Our Foot & Ankle Care FAQ

A stress fracture can be very painful and inconvenient for an active person. It is defined as a small crack in the bone, and sometimes severe bone bruising. If they go unchecked, stress fractures can lead to further injury, so it’s important to know the symptoms and the causes in order to protect your feet from further damage. 

The Causes of Stress Fractures

Usually caused by overuse or repetitive activity, stress fractures are very common in athletes—especially runners or those participating in running sports like soccer. Even people with very healthy bones can experience a fracture when they partake in frequent and repetitive movements. This is why athletes, who practice skills and drills regularly, are most at risk. Most high-impact sports are at risk for stress fractures due to the intense practice schedule and the constant need to push the body that much further for competitive reasons. 

On the other side of the coin, those with very weak bones can experience stress fractures. This includes those with osteoporosis and other reasons for bone fragility. If a bone does not have enough density to uphold during normal daily impact, a fracture can occur. 

Shoes can also be a stress fracture culprit. Whether it’s high heels or old, ill-fitting shoes, various types of footwear can put you at risk of injury. Those with foot deformities can also experience a stress fracture, including those with severe bunions. 

Any bone in the foot or ankle can be affected by a stress fracture, including: 

• The metatarsals (connectors of toes to the foot) 
• The calcaneus (heel bone) 
• The navicular (near the ankle) 
• Any bone that makes up the ankle joint including the tibia and fibula

The Symptoms of a Stress Fracture 

There are telltale signs of a stress fracture that will help you know if you have one. Of course, the most obvious one is persistent pain. Other symptoms include: 

• The pain subsides when the foot is rested. 
• Pain that increases during normal, non-stressful activities. 
• There is obvious swelling on the top of the foot or outside of the ankle.
• The fracture site is tender to the touch.
• There is visible bruising. 

A stress fracture will almost always cause pain at a very specific location whenever pressure is placed on it. 

Diagnosing a Stress Fracture 

There are a few different ways to diagnose a stress fracture. First is a physical examination. It is very important that you see a doctor if you even suspect you have a stress fracture, as ignoring it can lead to the bone breaking completely. Your doctor will ask you about your medical history and your regular activities. They may also ask you about medications and diet. The doctor will then examine your foot looking specifically for points of pain and applying pressure to them. Pain response is the most common way to diagnose a stress fracture. 

Your doctor might also confirm the diagnosis through imaging such as X-rays. While it can be helpful to get imaging done, it is not a good diagnostic on its own since tiny cracks can be difficult to see via X-ray. If in fact the crack cannot be seen, your doctor might order an MRI. 

Stress Fracture Treatment 

There are a few different ways to treat a stress fracture, including both surgical and nonsurgical measures. The easiest ways to heal a stress fracture include: 

• Medication. Anti-inflammatory medications can help with the pain. 
• Crutches. Crutches keep the weight off the injury and can help with both healing and pain management. 
• Modified activity. For approximately six to eight weeks, you may need to prevent any physical activity that causes you pain or places further stress on the injured area. 
• Protective footwear. Your doctor might suggest sturdy footwear to help prevent further injury during your healing process. Brace shoes are available through a podiatrist. 
• Cast. While not always appropriate for a stress fracture, some cases do warrant the doctor to apply a cast to keep your bones in a fixed position. This is usually the treatment when the bones on the outer side of the foot are injured. 

Surgical treatment is sometimes needed if a stress fracture is severe or you are unable to keep weight off of it for whatever reason. Surgery usually involves supporting bones through an inserted fastener. Also known as internal fixation, pins, plates, and/or screws are placed into the foot to hold it together while it heals. 

Are You Looking for a Stress Fracture Expert in Austin, TX?

If you are looking for stress fracture 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.

