Samuel W. Cox, DPM

See a podiatrists, it is one of if not the most common thing we see. We have a whole treatment protocol for heel pain which is designed to help the individual patient get back to full function without pain as soon as possible and more importantly help them not keep having this condition reoccur which can be very common if the entire condition and cause is not dealt with properly. We we have a lot of different treatments that are available for this condition, that we select for the individual patient and their issues. We give our patients a list of recommended shoes, we recommend a good supportive prefabricated insole, unfortunately there just is not good options online, patients tend to waste money for inferior products, we do have custom orthotics, we give them stretching exercises, we evaluate for equinus deformity which is also due to a short Achilles tendon most of the time, if this is not addressed the condition will likely recur, we have proven nonsurgical techniques to help with this condition, we have cortisone injections that are available, it is important not to rely completely on a cortisone injection, we also have higher quality treatment options such as shockwave therapy which in our office is 90 to 95% successful for Plantar fasciitis, we also have MLS Laser technology which is also very successful, and we have amniotic tissue injections to help replenish damaged tissues. We also have the option of doing surgery however that is generally not necessary. Good luck, please get this treated soon, the sooner you treat heel pain or plantar fasciitis, the easier it is to get rid of. It generally will not go away on its own.

Sorry but that seems like a loaded question. If you have some bone removed from your big toe, it depends on which bone and how much bone is removed and if the joint or joints are affected. I wouldn't refer to it as the patient being disabled at least for a long term, you may require time off of work, which could fall under short term disability insurance with a job. But being long term disabled no not likely. Hope that helps.

Yeah, so the problem is you stop dressing, the toe, and it dried up to prematurely, trapping fluid from the procedure and that’s why you’re getting swelling. I don’t see infection from the photo. My recommendation is dress the toe daily with an over-the-counter antibiotic cream if you can find it or antibiotic ointment otherwise and keep it dressed changing daily for about 3 weeks. Make sure to keep the dressing on while taking showers and then change after. You can soak in Epsom salts and water for a few days to help reduce the swelling and soreness.

The answer is yet it could help with your pain. That would not be my preference for post operative pain management, a stronger opiates medication would give better pain relief. You could ask your doctor, just explain your situation and pain. Be clear not over dramatic or demanding. Make sure you are following all your post operative directions regarding weight bearing, ice, and elevation, as well as, wearing any CAM walkers or braces as directed.

Rest, ice, compression, and elevation of the ankle and foot. Immobilization with compression is good to prevent further inflammation, pain, and damage. It generally is treated successfully in my office with conservative care. Immobilization is used for the first 6-12 weeks depending on the severity of the injury. At 6-8 weeks I start very important ankle stretching and strengthening exercises that must be done daily for another 6-8 weeks. See a podiatrist near you and get a good supportive ankle brace, the over-the-counter braces are generally not supportive enough. Depending on the patients progress after the initial 6-8 weeks they sometimes can stop wearing the ankle brace daily, but must wear it for exercise or athletic activities for 3-6 months to allow the tissues to heal. If they have gone 3-6 months and still have ankle instability then surgery to repair or replace the ankle ligaments that were damaged. Good luck.

The best answer is see your local podiatrist. This is a loaded question, because it could be tendons on the medial or inside of the foot and ankle, or the lateral or outside of the foot and ankle, or the posterior aspect of the ankle which is the Achilles. Each condition is treated differently due to the underlying cause that would be determined with a through examination and observation of the the foot and ankle. The key is it must be supported and allowed time to heal and not continue to be strained which will result in failure of goals.

There are a whole host of things that could be causing pain on the bottom of your foot. Without a history of injury, the most likely cause is plantar fasciitis. This is likely due to wearing poorly supportive shoes and having no stable insole or custom orthotic in the shoe. Shoes today they are very popular such as Vans, Converse, Sketchers, Adidas, Nike and a number of other shoes really do not provide any structural support in the shoe. Even the best shoes do not have another structural support in them, however if you start out with a good stable shoe, you have a much better chance of avoiding foot pain or problems long-term such as arthritis. Poorly supportive shoe gear just move everywhere and its essentially going barefoot. I would recommend you seeing a local podiatrist to have them evaluate your condition to get you back to functioning as fast as possible. There are stretching exercises that can also be helpful for plantar fasciitis if that is indeed what you have. Good luck.

