Over the past few weeks heel pain has sidelined or hobbled   Albert Pujol’s of the Los Angeles Angels, Mike Napoli of the Boston Red Sox’s and Jarius Byrd of the Buffalo Bills.   If you are student athlete going back to high school or university, heel pain is something you want to avoid.   Heel pain will change the way you perform your sport.    If you are developing heel pain, you will start to notice pain when you take your first step in the morning.   As time goes on, you will dread your first step out of bed because it is going to be painful. With practice you will perfect a method to keep as much weight off of your painful heel.   You will realize the pain will get a little better as the day goes on but you also know that when you get home and sit down but have to get up again it’s going to be painful!   One of the main reasons heel pain occurs is because the plantar fascia pulls away from its attachment under the heel bone.  ...

Thick, yellow nails are usually caused by the presence of a fungal nail infection.    A fungal infection of the toe nails is a common foot problem.   Nail fungus (onychomycosis) is an infection of the nail plate and nail bed.   It is caused by various types of fungi, which are commonly found throughout the environment. Fungi are simple parasitic plant organisms that do not require sunlight for growth.   A group of fungi called dermatophytes have evolved to attack human nails and skin. The infection of the nail begins with some type of trauma to the nail. The dermatophyte gains entry into the nail and begins to feed on the nail protein called keratin. The big toe nail is the most commonly infected toe nail.   Our big toe nails can get damaged or traumatized from:   The way we walk or run. ( because of a unstable low arched foot or bunion) The   shoes we wear ( tight fitting shoes or high heels)   The type of job (the requireme...

Recently on the Ellen Show Mark Wahlberg discussed the removal of a portion of nail that was causing him pain in his nail groove.  His co star Micky O'Keefe from the movie "The Fighter" advised Mark to see his daughter-in-law who is a podiatrist.  A portion of Mark's big toenail that was digging into his skin was removed permanently so it would not grow back.  I use an internet service called Google Alerts.  I subscribed to an alert for "Ingrown nails".  Any query on "ingrown nails" is sent to my smart phone.  One of the most common questions concerning ingrown nails is from the website "answers.yahoo.com" . Most questions are usually  "what I can do to cure or get rid of my ingrown toenail".   This type of question occurs daily.  Many people suffer from the pain of ingrown nails.  Mark Wahlberg stated his nail was growing the wrong way.  I am only guessing but Mark may have tried to cut his nail hoping to reli...

Pedigait 4 camera system and treadmill My colleague and good friend Brian Cragg from Markham Footcare has produced a very informative YouTube video (shown below) outlining the benefits of using the PediGait synchronous 4 camera gait analysis system.   We both introduced this technology into our offices in April 2012.   Gait analysis is used on a daily basis by chiropodists/podiatrists  as a  component of the physical evaluation of the presenting patient.  Typically, gait analysis consists of watching a patient walk back and forth in a hallway.   The information observed in the gait analysis helps to reveal the the cause the patient's presenting symptoms.   Hallway gait analysis provides valuable information to the practitioner but provides no visual feedback for you "the patient" relating to the way you walk or run.   Gait analysis in hallway Since the introduction of PediGait into our Whitby office,  we have eleva...

The summer is coming to a close and flip flop weather will come to a close as the weather gets cooler. Wearing flip flops can be difficult on your feet. The design of flip flops do not allow the foot to be properly secured to the foot. If you have flat feet (pronated foot) your heel will shift off of the flip flop (watch the video).  Furthermore, your toes will have to grip the flip flops to keep them from falling off while you walk. Over time( successive summers) this can result in clawed or hammered toes leading to pain in the ball of your foot. This can lead to metatarsalgia or pain in the ball of the foot. The American Podiatric Medical Association has a seal of approval section which lists recommended  flip flops. These APMA approved flip flop sandals have a molded foot bed and more secure straps that help to minimize foot problems. www.footcarewhitby.ca

This is the final day of the Olympics and one of the last events is the marathon run of 26 miles.   This event brings together the 100 best marathon runners from all over the world.   The trio of runners from Kenya: Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich, Abel Kirui and Emmanuel Mutai could sweep the marathon medals. The eventual marathon winner will be the runner most able to keep a constant speed throughout the race over the varied terrain.   The best marathon runners have a body type best suited for marathon running but more importantly, they can minimize their injury rate by proper training and recovery. Many recreational marathon runners develop many foot and lower leg injuries because of poor training methods, improper footwear and poor lower extremity biomechanics.   Structural problems occurring in the foot and lower leg can cause plantar fasciitis , shin splints , Achilles tendinitis , and ilio-tibial band syndrome .   If these problems occur should be addressed as...

This morning I have been watching the 2012 Olympic men’s soccer/football finals. It has been an excellent game between Mexico and Brazil. You can hear the Samba beat in the stands at Wembly Stadium. I have been impressed with the speed of the players. I know from treating soccer player in my practice that some of these players are participating with some type of foot injury. Plantar fasciitis , hallux limitus , bunions and ankle sprains are some of the most common foot injuries that occur while playing. Women soccer players’ tend to develop patellofemoral syndrome if their feet are flat or if the Q angle is large. I am sure the therapists and trainers involved in the Olympic soccer tournament have minimized these foot injuries. If you have any of these foot injuries as a result of playing recreational sports or due the repetitive nature of your job you should not delay getting treatment for these injuries. Congratulations to the Canadian Olympic Women’s soccer team for their bronz...