About Sue Davies

 

Sue Davies  MCFHP MAFHP

Sue Davies MCFHP MAFHP

I am a fully insured and qualified Foot Health Professional and a Registered Member of The British Association of Foot Health Professionals.

I recommend  that you need regular foot checks generally on a six to eight week basis if you are unable to look after your feet yourself

Failure to look after your feet can cause serious ailments and back problems.

 

Always seek professional assistance for foot care advice and specifically the following conditions:

  • Fungal Nail Infections
  • Verrucae
  • Dry cracked heels
  • Bunions
  • Ingrowing toe nails
  • Athletes Foot
  • Hard skin
  • Thickened nails
  • Diabetic foot care
  • Plantar fasciitis
  • Nail cutting and filing
  • Cracks/fissures
  • Any nail changes
  • Routine foot and nail care
  • Hammer toes

Benefits include:

  • Healthy feet
  • Less pain
  • Increased mobility
  • Reduces other health problems:
Feet First by Sue Davies

 

Bunions

bunionsIf you are unfamiliar with bunions, they are generally small abnormal protrusions at the outer edge base of your big toe. You will notice the big toe turning into your second toe when this happens. In this article we will discuss some of the causes and treatments you can take if this is a problem you’re encountering.

Bunions can be hereditary and are more common in women than men. Another leading cause for this condition is a woman’s footwear. Women wearing narrow high healed shoes can aggravate this condition to where the pain becomes to much and they must change their footwear. The pain comes from swelling where the bone can fill up with fluid, extra tissue surrounds the bone adding more pressure to this area.

Early Warning Signs

Blisters are an early warning sign for this condition. This can be the start of a bunion followed by redness and skin irritation in the lower toe area. Once the visible signs are there you should go see a doctor so they can take an x-ray for confirmation of this condition.

One of the problems you can face, if you ignore this deformity, is a mechanical malfunction in your fore foot. This will create problems in other parts of your foot in addition to your bunion. Walking and other exercises become painful if you ignore this problem, it is not one of those problems that goes away in time.

Things You Can Do To Relieve The Pain

The most obvious first step to relieve the pain is to change your shoes.

Getting a bigger sized shoes can help. You can get heel or toe stuffers to take up the added room in your shoes. Another easy way to reduce pain is to retro fit an older pair of shoes, just cut them. Yes, cut a hole in the side of your shoe where the bunion is at.

There are shoes that have flexible sides to them, you might want to try these to see how much pressure you take off your bunions. In your leisure time using ice has been known to reduce the swelling and pain, of course you cannot do this at work, but you will find medications which can have the same effect.

In the orthotic product line there are gelled toe spacers, bunion spacers and bunion cushions that can relive the pain when doing your daily duties.

Surgery

There are over 100 different types of surgeries associated with this condition. Your podiatrist will narrow down the type of surgery based on deformity, age, health and activity profile.

The surgery procedure generally involves removing the extra tissue around the bone, then removing the bunion bone and finally realigning the big toe back to a normal position. The days of using a cast after this procedure are pretty much gone, the use of screws and other material to fuse the bone are becoming more common as technology advances.

Awareness and taking action when you first discover bunions is your best preventative measures to avoid any further damage. If you do need surgery expect a recovery period of not less than 4 weeks.

Guest article on Bunions for Feet First

Achilles Heel

achilles-heelThe orthopedic condition known as Achilles heel is one of the most widespread ailments of the foot. The foot and heel is one of the most important factors when it comes to walking, running and performing any physical activity. It is important to maintain good feet health as well as good overall health. Many athletes as well as individuals overuse their feet and cause injuries. These injuries can be very painful, but can sometimes be treated with over the counter devices such as medications, shoe inserts and many other remedies.

Many people stand on their feet for hours everyday in their occupations. This can cause injury to the heel over a period of time. The constant pressure on your feet can really take a toll on the heel and feet. It is important to wear comfortable shoes and at your break times, sit down and rest your feet. A good insole could probably help also. There are many devices available to help keep your feet healthy.

Heel problems can come from a number of factors, injury, accident and as mentioned before overuse. Regardless of the situation, it can be very uncomfortable and quite painful. With most heel injuries, including Achilles heel,  the tendon in the back of the ankle can become inflamed causing a great deal of discomfort. A Foot Health Professional will evaluate your condition and offer the best treatment possible for your particular problem.

Excess weight can also contribute to Achilles heel pain. The excess weight can puts pressure on the tendons and cause heel pain. Again there are many devices that can help alleviate the pain, but you along with your Foot Health Professional can devise a long term plan to get rid of the problem. Trusting your foot Foot Health Professional is the first step to a happy and healthier you.

