Footnotes: Blog of ETFA

Achilles Tendonitis

The calf muscles are attached to the heel by the Achilles tendon. This is primarily the thickened cord or fibrous band that runs down the back of one’s leg and attaches to the heel bone.   The main function of this complex is to force the foot downward in gait and...

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Ankle Sprains

Ankle sprains are about as common as shopping carts at the grocery store.  Take a wrong step, walk on uneven ground, or be active in athletics, and sooner or later, you will probably have an ankle sprain.  By definition, an ankle sprain is a type of injury involving...

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The Difficulties of Diabetes

Every now and then I am reminded of the difficulties that come with diabetes.  Most of my patients, that have been diagnosed with diabetes, get up every morning and take on their day with the additional difficulties that diabetes provides.  Whether it be finger...

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Plantar Fibromas

A plantar fibroma is a fibrous knot (nodule) in the arch of the foot. It is embedded within the plantar fascia, a band of tissue that extends from the heel to the toes on the bottom of the foot. A plantar fibroma can develop in one or both feet, is benign...

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Pain Upon Rising

A very common description of foot pain from my patients at Sowell Podiatry is the complaint that “my feet hurt when I get out of bed in the morning”.  Now this can be caused by many things, but I would like to explain the phenomenon of post-static dyskinesia that my...

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Heel Spurs

A few quick misconceptions about heel spurs: That they have to be cut out for the pain to go away. That they are digging into your flesh. That they are due to a “stone bruise”. In fact, if we took one hundred people off the street and took x-rays ten would have heels...

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Hallux Limitus

The term Hallux Rigidus describes a limited motion of the big toe joint. The hallux, or big toe, becomes rigid and will no longer move up and down freely.  Also known as a dorsal bunion or Hallux Limitius, the condition is most commonly caused by every day wear and...

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Flat Feet

“Flat feet” or pes planus is a term we hear thrown around quite a bit. Many patients plop down in my podiatry chair each day and proclaim “I have flat feet”.  What they are describing is a foot that has no arch and sometimes the whole bottom of the foot touches the...

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Burning Feet – Tingling Feet

Burning/tingling feet are a common complaint in a podiatry office.  Patients rarely have any sense of why they are experiencing burning so I thought I would discuss, very quickly, the basic concept of burning feet because it can be caused by a myriad of problems:...

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Smelly Feet

Throughout life there might be times when we are bothered by how our feet smell.  If I had a nickel every time the mother of a teenage boy was embarrassed by his smelly feet I could travel more…just kidding. Some suffer with excessive sweating (hyperhydrosis) and...

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