotic is a brace, usually made of plastic that supports your foot, ankle and lower leg.  Ankle-foot orthotics are used in cases where there is a need to support not just the foot but also the ankle in a more controlled and restrictive manner.  Often the patient that requires this type of device has had or needs major reconstructive foot and ankle surgery, has a neuromuscular disease, or has had some degree of nerve damage which requires more than the standard degree of support offered by a foot orthotic alone.

Are You Considering Custom Orthotics in Austin, TX?

If you are considering custom orthotics, you should reach out to an experienced podiatrist. Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists can help. Our office provides a wide variety of advanced, effective treatment options for all kinds of painful conditions. Ready to schedule an appointment? Contact us online or call our Austin office at 512.328.8900.

If your doctor has recommended that you get a custom functional orthotic because your problem is based on a fundamental instability you have in your bone structure which results in your body going out of its proper alignment, it is wise to way out the long term ramifications of not addressing this instability now rather than wait till later.  Remember that this misalignment is the cause of the aches and pains that brought you to your doctor in the first place. 

The orthotics that your doctor uses correct and restores normal alignment and function which almost always results in better alignment and factually speaking - better alignment means greater comfort!  Often our doctors relay to us that their patients say that the realignment of their feet leads to less ankle, knee, hip, and low back pain in addition to addressing the heel or arch pain that they came to the doctor to get handled.

The point is that not restoring proper alignment can lead to further problems in the future, not just in your feet, but higher up in the various joints and muscles of your entire body.  If an orthotic can help prevent these things as your doctor has advised, then you simply run the risk of developing problems in the future if you ultimately decide not to get them.

Are You Considering Custom Orthotics in Austin, TX?

If you are considering custom orthotics, you should reach out to an experienced podiatrist. Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists can help. Our office provides a wide variety of advanced, effective treatment options for all kinds of painful conditions. Ready to schedule an appointment? Contact us online or call our Austin office at 512.328.8900.

Platelet-rich plasma is an autologous, biological, blood-derived product, which one can exogenously apply to a variety of tissues.  The PRP releases high concentrations of platelet-derived growth factors that enhance wound, bone, and tendon healing. Growth factors release when the platelets become activated, subsequently initiating the body's natural healing response.  Platelet-rich therapy is safe and the technique does not impair the biomechanical function of the foot.

The doctors at Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists utilize PRP injections as a second-line treatment of more chronic and thickened fascial, ligamentous, and tendon conditions.

Call to make an appointment at (512) 328-8900 if you believe that you may benefit from this advanced treatment protocol.

You need to break in an orthotic because the orthotic changes the way you walk by changing the alignment of the bones of your foot into a more corrective position.  This change of position, despite being of great benefit to the foot and the rest of the body, changes the way that the muscles move and function in a relatively short period of time.  This change can be dramatic because it causes many muscles that were working too hard to work less hard and conversely, muscles that were not doing their fair share to suddenly snap to and do their share of the work.

We use a gradual, common sense break-in period that generally increases your orthotic wear a few hours each day until you are wearing them comfortably full time within a one to two week period.

Are You Considering Custom Orthotics in Austin, TX?

If you are considering custom orthotics, you should reach out to an experienced podiatrist. Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists can help. Our office provides a wide variety of advanced, effective treatment options for all kinds of painful conditions. Ready to schedule an appointment? Contact us online or call our Austin office at 512.328.8900.

 If your bunionette, also known as a tailor’s bunion, is causing daily pain and affecting your mobility, surgery may be recommended. At Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists, you can expect an on-site treatment that is tailor-made (pun intended) for your feet. This foot deformity affects the joint near the small toe, and surgical intervention is used to remove the section of bone that is protruding due to misalignment. If necessary, the affected bone will be repositioned as well. 

After surgery, you will be given specific aftercare instructions that typically include a period of staying off of the affected foot, protecting it with a boot or surgical shoe, and elevating it. Healing times can range from three weeks to twelve weeks, depending on the procedure that is used. Swelling may remain beyond that.

Surgery, even if it’s on the small toe, isn’t a small matter. 