The heel is the first point of impact when you walk, an excess amount of stress on the foot or heel can cause Achilles pain. Achilles pain covers a wide variety of symptoms including tenderness along the tendon or immense pain on the back of the heel. Be clear about the amount of pain your experiencing because you may have to seek medical advice.

There are both surgical and non-surgical methods of treatment for your heel discomfort. A Foot Health Professional may advise total rest and to avoid all activity. Pain medications may be introduced to treat pain. Heal pads, shoe inserts or other support devices may help. Surgery should be your last resort, but is sometimes necessary. If you are experiencing Achilles heel pain, your Foot Health Professional will evaluate your foot and heel and will recommend the best source of treatment for you.

There are many things you can do to prevent foot and heel pain. Some of the most common things are to keep your feet as clean and dry as possible and regular checkup will help avoid Achilles heel pain.

Guest article on Achilles Heel for Feet First

Heel Pain

 

Heel Pain

Heel pain is something that obviously affects the heel and can be as simple as a blister or it might be something more difficult such as a verruca that’s harming you or even an unseen splinter. Heel discomfort typically is how the plantar fascia, the deep tendon that attaches to the heel bone begins to become inflamed and sore.

The terms are fairly interchangeable between heel discomfort and this condition. Heel discomfort is an extremely classic problem that happens within 25 percent of the cases that professional foot care specialists have and it is an extremely painful condition.

Heel discomfort begins because our feet needs to connect to the floor, and grounds are difficult and flat more often than not, which means this plantar fascia tendon moves lower and rotates lower each time we have a step.

If there’s an issue with the way in which our feet is functioning, if you find there’s inclination towards a flatter feet, if our feet tilts and rotates as we are going for a step, it begins to irritate this tendon at its insertion. Therefore it is something that unexpectedly happens to us afterward in existence, often times around 40 and frequently if you are a little excessive over weight. Any additional weight you are carrying will impact your foot. Also it happens for those who have a rather flatter feet.

Sometimes  you could have a heel problem from an injury. Therefore if you’ve really got a pressure, you’ve happened and you’ve torn the plantar fascia tendon (which will create inflammation round the tendon too) but more generally this can be a chronic injury, not acute also it happens gradually and literally creeps on you.

When you initially arrive at a clinic, all foot care professionals will review your feet,  determine the foot type, find out if there’s a fundamental fault that’s adding for this discomfort. We’ll take a look at your leg muscles.

Leg muscles are an essential a part of heel pain. If there’s any rigidity, we’ll immediately place you on the calf-muscle-stretching programme. We’ll take a look at just how much tenderness there’s within the tendon and when it requires outside assistance, we’ll strap it, provide you with an sole which will always assistance to safeguard it, take a look at the footwear and provide you with suggestions about your footwear.

Whether it’s really sore and causing you to hobble, which oftentimes it may do, a steroid injection into that sore place can certainly help to obvious in the inflammation. We’ll also recommend you utilize some anti-inflammatory products  for around three days simply to help.

For those who have a inclination to put on an extremely flat, non-supportive shoe, (such as the classic example in the summer holiday of putting on your flip-flops which your foot’s simply not accustomed to) which will extend the plantar facia tendon, the leg muscles and also the Calf muscles to the stage where they are not accustomed to being extended which sparks the soreness that triggers the heel discomfort. So an extremely flat shoe isn’t what you need to become putting on. You’ll need a shoe with a few support.

To instantly get your feet feel good put a higher-heeled shoe on. That reduces the length of the tendon, takes pressure from the heel bone and you will feel at ease. When I worked in America, I could get males to put on high heel shoes by suggesting cowboy boots.  There is a current fashion now for very flat footwear for males. Encourage them right into a shoe, a brogue, having a small heel. Most commonly it is much better than very, very flat.

Placing ice towards the area might help enormously, that very sharp point. Simply utilizing a tennis ball to roll underneath the arch of the feet or, whether it’s very tender, obtaining a bottle of water, freezing it, and moving the arch of the feet under there can again assistance to bring a lot of comfort. This condition does resolve naturally but it will take a great deal of your time. The evidence is that the discomfort does disappear, however it requires a very long time. It’s better to have it positively treated. Foot discomfort isn’t normal, so always  search for a qualified foot care professional.

The most crucial factor you should do is clean your feet daily. I put lots of stress on this. Clean your feet well and you will see an enormous difference. Get rid of nasty ingrained grime which can lead to hard skin formation. Another factor would be to moisture your skin in your feet.

Third use caution in your choice of footwear. Make certain the shoe is suitable for which you are doing. If you are playing tennis, put on trainers. For alpinism, you’ve got a alpinism boot. You need to be shoe savvy, an excellent idea for the feet.

This article on heel pain by Feet First

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