Well that depends on your surgeons preference and what type of procedures you are having done. You may be in a surgical shoe or a CAM Walker device and should be able to walk after hammertoe surgery and those devices. Bone heals in 6 to 8 weeks but in some individuals can take as long as 12 weeks to heal. I tell my patients to give me 3 full months. Good luck.

Without a picture, x-rays and exam it is hard for me to say for sure. Without all of those things, I don't think I would try and do anything to the other toes. I would seek another opinion as to what is wrong with the toe, is it fused in the wrong position, there are screws that can be used to straight the toe and there are ways to get some length with a bone graft, but it would likely need to be done sooner than later. It is also possible that the extensor tendon leading to the toe is too tight and can be cut or lengthened to bring the toe back down. Have another podiatrist or two take a look your issue and then see what they say. If you are in my area I would be glad to see what can be done. Get your medical records and pre and post surgery x-rays to take with you to the doctors. I feel confident something can be done to fix or definitely improve your condition. Good luck.

After an ankle sprain you should treat the area with (RICE)-rest, ice, compression like an Ace wrap or an over-the-counter ankle brace and elevation. You ice and elevate for 72 hours after the injury, do not put your ankle/foot in warm water or warm compresses till after 72 hours. I recommend people see a podiatrist to fully evaluate the ankle to determine how severe the sprain is. Many times people dismiss the sprain only to find it takes a long time to get over and they should have done other things which since they did not results in them either ultimately having surgery or developing arthritis depending on the level of injury. Find a podiatrist in your area and have them evaluate your ankle. Even if it is a mild sprain it should be evaluated, but it could be more serious than you think so it should be evaluated and tested to know the extent of the injury. Plus treatment to the area that is appropriate will help it heal faster.

Sorry but the photo's really show more of your legs and I can't see your feet really. However, for feet turning inward that is called pronation and it will have effects on the shape and look of your ankles and with time, activity level, weight, and the quality of shoes you wear will all have an effect long term on your feet and ankles. My recommendation is for you to see a podiatrist near you to be evaluated. I would likely start with a good prefabricated insole, but unfortunately there really are not any good over-the-counter insoles that I can recommend, most all that are available are not not worth the cost of the devices and some do nothing to help. Likely you will need a custom pair of orthotics for your feet to help support your feet and help align both your feet and ankles long term. Good Luck.

Making sure it is immobilized with a sturdy ankle brace, making sure that you do not do anything to reinjure worsen the condition, staying off the foot and ankle. Ice for the first 48 hours after the injury. To truly speed up the process you would need something like EPAT/shockwave therapy, laser therapy, or even amniotic tissue injection to help heal the area. Without advance treatments there is really not anything you can do outside of protecting it, soft tissue heals depending on the severity of the injury in 8 to 12 weeks.

Sorry I just saw your question today, this injury occurred about 2 months ago. If you are not going to see a podiatrist who could drill a hole in the nail and evacuate the blood or hematoma then just protecting the toenail is about all you can do. If the nail becomes loose and needs to be removed temporarily by a podiatrist. Because this is now 2 months old I would be drilling a hole in the nail because, at this point the blood under the nail is solidified or dried. Monitor the nail, because with all the blood under the nail and diabetes you are at risk for fungus toenails. As a diabetic you should be seeing a podiatrist every year no matter what to evaluate your foot, they could evaluate this as well.

