ill-fitting footwear Archives - Relieve Foot Pain & Leg Pain

Foot Care Starts with The Right Shoes

BioPed Footcare — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 02:23:39 +0000

Your feet are the foundation of your movement, bearing your entire body weight with every step. Caring for our feet begins with foot care begins with choosing the right shoes—footwear that supports, cushions, and aligns the feet to prevent pain and long-term issues. With healthy footwear and guidance from a professional, you can keep your feet in optimal health, setting the stage for what we like to call “happy feet.”

Footcare: Common Foot Conditions and How Medical Footcare Helps

Many people experience common foot issues that stem from ill-fitting or unsupportive shoes. Thankfully, registered and licensed footcare professionals, including footcare nurses and Chiropodists, can help manage and treat these conditions, improving comfort and mobility.

Here are some typical foot conditions that benefit from medical footcare:

Plantar Fasciitis: Caused by strain on the arch, often leading to heel pain and inflammation.
Bunions and Hammertoes: Misalignment of toes and joints that can be due to narrow or tight shoes.
Corns and Calluses: Caused by constant rubbing or pressure, leading to hardened skin that can be painful.
Flat Feet or High Arches: These structural issues require specific support to prevent pain and strain.
Morton’s Neuroma: A painful condition involving irritation around the nerves between toes, often exacerbated by tight shoes.

With the right shoes and professional advice, many of these conditions can be avoided and/or managed, alleviating discomfort and preventing further complications.

Benefits of Proper Footwear for Happy, Healthy Feet

The right footwear is essential to maintaining foot health and preventing pain. A Canadian Certified Pedorthist can guide you in selecting shoes tailored to your foot shape, activity level, and specific needs. Here’s how they make a difference:

Correct Fit: Properly fitted shoes help avoid blisters, calluses and pressure points.
Support and Stability: Shoes with adequate arch support help distribute weight evenly and prevent strain on the feet, knees, and back.
Cushioning and Shock Absorption: Footwear with good cushioning protects the feet from impact and reduces fatigue during daily activities.
Breathability: Shoes made from breathable materials keep feet dry, reducing the risk of infections and blisters.
Customized Orthotics: If needed, a Pedorthist can create custom orthotics to further enhance comfort and support.

The Importance of Preventative Footcare

Preventative footcare, including regular checkups with a Pedorthist or Chiropodist, can address minor issues before they become significant concerns. Benefits of ongoing footcare include:

Preventing painful conditions like plantar fasciitis, corns, and calluses.
Supporting joint health by ensuring correct alignment and balance.
Identifying early signs of foot conditions or diabetes-related complications.

Why You Should See a Canadian Certified Pedorthist

Taking care of your feet is crucial for overall wellness, and the right footwear is the first step toward happy, healthy feet. By seeing a Canadian Certified Pedorthist, you can ensure your shoes provide the support and fit you need to avoid common foot issues. In addition, a Pedorthist can help determine when a referral to a medical footcare professional is necessary, ensuring your feet receive the best care possible.

The post Foot Care Starts with The Right Shoes appeared first on Relieve Foot Pain & Leg Pain.

Dry brittle discoloured toenails

BioPed Footcare — Thu, 09 May 2024 19:37:34 +0000

Our toenails tell us a lot about our overall health and well-being. Nails contain a protein called keratin, just like skin and hair. This is what makes nails strong, hard plates or shields. The matrix in the nail bed creates new skin cells which push out the old ones creating a nail. A portion of the nail is adhered to the nail bed and a portion at the end, the free edge, is the part we trim. If the nail matrix is damaged or injured, this can affect the way the nail grows. The nail may become thick which will cause discolouration, or it may become weak causing it to break easily or appear dry and rough.

To know how to properly treat a dry toenail, it is important to know what caused it to become dry, brittle or discoloured in the first place. Let’s explore the different causes and what can be done to help.

Footwear

Ill-fitting footwear can cause repetitive trauma to the nail which leads to damage over time. BioPed’s lower limb clinicians will make sure you are wearing the proper size and style for your feet and activity. A wide and deep toe box allows toes to move during gait and reduce pressure and injury to the nail plates. Supportive footwear will offer stability to improve movement of the feet which also lessens injury to the toes and nails.

Toenail Fungus

Fungus is a hot topic these days as it is contagious and common and can be unsightly! A fungal infection in the nail appears in the nail plate but resides in the nail bed’s matrix. Fungal nails can vary in appearance but are often thickened, crumbly, yellow, or brown and may have an odour. Treatment should include thinning of the nail plate to increase comfort in footwear and allow more successful results while using over the counter or prescription medications applied to the nail. There are also oral medications and light therapy. It is important to be assessed by a medical footcare clinician to learn the best treatment option for you, as not all treatments are appropriate for everyone.