Related Links: Foot and Ankle Surgery How Long Do Stress Fractures Take to Heal?  Sports Injuries

 

Proper foot care is important for everyone, but it is especially important for diabetics. Due to circulation issues, diabetic feet tend to be more susceptible to injury—and often those injuries can go undetected. For this reason, it’s a good idea for these individuals to have a consistent relationship with a podiatrist regardless of whether or not they are experiencing pain. 

Nerve Damage in Diabetes 

It seems only natural to go to the doctor when you’re experiencing pain. Many of us would not consider going to a specialist like a podiatrist until we are dealing with significant pain or injury. Unfortunately for diabetics, nerve damage is one of the common side effects of their condition—and this can make proper treatment of injuries difficult. 

This nerve damage is called neuropathy, and its most common symptom is numbness. It is considered to be one of the more frequent complications of living with long-term diabetes, and it’s caused by poor blood sugar control over an extended period of time. While all of our nerves can be affected by high sugars, the longest nerves—the ones that extend from spine to toe—tend to be the most impacted. This is why you will experience neuropathy in your feet and legs before your hands or arms. 

The Risk of Neuropathy Injury 

Our feet take a beating. Between walking, exercising, and potentially ill-fitting footwear, our feet endure more hits and strains than any other part of our body. In a healthy individual, a cut or blister on the foot isn’t usually a big deal, but it can turn into a severe issue for a person with neuropathy. 

Diabetic neuropathy causes numbness, which in turn can lead to obliviousness to injury. Without pain, we aren’t alerted to anything being wrong. But diabetes can cause quickly cause a lot of issues. Poorly controlled blood sugar can lead to dried-out skin, which in turn causes calluses or even ulcers on your feet. Combine this with the numbing lack of circulation and you just might find yourself walking around on an injury you don’t even know you have. Since the numbness prevents you from being aware of an issue, this can allow a minor injury to turn into a more serious infection. 

Proper Prevention 

Daily self-care is essential to make sure your diabetes stays in check and injuries are avoided. Follow all maintenance plans followed by your doctor, including proper diet and timed insulin. Then, work a self-examination of your feet into your daily routine. 

In the morning, before bedtime, and also anytime you take your shoes off, take a few moments to look over your feet. Check for any signs of strain—chafing, blistering, cuts, or bruises. You might want to use a mirror to help you check the areas that are hard to see. 

If you notice any irregularities, write down what you see and the date you noticed it. Some find it helpful to also take a photo. Practice at-home treatment and spend as much time off your feet as you can. Pay close attention to the irregularity and observe it for any changes or progressions in the coming days. 

Finally, know when it’s time to see a podiatrist. As a general rule, you should make an appointment if you’re experiencing any of the following: 

• Pain in your legs or thighs, even if you don’t have sensation in your feet 
• A change in foot shape 
• Severely dry or cracked skin on your feet
• Any change in skin color or temperature to the touch 
• Thickened or yellowing toenails 
• Blisters, sores, ulcers, corns, or ingrown toenails 
• Any evidence of a fungal infection like athlete’s foot

It’s also a great idea to visit a podiatrist several times a year even if you do not experience any issues. The professionals at Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists are able to provide thorough foot examinations and preventative measures that can help a diabetic avoid severe injury. 

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.

Related Links: Healthy Foot Care for Diabetes Diabetes and Your Feet The Importance of Understanding and Performing a Foot Self-Exam

 

 

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.

Conditions associated with diabetes can put you at a higher risk of complications. This is especially true if you are a trauma patient who has just undergone surgery. Because the disease affects blood circulation, diabetic patients have a more difficult time fighting off infection. As a result, they remain in the hospital longer and require more aggressive antibiotics. Strict guidelines must be put in place for managing glucose levels that can otherwise cause additional problems. Other risk factors include how advanced the patient’s condition is, and if they are suffering from peripheral vascular disease, a blood flow problem often associated with diabetes. Extra care must be taken of diabetic trauma patients to nullify these complication risks.
 

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.

Most people who have searched this content have also found Foot Wounds and Ulcers helpful.