Are You Looking for a Foot Care Doctor in Austin, TX?

If you are looking for foot care, you should reach out to an experienced podiatrist. Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists can help. Our office provides a wide variety of advanced, effective treatment options for all kinds of painful conditions. Ready to schedule an appointment? Contact us online or call our Austin office at 512.328.8900.

 

Essentially, the difference between a fracture and a sprain is what type of tissue the injury affects. Fractures happen to bone tissue, often as the result of a traumatic incident. Sprains involve damage to soft, connective tissue (ligaments) which are extended beyond their intended range from excessive motion.

These two injuries are often confused because they have similar symptoms and causes. Both are frequently the result of participation in athletic competition or practice, but they can also happen due to tripping on uneven ground.

Pain, bruising, and swelling are common symptoms for both fractures and sprains, as is difficulty walking on the affected foot or ankle. First aid procedures, like the RICE method (rest, ice, compression, elevation) can help to alleviate the symptoms of either injury, but you need a professional diagnosis and treatment plan for best healing.

Are You Looking for an Ankle Sprains Specialist in Austin, TX?

If you are looking for ankle sprain care, you should reach out to an experienced podiatrist. Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists can help. Our office provides a wide variety of advanced, effective treatment options for all kinds of painful conditions. Ready to schedule an appointment? Contact us online or call our Austin office at 512.328.8900.

In short, as soon as they start attempting to walk.  Besides protection, shoes offer a relatively corrective interface between your child's foot and the hard unyielding surfaces that he or she walks and plays upon every day.  In this country and most of the world, we in essence paved the surfaces on which we run, walk, play and live.  When was the last time you stepped off a hard, flat and unyielding surface for any amount of time?  The point being is that our bodies were designed for walking on the earth which has varied surfaces from hard to soft and from straight and to slanted, jagged and even crooked.  Walking on these varied surfaces allowed the muscles and bones of our feet to develop in a certain way.  Walking on exclusively flat, hard and unyielding surfaces likewise causes the muscles and bones of our feet to develop in a certain way.  We believe that shoes help prevent the adverse effects from walking exclusively on hard, flat and unyielding surfaces and that ultimately orthotics, in many cases are necessary in addition to shoes.  Ask your doctor if you have any questions or concerns about your child's feet or the way that they walk or run.

Are You Looking for Pediatric Foot Care in Austin, TX?

If you are looking for pediatric foot care, you should reach out to an experienced podiatrist. Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists can help. Our office provides a wide variety of advanced, effective treatment options for all kinds of painful conditions. Ready to schedule an appointment? Contact us online or call our Austin office at 512.328.8900.

As diabetic peripheral neuropathy progresses, various nerves are affected. These damaged nerves can cause problems that encourage development of ulcers. Deformities resulting from motor neuropathy result in bunion or hammertoes that may rub against other toes or the shoe can create a sore. The numbness caused by sensory neuropathy can make a patient unaware that this is happening. Additionally, cracked and dry skin caused by autonomic neuropathy, combined with sensory neuropathy numbness can also cause a sore.

Are You Looking For Diabetic Foot Care in Austin, TX?

If you are looking for diabetic foot care, you should reach out to an experienced podiatrist. Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists can help. Our office provides a wide variety of advanced, effective treatment options for all kinds of painful conditions. Ready to schedule an appointment? Contact us online or call our Austin office at 512.328.8900.

Metatarsalgia is most likely the cause of your ball of the foot pain, and there are a variety of reasons that you might be suffering from it. Whether the problem is attributed to poor shoe choices, an increase in weight, a stress fracture, arthritis, a deformity (such as a bunion or hammertoes), or a high arch, something has changed the way that your feet work. The result is excessive stress on the ball of the foot.

Are You Looking for a Ball of Foot Pain Specialist in Austin, TX?

If you are looking for ball of foot care, you should reach out to an experienced podiatrist. Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists can help. Our office provides a wide variety of advanced, effective treatment options for all kinds of painful conditions. Ready to schedule an appointment? Contact us online or call our Austin office at 512.328.8900.