Diet

Nutrient deficiencies can affect the texture and appearance of toenails. Low calcium and vitamin C may result in thin, weak, and brittle nails. A vitamin B12 or iron deficiency may cause the nails to become white, thin, and brittle. Your primary care professional can check your blood to rule out or confirm a nutrient deficiency.

Certain conditions influence the health of our toenails. Those that negatively affect our body’s immune system or joints can lead to issues. Diabetes may make a person more susceptible to fungal infections and can also affect the blood flow to the feet and toes reducing necessary nutrients and oxygen. Rheumatoid arthritis causes joint inflammation and toe deformities which often results in excess pressure on toe and nails. Psoriasis causes pitting in the nail plate and may result in a rough surface texture. An underactive thyroid also known as hypothyroidism can make nails brittle. Lichen planus is an inflammatory skin condition that can cause thinning, ridges and splitting of the nail plate. Undergoing chemotherapy or radiation to treat cancer may also change the shape and texture of nails. If health conditions can be managed internally with medication, it may lessen issues affecting the toenails.

Come See Us!

If you are suffering with or bothered by dry, brittle, or discoloured toenails, book an appointment with a BioPed lower limb clinician to figure out why and what solution is best for you. From nail tincture to thorough medical footcare to well-fitting footwear, we can help increase your comfort and improve the health of your feet, including your toenails. We’d love to hear from you!

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Hammertoe and mallet toe: symptoms, causes and treatment

BioPed Footcare — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 11:44:19 +0000

Our toes play an important role in our posture and balance, supporting body weight, and propulsing our body forward when we walk. In doing this, they endure a considerable amount of pressure as they bend and grip to stabilize the feet and lower body. Walking on uneven terrain, such as hiking through the woods can be challenging to navigate. Our toes help to stabilize us to keep us from losing our balance.

Our feet are a complex part of our body with dozens of bones, ligaments and muscles. The body’s muscles have an agonistic and an antagonistic action. In other words, for active movement to occur in our body, one muscle pulls in one direction, and another pulls in the opposite direction. When it comes to our toes, this creates movement such as flexion and extension. If the muscles attached to the toes are unbalanced and one pulls more than the other, a toe deformity can occur.

What are hammertoes & mallet toes?

A hammertoe describes any toe that is bent at the first “knuckle” or joint from the base of the toe, causing the tip of the toe to make contact with the ground, instead of the padded, pulpy underside. A hammertoe can develop on any toe on the foot, but most commonly affects the second toe. A mallet toe is one which is bent at the second joint from the base of the toe. Just like a hammertoe, the tip of the toe will be subjected to pressure and friction from the ground. Pressure and friction can cause calluses or corns and subsequent pain and discomfort on the tip of the toe and / or on the top of the toe joint. Toenails are also at risk of injury and damage, which can lead to thickening or ingrown toenails.

What causes hammertoes & mallet toes?

Hammertoes and mallet toes can be caused by genetics, toe injury, ill-fitting footwear, or an issue with how the foot moves when walking. If there is an issue in the lower body mechanics, the muscles around the toes may become unbalanced as they compensate due to instability in the foot.

What can help hammertoes & mallet toes?

Toe deformities are mobile and can be moved and straightened when they first develop. Over time, joints may develop arthritis and stiffen, becoming rigid and fixed in a bent position. When toes are mobile, toe props can be worn to help “prop up” the tips of the toes and reduce contact with the ground. Toe props are typically made of silicone and are available off-the-shelf or can be custom made. A custom made toe prop is a functional device that can help straighten the toes when standing and walking. This device will offload the pressure and friction on the tips of the toes and reduce the likelihood of painful callus, corns and wounds. Silicone toe sleeves can be worn over the toe to protect the skin over a bent joint. Sleeves provide a buffer between the skin and footwear, reducing friction and discomfort. Hammertoes and mallet toes can make finding comfortable footwear challenging. Footwear with an extra depth toe box will accommodate toe deformities and allow toes to move freely.

The lower limb clinicians at BioPed Footcare can help you find the right footwear that fits well and is suitable for your feet and toes. Custom foot orthotics are also effective at correcting issues in lower body mechanics that can lead to unwanted foot issues. If your skin or nails are bothersome, BioPed’s medical footcare clinicians can provide treatment and an array of solutions to help you do more in life!

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