The human foot is an evolutionary marvel and a biological masterpiece. It has a strong and flexible design that allows it to function pretty well if you take good care of it. The foot comprises of 33 joints in total, 26 bones, and hundreds of ligaments, tendons, nerves and muscles made of strong fibrous tissues that keep the moving parts of the foot together. Moreover, it has more sweat glands when compared to any other part of your body. The various parts of the foot, including the ball, heel and toes work together to help you move from place to place.
Your feet take lots of abuse every day from jumping, walking, running, climbing, and exercising. That means they are naturally subject to various types of problems, and you should not take them for granted. From inflammation to injuries, several malfunctions and damage can lead to podiatry concerns. This post will focus on the common podiatry conditions, their causes, and treatment.
Plantar fasciitis
The plantar fascia refers to a thick and web-like ligament that joins the foot’s front to the heel. This ligament serves as a shock absorber and seamlessly supports the foot’s arch to help you walk. A lot of pressure on the feet can tear or damage the ligaments. The plantar fascia can also become inflamed, leading to heel stiffness and pain. This condition is among the common orthopaedic complaints, and it usually causes a lot of pain at the bottom part of the heel.
Causes
The plantar fascia has a bowstring shape, which supports the foot’s arch and absorbs shock when you are walking. If this bowstring experiences too much stress and tension, small tears may occur in your fascia. Frequent stretching and tearing might inflame or irritate your fascia, although the leading cause remains unclear in most of the plantar fasciitis cases. Although plantar fasciitis may develop without apparent causes, some factors might increase the risk of developing this podiatry condition. They include:
- Obesity: Excess body weight can put added stress on the plantar fascia.
- Structural foot problems: A high arch, an abnormal walking pattern or flat feet can significantly affect the distribution of body weight when standing and add stress to your plantar fascia.
- An active job that keeps you on your feet: You are also at risk of developing plantar fasciitis if you have a job that keeps you on your feet often. Standing for long on hard surfaces can easily damage your plantar fascia.
- Some types of exercises: Activities that increase pressure on your heel and the attached tissue like ballet dancing, aerobic dance and long-distance running can significantly contribute to plantar fasciitis development.
- Age: Active women and men aged between 40 and 70 years are at the greatest risk of having plantar fasciitis.
Symptoms
Many people with plantar fasciitis complain of pain throughout the bottom section of their heel or bottom mid-foot part at times. This podiatry condition affects one foot only, but it can also affect both feet. Plantar fasciitis pain develops slowly with time, and it can be sharp or dull.
Some people experience an ache or pain at the bottom part of the foot that extends outward from the heels. After a prolonged activity or busy day at work, the pain might flare up because of inflammation or increased irritation.
People suffering from plantar fasciitis do not experience pain during activities, but rather immediately after stopping. The pain is ordinarily severe in the morning once you take the first steps after waking up, or if you have been lying down or sitting for a while.
Treatment
You can manage plantar fasciitis with some home treatments such as icing, using braces, resting the foot and using anti-inflammatory medications. If these treatments fail to ease your pain, your doctor can give you a corticosteroid injection directly into the ligament’s damaged section. They might use an ultrasound gadget to know the best part for the injection.
Your doctor can also apply some corticosteroids to your foot’s arch or your heel’s skin, and later apply an electrical current that allows the corticosteroid to pass through the skin and into your muscle.
You can also use physical therapy as part of treating plantar fasciitis. This therapy can assist you in stretching your Achilles tendons plantar fascia. Your therapist can teach you some exercises to strengthen the lower leg muscles, helping you stabilise your walk to lessen the plantar fascia workload. If your pain persists and the other treatments are not helping, your doctor might recommend customised orthotics to give extra support to your heel.
If the medical and home methods fail to treat your plantar fasciitis, the other option you should consider is surgery. However, it is only done where the pain lasts for more than six months or is severe. Surgery may result in nerve damage and chronic pain, so you should only consider it after trying all the other treatment methods.
Athlete’s Foot
This foot condition is a transmissible fungal infection that usually affects the feet’s skin. Athlete’s foot may also spread to your hands and toenails. This contagious fungal infection is mainly known as athlete’s foot since it’s a common condition among athletes.
Athlete’s foot may not be a severe condition, but it can be hard to cure sometimes. If you’ve got a weak immune system or diabetes and suspect you might have this podiatry condition, you should immediately see your doctor.
Causes
This foot problem is caused by a type of fungus similar to that which causes jock itch and ringworms. Warm, humid temperatures and damp shoes and socks favour the growth of these organisms.
Athlete’s foot is highly contagious and can quickly spread from contact with contaminated items, such as shoes, towels and floors or contact with infected people.
Symptoms
There are many signs of athlete’s foot. Some of the common signs include:
- Dry skin on the sides of the legs or your soles
- Peeling and cracking skin on the feet, especially on your soles and between your toes
- Some raw skin on the feet
- Toenails that are pulling away from your nail bed
- Itching blisters on your feet
- Burning, itching, and stinging on the feet soles or between your toes
- Thick, crumbly and discoloured toenails
Treatment
You need to keep your feet clean and completely dry, and if possible, you should dry them using a separate towel. You can treat the athlete’s foot using OTC (over-the-counter) topical antifungal drugs. If these medications fail to clear the infection, your podiatrist might prescribe oral or topical prescription-strength antifungal drugs.
