Your Feet at the Beach

As millions of Americans hit the beach this summer, Dr. Thomas Carr, DPM, a foot and ankle surgeon in Chicago, shares these safety tips from the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons.

Puncture wounds and cuts: Wear shoes to protect your feet from puncture wounds and cuts caused by sea shells, broken glass and other sharp objects. Don’t go in the water if your skin gets cut – bacteria in oceans and lakes can cause infection. To avoid complications from a puncture wound, see a foot and ankle surgeon for treatment within 24 hours.

Jellyfish stings: Remember that a jellyfish washed up on the beach can still sting if you step on it. If their tentacles stick to the foot or ankle, remove them, but protect your hands from getting stung too. Vinegar, meat tenderizer or baking soda reduce pain and swelling. Most jellyfish stings heal within days, but if they don’t, medical treatment is required.

Sunburns: Feet get sunburn too. Rare but deadly skin cancers can occur on the foot. Don’t forget to apply sunscreen to the tops and bottoms of your feet.

Burns: Sand, sidewalks and paved surfaces get hot in the summer sun. Wear shoes to protect your soles from getting burned, especially if you have diabetes.

Ankle injuries, arch and heel pain: Walking, jogging and playing sports on soft, uneven surfaces like sand frequently leads to arch pain, heel pain, ankle sprains and other injuries. Athletic shoes provide the heel cushioning and arch support that flip-flops and sandals lack. If injuries occur, use rest, ice, compression and elevation to ease pain and swelling. Any injury that does not resolve within a few days should be examined by a foot and ankle surgeon.

Diabetes risks: The 20 million Americans with diabetes face serious foot safety risks at the beach. The disease causes poor blood circulation and numbness in the feet. A diabetic may not feel pain from a cut, puncture wound or burn. Any type of skin break on a diabetic foot has the potential to get infected and ulcerate if it isn’t noticed right away. Diabetics should always wear shoes to the beach, and remove them regularly to check for foreign objects like sand and shells that can cause sores, ulcers and infections.

For treatment of beach-related foot injuries, contact Dr. Thomas Carr at 312-337-9900 or request your appointment at www.chicagopodiatry.com.

Tips for a Safer Barefoot Summer

Parents and families can prevent cuts, puncture wounds and other injuries from going barefoot by following some simple recommendations.

"Shoes are the best way to protect your family's feet from injuries," says Dr. Thomas Carr, DPM. "But if your summer just wouldn't be the same without kicking off your shoes or sandals, you can still make it a safe season."

Dr. Carr offers these tips for a safer barefoot summer:

--See a foot and ankle surgeon within 24 hours for a puncture wound.

Why: These injuries can embed unsterile foreign objects deep inside the foot. A puncture wound must be cleaned properly and monitored throughout the healing process. This will help to avoid complications, such as tissue and bone infections or damage to tendons and muscles in the foot. Foot and ankle surgeons are trained to properly care for these injuries.

--Make sure you've been vaccinated against tetanus. Experts recommend teens and adults get a booster shot every 10 years.

Why: Cuts and puncture wounds from sharp objects can lead to infections and illnesses such as tetanus.

--Apply sunscreen to the tops and bottoms of your feet.

Why: Feet get sunburn too. According to FootPhysicians.com, rare but deadly skin cancers can develop on the feet.

--Inspect your feet and your children's feet on a routine basis for skin problems such as warts, calluses, ingrown toenails and suspicious moles, spots or freckles.

Why: The earlier a skin condition is detected, the easier it is for your foot and ankle surgeon to treat it.

--Wear flip-flops or sandals around swimming pools, locker rooms and beaches.

Why: To avoid cuts and abrasions from rough anti-slip surfaces and sharp objects hidden beneath sandy beaches, and to prevent contact with bacteria and viruses that can cause athlete's foot, plantar warts, and other problems.

--Use common sense.

Why: Every year, people lose toes while mowing the lawn barefoot. Others suffer serious burns from accidentally stepping on stray campfire coals or fireworks. Murky rivers, lakes and ponds can conceal sharp objects underwater. People with diabetes should never go barefoot, even indoors, because their nervous system may not "feel" an injury and their circulatory system will struggle to heal breaks in the skin.

Dr. Carr is a member of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS).

For more information on puncture wounds, plantar warts, diabetic foot care and other topics, visit the Chicago Podiatric Surgeons Web site, www.chicagopodiatry.com.

New Pair of Flip-Flops for the Summer?

There are a few things one should know about flip-flops before spending the entire summer walking in this type of shoes. The American Podiatric Medical Association has just published a list of tips regarding do's and don'ts for wearing flip-flops. For instance, did you know what walking extended distances in flip-flops can be harmful? This and more on the APMA web site.

New Orthotics Pictures

We have just uploaded a new set of orthotics pictures. Orthotics inserts are designed for just about any type of shoes including sports shoes and women dress shoes. Please check them out on our web site, but also at our Flickr account.





Some of our latest images will be used in the patient handouts for young athletes by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Podiatry on YouTube

The American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS) now has its own account on the popular video sharing social networking site YouTube.com. Please check it out and watch some really interesting podiatry related interviews and short clips.

http://www.youtube.com/user/FootAndAnkleSurgeons

Heel Pain - Treatment

Conservative treatment is over 90% effective and consists of:

• Oral anti-inflammatory medicine or steroid injections.


• Physical therapy


• Functional orthotics (shoe inserts that maintain proper biomechanics)

Anti-inflammatory medication and orthotics are key to long-term successful treatment.

If conservative treatment does not provide relief from heel pain, surgery may be necessary.

• The most common procedure is an endoscopic plantar fascia release, which reduces the pulling tension of the structures around the heel.


• Unless very large and projecting downward, the spur usually does not need to be removed, since the tension on the plantar fascia, not the spur, causes the symptoms.

You can download our Podiatry-at-a-Glance newsletter that talks about heel pain from out website.

Ingrown Toenails - Treatment

Treatment with over the counter products and topical or oral antibiotics is usually ineffective
since they do not address the ingrown nail itself. In order to resolve the condition the
offending nail border must be removed (Fig. 2).

• If the nail is only minimally ingrown the offending border may be removed simply by
  trimming the nail margin. This does not usually require use of a local anesthetic.
  
• If the nail is significantly ingrown or an infection is present, removal of the offending
  nail border and drainage of the infection usually requires local anasthesia and a more
  aggressive nail border resection. Any hypertrophic granulation tissue is usually resected.
  Antibiotics should be used appropriately.


• In cases of reccurrent ingrown nails a matricectomy may be performed in which the
  offending portion of the nail is permanently removed.
  
• If an abnormality of the nail, soft tissue, or bone is present a more involved surgical
  procedure may be needed to correct the condition and relieve the patient’s symptoms.

You can download our Podiatry-at-a-Glance newsletter that talks about ingrown toenails from our website.