Foot Pain Flashcards
Foot Pain
Your feet are intricate networks of tendons, nerves, bones and muscles. To an NYC podiatrist, the foot is a marvel of human machinery that requires its very own specialty to treat. Your feet serve so many important functions — from standing to walking, running, balancing and kicking.
Your feet have to be strong enough to carry your full weight and sensitive enough to tell you when you’ve stepped on something that could harm you. As the furthest appendage from your heart, your feet are prone to a wide range of problems and are sometimes slower to heal.
Foot pain can have many causes. All symptoms should always be discussed with your podiatrist after a thorough consultation and examination for an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan to exclude any underlying serious condition.
Where Does It Hurt?
Foot pain can refer to anything that hurts from your Achilles tendon to your toes and from the ball of your foot to your heel. The thing about foot pain is that it’s so ubiquitous that many people don’t bother with a podiatrist and instead rely on home remedies that may or may not work — and that can sometimes lead to dangerous complications.
Talk to a foot doctor in Manhattan if you are having foot pain. And make sure to visit a leading podiatrist NYC Dr. Sophia Solomon for an examination, especially if your discomfort is persistent and recurring. Catching an issue with your feet early on is the best way to prevent worsening symptoms.
Additionally, it may take longer for your foot pain to dissipate if you insist on home remedies instead of seeing your Manhattan foot doctor when the issue first starts. A podiatric doctor may be able to give you a quick diagnosis and even faster solution.
When to Visit a Podiatrist?
If you are feeling some minimal pain or suffer only occasional twinges, you may not consider it important enough to see a foot doctor. Instead, you may believe that your foot pain is just associated with overuse or a wrong step. Standing for long periods of time, improperly fitting shoes and suddenly accelerated athletic activities can lead to temporary foot pain. But you should make an appointment with a foot doctor in Manhattan, Dr. Sophia Solomon if you experienced such symptoms as:
Pain that feels like burning
Numbness or tingling on the bottom of your foot
Constant pain that doesn’t get better after home remedy treatments
Swelling that doesn’t go down after a couple hours of self-care
You actually may be experiencing a medical emergency with certain symptoms. Foot pain can impair your ability to function. Seek immediate medical care if:
Can’t stand on your foot
Have severe swelling accompanied by excruciating pain
See redness with the swelling
Are feverish and your foot is warm to the touch
Have tenderness that could signal an infection
See any oozing pus from an open wound
Have diabetes and foot pain; the two can signal major complications
It is important to remember that all symptoms should always be discussed with your podiatrist after a thorough consultation and examination for an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan to exclude any underlying serious condition.
Leading Causes of Foot Pain
There are many reasons to see your New York podiatrist on a regular basis. One of the main causes of foot pain in the elderly is arthritis. Foot injuries from stubbing your toe, popping your Achilles tendon or breaking a bone are all seen regularly at our office. Nerve injuries can lead to peripheral neuropathy. Overuse injuries strain the ligaments and tendons in your feet that can lead to persistent pain if not properly treated.
You use your feet for so many different activities and may put them through harrowing workouts even on a normal day. Other causes of foot pain include:
Calluses Bunions and corns and bone spurs Flat feet Fractures Ingrown toenails Plantar warts Tarsal tunnel syndrome Tumors
Diagnosis before Treatment
Your foot doctor in NYC first conducts a visual exam, looking at your foot for obvious signs of trauma or infection. You can provide your podiatrist in NYC with details to help with the diagnosis by sharing:
When the pain started
How severe it is
When is usually occurs
What makes it worse
If your family has a history of foot illnesses
If you have another condition like diabetes or arthritis
Imaging tests such as X-rays and MRIs can show your foot doctor in midtown Manhattan whether you have a fracture in your foot or a tendon injury that could be causing your pain. A non-invasive procedure, such as bone scan, can show if you’re suffering from repetitive stress fractures.
Your podiatric care provider may need to test fluid in the joints of your feet to confirm a diagnosis of gout or rheumatoid arthritis. Tests can be performed right in the office of your foot doctor NYC. You may begin following a treatment plan to get you back on your feet once a diagnosis is confirmed.
Treatment Options
Light or medium foot pain often can be treated successfully at home by following your NYC podiatrist’s instructions. Self-care for your feet may consist of:
Elevation and rest Cold packs Heating pads Over-the-counter pain relievers If your foot pain doesn’t respond to home remedies or other suggestions, your foot doctor in Manhattan may resort to other treatments that may include:
Prescription medications such as corticosteroids, biologic response modifiers or osteoporosis medicine
Foot surgery that could include repairing fractures or removing bone spurs or other inflamed tissues. Other foot surgeries that your podiatrist may recommend include:
Osteotomy, which realigns your foot joints, a common procedure for ridding you of painful bunions.
Fusion, which removes the ends of some bones at the joints and realigns them with screws or plates, a common practice for dealing with foot deformities.
Debridement, a procedure for removing swollen tissue through a very tiny incision in your foot.
Hammertoe Surgery, this deformity can cause skin lesions where infection introduction can occur mainly seen in diabetes or those with poor circulation.
Bunion Surgery, a bump on the base of the big toe joint. This bump is typically associated with the misalignment of the joint and is caused by different pathologies of the foot. Your NYC bunions removal doctor, Dr Solomon can explain what the cause of your deformity is and how to correct or remove it.
Achilles Tendon Surgery may be recommended for younger, more active individuals to have achilles tendon rupture surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Plantar Fasciitis Surgery, fascia is a connective tissue that runs along the bottom of your foot. It is a thin band that connects your heel to your forefoot but can vary in thickness if it is inflamed. The fascia may be injured by direct trauma or by constant strain over time. Fasciitis is the medical term for a swelling or inflammation of your fascia tissue.
Your podiatrist in New York City has a wide array of surgical options to treat your foot pain, but surgery is always the last resort. Take your foot pain seriously. There are so many options for treatment that it is not worth it to wait.
All symptoms should always be discussed with your podiatrist after a thorough consultation and examination for an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan to exclude any underlying serious condition.