The doctor might also recommend some home remedies to assist in clearing up the fungal infection. Your doctor can also ask you to soak both feet in diluted vinegar or saltwater to assist in drying up the blisters.
Ingrown toenails
An ingrown toenail refers to a foot problem that develops a corner of your toenail grows downwards into the skin. In many cases, this condition affects your big toe. Ingrown toenails are usually a common podiatry condition. According to statistics, two out of ten individuals who see their doctor for a foot issue have ingrown toenails.
This foot condition occurs when you cut your toenails by tapering the toenail’s corner. If your toenail curves with the toe’s shape, it might grow into the skin. Anyone can develop an ingrown toenail. Individuals with a higher risk include athletes, adolescents and those with:
- An infection around one of the toenails
- Severe nerve damage in the foot or leg
- Diabetes
- Poor blood circulation
Causes
Footwear that puts a lot of pressure on your big toes like stockings and socks that are extremely tight or too tight, flat or narrow shoes can cause ingrown toenails. Feet trauma such as repeatedly kicking a ball, stubbing your toe or dropping a heavy item on your foot can also lead to ingrown toenails.
Other causes of this podiatry condition include incorrectly trimmed toenails, poor posture, irregular curved toenails, and improper foot hygiene. You may also be at a high risk of developing ingrown toenails if your family has a history of this condition.
Symptoms
An ingrown toenail may feel swollen and hard at first. If the toenail grows into your skin, bacteria can enter, and the toenail might become infected. Symptoms of infected ingrown toenails include swelling, pain, pus coming from the toe, toe feeling hot or warm and redness of the affected area.
Treatment
You can effectively treat ingrown toenails at home. The following ways will help you control the toe infection and also prevent severe pain:
- Avoiding cutting your toenails in a round pattern because it increases the chances of inward growth
- Keeping your feet clean and dry
- Wearing proper fitting and roomy shoes
- Using over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen or ibuprofen to relieve pain
- Cutting your nails straight across immediately after taking a bath when they are soft
Diabetic neuropathy
Neuropathy refers to nerve damage, and diabetic neuropathy is a group of neuropathy conditions that damage your feet because of diabetes. Diabetic neuropathy is amongst the most common complications of diabetes.
Cases are mainly common in diabetic patients with excessive weight, high levels of blood pressure and blood fat, and are above 40 years of age. The longer an individual has diabetes, the higher the chances of developing neuropathies.
Causes
Individuals with diabetes are more predisposed to blood sugar fluctuations. High levels of blood sugar can significantly damage your nerves, particularly in your feet. However, other factors such as high blood pressure, Vitamin B deficiency, alcohol use, smoking, and chronic kidney or liver disease can worsen the nerve damage.
Symptoms
The signs of this podiatry condition are wide-ranging and depend completely on the present type of neuropathy, and the nerves that are being affected. The common symptoms of diabetic neuropathy include pain, tingling and numbness in the feet.
Treatment
There is no cure for diabetic neuropathy presently, but there many available treatments that you can use to help manage the symptoms. The other treatment goal is maintaining reasonable control of blood glucose levels using a combination of medication and diet to prevent the neuropathy from worsening. Research has shown that controlling your blood glucose levels can improve symptoms of diabetic neuropathy and prevent the pain from becoming worse.
Bunions
Bunions refer to misaligned joints in the big toes that can become tender and swollen. This condition causes the big toe to slant towards the other toes and its first joint to slant outward. Too narrow footwear in the forefoot and big toe tends to worsen this podiatry condition.
There are preventive and conservative steps that you can use to ease the discomfort of bunions. However, your podiatrist may also recommend a surgical operation to correct this foot problem.
Calluses and corns
Calluses and corns refer to protective layers of compressed, dead skin cells. This condition occurs due to recurring pressure and friction from the skin rubbing against a shoe irregularity or bony parts. Calluses form on the soles of your feet and corns on your toes. The pressure and friction can burn and even cause a lot of pain.
You can relieve the pain using padding or moleskin on the affected parts. Avoid cutting calluses or corns using any instrument. Also, you should avoid applying home remedies unless under the instructions of your podiatrist. In some cases, your doctor can recommend surgical removal of the corns.
Hammertoe
Hammertoe refers to a podiatry condition in which one of the toes bends like a claw. The condition occurs with your second toe most of the time, especially when a bunion angles the big toe under and toward it. However, one of the other three small toes can also get affected.
The primary cause of hammertoe is muscle imbalance, but it aggravates due to poor-fitting socks or shoes that cramp your toes. To prevent the development of a hammertoe, you should avoid pressure on your toes. Your doctor may recommend a surgical procedure to realign your toe to its proper position.
Blisters
Blisters are usually small pockets of fluid that can form on any part of the body. They can occur due to different reasons and can also vary in size. You can develop a blister on your foot due to skin friction. To treat blisters, you can apply an adhesive bandage or moleskin over the blister, and keep it on until it naturally falls off in the shower or bath.
Keep your feet completely dry, and wear socks always as a cushion between your shoes and feet. Avoid popping blisters, but if one breaks, clean the part and apply an antiseptic before covering with a sterilised bandage.