It is hard to give you a clear answer for your particular condition without seeing it. That said there are multiple ways to correct the hammertoe depending on the type of deformity that is present. There are open traditional surgical ways to correct the hammertoe which often times utilizes a screw or other implants to fuse the joints that are involved in a straight position. This is a tried and true method of doing surgery and the success rate is excellent. Another way of doing open surgery is just removing part of the bone and straightening the toe, this also works however it has a higher chance of recurrence with time and its a little less stable. There is a third way of doing surgery that is becoming more more popular now which is minimally invasive surgical techniques which is generally less painful and generally does not involve fusing joints and there is generally no internal hardware. Nobody can guarantee that there will be additional surgery needed, because there is just too many factors outside of the control of the physician, however having to do additional surgery is generally not something we have to do, with the exception of sometimes the hardware if it is a long screw may have to be removed but that is simple something it can be done in the office. Good luck.

Regarding a swollen ankle, this would have to be fully worked up and seen by a podiatrist to ascertain the underlying cause. The causes could be injury, arthritis, gout, vein issues, kidney issues, heart issues, certain medications, and even a blood clot. This is just a few of the more common causes there are others. Because you list that you have neuropathy, it is very possible that you injured your ankle without knowing it. I have had patients come in for swollen ankles and it turned out they had a fracture as an example. You need to be seen by a podiatrist. Once the cause of the swelling is determined then there are multiple treatments for the individual condition.

Nerve damage can be fixed in some cases. It is important that you come in soon, the podiatrist would need to fully evaluate and determine the cause of the nerve damage as well as the extent of the nerve damage. If the nerve was severed/cut, that really cannot be fixed, and the majority of cases most of the time the nerves are very small. If nerve damage is associated with diabetic neuropathy/having a prolonged period of elevated blood glucose levels which will damage the nerves, chemotherapy can damage to nerves, stroke, radiculopathy which is symptoms affecting the lower extremities that are due to lower back problems, there other conditions in the foot such as tarsal tunnel syndrome or neuromas that can have nerve effects on the foot. I do have a product in my office that I used with very good results for nerve damage from multiple host of causes, is really the only thing I have seen to really help this condition. It is possible if the nerve damage is associated with a prior surgery the nerve could be bound up and scar tissue. All of these conditions need to be fully evaluated by a podiatrist.

This is not necessarily common however it does happen, it generally will go away within 3 to 8 weeks. The needle usually bounces off the nerve however occasionally it will go through a nerve causing neuropraxia. This should be a temporary occurrence.

That is a loaded question, because what is a true bunion I find many people miss label or just do not understand what a bunion really is. That said a bunion is an enlarged bump on the medial or inside of the foot where the great toe connects with the foot. There are conditions such as gout or capsulitis or some inflammatory arthritis that can cause an enlargement of the area that is soft tissue in nature. If that is the case it can be treated conservatively and likely reduced however there is really not a lot of natural products that you can use to fix that either. If it is a true bunion that is associated with the bone being out of alignment and there is nothing naturally you can do to fix that. You can wear wider toebox shoes to accommodate it, however surgical correction is the only way to get rid of it. I recommend you see a podiatrist to fully evaluate your condition and then you will know how to proceed.

This is an ingrown nail with what is called an acute paronychia and the live flesh you mentioned is what is called a pyogenic granuloma. A pogenicc granuloma is a condition that occurs as a result of a foreign body reaction to pressure which is your ingrown toenail. I do recommend that you see a podiatrist as soon as possible, so they can handle this condition promptly. You will need a portion of your toenail removed permanently to correct this condition along with removing the excess skin/pyogenic granuloma. This can all be done under local anesthetic and this is considered a minor in-office procedure. This will not go away or heal on its own, if it is removed temporarily instead of permanently you would have a very high reoccurrence rate over 90%. Good luck, if you are in Arizona I can help you.

That depends on what type of heel surgery you are having? Is it open or minimally invasive? Is it on the back of the heel where the Achilles tendon attaches or is it on the bottom of the heel where the plantar fascia attaches? A general fairly vague answer without knowing more information would be for plantar heel spur surgery I would tell you 6-8 weeks to walk normally without a boot and approximately 3 months before you can start exercising. If you are dealing with the Achilles tendon attachment, you are likely looking at 2-3 months in a boot and approximately 4-6 months before you return to some type of exercise activity, but it would be a slow return. There are MIS surgical techniques that can speed up the recovery time a little.