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| FOOT CLINIC: |
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Common Foot Problems:
- Bunions
- Heel Pain
- Morton's Neuorma
- Corns and Calluses
- Hammertoes
- Plantar Warts
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Bunions
An important part of treatment is wearing shoes that conform to the shape of the foot and do not cause pressure areas. This often alleviates the pain. In severe cases, after many years, bunions can be disabling. Several types of surgery are available that may relieve pain and improve the appearance of the foot. Surgery is usually done to relieve the pain. |
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Heel pain is extremely common. It often begins without injury and is felt under the heel, usually while standing or walking.
Most cases will improve spontaneously. Medication to reduce swelling of the soft tissues in your foot and shoe inserts are quite helpful. If pain continues, steroid infections or walking casts are used. Only in the most troubling and prolonged cases is surgery recommended. |
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Morton's Neuroma
Treatment usually involves wearing wider shoes and taking oral medications to decrease the swelling around the nerve. A pad on the sole of the foot to spread the bones is often helpful. Your doctor also may inject cortisone around the nerve. If your difficulty continues, surgery to remove the neuroma may be suggested. |
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Common sites for corns and calluses are on the big toe and the fifth toe. Calluses underneath the ends of the foot bones (metatarsals) are common. Soft corns can occur between the toes.
Treatment involves relieving the pressure on the skin, usually by modifying the shoe. Pads to relieve the bony pressure are helpful, but they must be positioned carefully. On occasion, surgery is necessary to remove a bony prominence that causes the corn or callus. |
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Hammertoes
Hammertoes are one of several types of toe deformities. Hammertoes have a permanent sideways bend in your middle toe)'joint. The resulting deformity can be aggravated by tight shoes and usually results in pain over the prominent bony areas on the top of the toe and at the end of the toe. A hard corn may develop over this prominence. Treatment usually involves a shoe to better accommodate your deformed toe. Shoe inserts or pads also may help. If, after trying these treatments, you still are having marked difficulty, surgical treatment to straighten the toe or remove the prominent area of bone may be necessary.
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Plantar Warts
Warts are one of several soft tissue conditions of the foot that can be quite painful. They are caused by a virus, which generally invades the skin through small or invisible cuts and abrasions. They can appear anywhere on the skin, but, technically, only those on the sole are properly called plantar warts.
Self treatment is generally not advisable. Over-the-counter preparations contain acids or chemicals that destroy skin cells, and it takes an expert to destroy abnormal skin cells (warts) without also destroying surrounding healthy tissue. |
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