Keep Your Feet Fit and Stop the Pain!

Here’s a question for you:  How many hours a day do you spend on your feet?  If you work in an office at a desk, it will be significantly less than a construction worker.  But think about it, you still spend at least a couple hours on your feet everyday through walking around at your job, at the store, at home.  The more you get out of the chair and walk around the better, but you still need to do your job.  The point -  people spend a lot of time on their feet. Though you might not think about it, you need to keep your feet fit!

If you go to our website, you’ll find a page named “Exercise Those Toes!”  On that page, you will see a list of exercises you can do to strengthen your toes and feet in general.  These exercises are especially recommended for people who experience toe cramps, plantar fasciitis, hammertoes, arch pain, and foot cramps. Follow these exercises exactly and do them regularly.  Start doing them twice a week, then work up to doing them every other day.  After you get comfortable, push yourself to do these exercises every day.  You could make it a routine to do right before you go to bed. Even better would be to do them right in the morning, getting your feet ready for the day.

It you need help figuring out how to do these exercises, contact Houston Foot Specialists.  Dr. Bowman would like to help and make sure you are doing the exercises correctly to provide the best results.  By getting your feet fit, you’ll strengthen your feet so that you will have less foot cramps and less foot pain in general.  Don’t put it off any longer!

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• Sprained Ankle: Rehab and Exercises (rebuildingroberts.wordpress.com)

Heel Pain - It's Not Worth Living With

Do you have heel pain?  Heel pain is the most common foot problem that brings people to podiatrists.  The heel bone is the biggest bone in your foot, and it also takes most of the pounding when walking.  If you are experiencing pain in your heels, there are a couple things it could be.

The most common cause of heel pain is Plantar Fasciitis.  This occurs when the ligament that runs along the bottom of your foot is torn.  If you have this, you’ll notice that the heel pain is the worst when you wake up in the morning.  The reason why is that the ligament were healing during the night and reattaching, but when you put weight on your foot getting out of bed, they tear again.

On some cases, the pain in your heel could be coming from a stress fracture in your heel.  This could be a result from a major strike to your heel, like falling from a high height and landing on your heels.  If this is the case, you need to consult a podiatrist right away.

One other cause for heel pain is Haglund’s Deformity.  This is enlargement on the back of the heel bone.  This is a painful bump that is irritated by the constant rubbing of shoes.  If you have a large lump on the back of your heel, this is probably the source of your pain. 

If you have any other questions or concerns about heel pain or anything relating to feet and ankles, we at Houston Foot Specialists would like to talk to you.  Give us a call at 713-467-8886 or take a stroll around our website.  Make sure to check out our “Patient Education” section to learn more about feet, ankles and the problems that can occur with them.

Related articles

• What is wrong with my heel? (zocdoc.com)
• Arches and Aches (yourfeet.co.nz)
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Lisfranc Injury...What?

A couple weeks ago, Houston Texans Quarterback Matt Schaub went out of a game with an foot injury.  At first they didn’t think it was a bad injury, but after examining the injury further, they discovered that he actually had a Lisfranc Injury.  So what exactly is a Lisfranc Injury? 

Lisfranc Injury is actually a fracture that occurs in the Lisfranc joint, or the joint that connects the front part of the foot to the middle part of the foot.  It is the joint that holds the metatarsals to the tarsus in your foot.  The injury occurs when the metatarsals are separated from the tarsus, and the result is obviously very painful. 

This injury is common among horse riders because many have fallen off the horse and the foot has been caught in the stirrup.  It is also common in windsurfing because of pretty much the same reason, they fell with their foot is still strapped to the board, which is over the metatarsals. 

So what is the amount of recovery needed?  Well Matt Schaub is out for the season.  This is a long road to recovery, but the injury will heal.  If the fracture is small enough, you will not need surgery, but a bigger fracture requires surgery.  If you don’t need surgery, you’ll have to have a cast on for six weeks, in which you cannot place any weight on the injured foot.  If you need surgery, what will happen is that screws and/or wire will tie the bones together so that they can heal correctly.  The screws and wire will be removed after six to twelve weeks, in which time you can’t put weight on the foot. 

If you have any questions on Lisfranc Injury or any other foot or ankle type injury, contact us at Houston Foot Specialists at 713-467-8886 or at our website.

Related articles

• Texans quarterback Schaub back at practice with walking boot (tsn.ca)
• Report: Matt Schaub will not return this season (profootballtalk.nbcsports.com)