 

There is a new technology that helps detect one of diabetes' most harmful complications.  It is called DDOT or dynamic diffuse optical tomography.  It is a non-invasive, light-based imaging modality developed by researchers at Columbia University that will allow clinicians to diagnose and monitor peripheral artery disease in individuals with diabetes more accurately.

Currently, non-invasive diagnostic methods for detecting PAD (Peripheral Artery Disease) are limited to ankle-brachial index or ABI and lower-limb duplex ultrasound which may not reveal the full picture of blood flow in the extremities in some cases.

DDOT may give clinicians the clearest picture yet of the quality of blood flow in a patient's extremities by obtaining a direct measure of the distal perfusion rather than the surrogate ones yielded by the previously mentioned modalities.  This is accomplished by a near-infrared optical tomography imager to send light through optical fibers into the tissue of the foot via a measuring probe placed around the foot.

If you suspect yourself or someone you know may be suffering from PAD, please make an appointment by calling (512) 328-8900 to determine your risk of complications from this condition.  The doctors at Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists are experts in the diagnosis and detection of PAD.

Are You Looking For Foot Care 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.

 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.

 

Laser treatment for toenail fungus gets to the root of the problem—fast! In fifteen minutes, you’ll enjoy the benefits of fungus-killing focused light that will bring healing to your unsightly nails. Creams, lacquers, and oral treatments are hit and miss. They may or may not reach the source of your crumbling, yellowing nails. In fact, topical nail applications simply can’t get to the hard-to-reach nail bed.

Enjoy safe, pain-free treatment for your fungal toenails with Blue Shine Laser Therapy. This laser uses light to reach the source of your infection. In as few as 6-9 months, you can expect a new, healthy nail in place of the old, infected one—now that’s a solution that works.

If toenail fungus has you hiding your feet, it’s time to take action. Call Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists at (512) 328-8900 or complete our contact form today to learn more about laser treatment for toenail fungus. Dr. Craig H. Thomajan DPM, FACFAS looks forward to helping you end the embarrassment of fungal nails.

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.

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.

Most people who have searched this content have also found Plantar Warts helpful.

As a general rule, for children under the age of 16 years, every year or every whole shoe size change as in foot growing from a size four to a size five.  After age 16, general rule is about once every two years.   From age 20, it changes to about once every three to five years which is of course only necessary if there are still issues of instability or pain.  With that being said, if the child's bone structure and or mechanics and instability are positively affected by the orthotics to the degree of becoming stable, the orthotics are only needed if the child/young adult is more comfortable wearing them than not.

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.

No, never.  A child should be comfortable throughout their growing years.  Oftentimes pain in the feet, ankles, knees, and back are an indication of faulty mechanics and the subsequent malalignment of the bones of their feet and ankles.  In our opinion, growing pains are not something you grow out of as they continue into adulthood in the form of other problems such as arthritis for example.  But fortunately "growing pains" or any other structural or functional problem your child is having is rather easily handled in almost every case with a good pair of total contact orthotics.  Your doctor can tell you very easily if your child will benefit from a pair of custom orthotics.   

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.

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.

If orthotics are used early enough in the development of the bones of the foot, the support the orthotics provide will allow the bones of the foot and ankle to grow straighter and stronger and in many cases the orthotics won't be needed after puberty when the bones and their growth plates fully ossify or become solid bone.  As a general rule, in older children after puberty, bone structure and position becomes permanent and therefore more difficult to change or manipulate with orthotics.  But with all that being said, if your child or young adult begins to experience once again any of the symptoms or discomforts that they had previous to wearing their orthotics after they stop wearing them, they should most definitely continue wearing them, much in the same way that many people continue to need eye glasses to correct their vision.  This is to say that, unless the mechanics or instability can be permanently "fixed" or addressed as with surgery, if the child's mechanics do not correct to any great degree as they grow, the aid offered by the orthotics may be something carried forward through childhood and into adulthood

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.