How to Tell Athlete’s Foot vs. Dry Skin

Athlete’s foot stems from a fungus that lives in dark, moist areas. We have all heard the tips that we should be wearing flip flops when we use public showers, unfortunately this is not the only way to catch athlete’s foot. Walking through any area that is moist, such as a puddle, a river, or even the Amazon can get your socks and shoes wet and allow the fungus to flourish inside your shoes. This is why it is so important to keep your feet dry. So, after you have walked through a wet area or showered, it is important to dry off your feet, but don’t forget the spaces between your toes. For some people, they naturally have sweaty feet. So, if you are one of these people, then it is very important for you to change your socks several times throughout the day to keep your feet dry.

Now what about dry skin vs. athlete’s foot? Well, that can be a hard one quite frankly. Typically we think of athlete’s foot as being itchy, but dry skin can also be itchy. Athlete’s foot also has a tendency to burn and tingle, but it may not also have these characteristics. Now as for the tell-tale signs, there are only a couple.

1.       The appearance of the dry skin

a.       In athlete’s foot, you will tend to have a moccasin distribution of your dry skin, which means that you will have a ring of dry skin around your heel and on both sides of your foot and up to the toes. There will also be dry skin on the bottom of your feet.

2.       Another tell-tale sign is dry skin moving into the spaces between your toes. This is never going to be a normal presentation.

The key to remember is that dependent upon the severity of your athlete’s foot will depend on the presentation. In a very mild case, it really will just look like dry skin, the moccasin will not appear until your athlete’s foot has progressed pretty significantly. But, if you have dry skin in between your toes, that is cause to come in right away.

So, how do we treat this pesky fungus? There are some over the counter creams and sprays, but they don’t always work for everyone. At that point we can turn to prescription antibiotic cream and an over the counter spray/powder to disinfect your shoes. Worse case scenario is an oral antibiotic if it is a difficult case.

If you or someone you know in the Methuen, Reading, North Andover or Lowell, Massachusetts area has had symptoms consistent with athlete’s foot, we would be happy to schedule you an appointment at one of our offices.

Is your Child In-Toed?

Have you noticed your child walking with one or both of their feet pointed inwards? This may be due to a condition called Metatarsus Adductus. More commonly this is called pigeon toed. This condition results from the long bones in your child’s foot being closer together and pointing towards the center of their body. The earlier this condition is noticed in your child though, the quicker something can be done for it and the better results that you will see.

When your child is very young, meaning newborn to 2 years of age, their feet are very flexible and are easily corrected into the appropriate position. For this reason, children under 2 years old can be treated by casting their feet slowly into the appropriate position. Through these gradual adjustments, your child will be able to have a regular foot and be able to wear normal shoe wear and walk regularly.

The casting technique works really well for many children. However, when you finish the casting, the process is not over. Your child will need to wear an orthotic device. These orthotics are inserts that are placed into your child’s shoe and will help them to maintain this position. Depending on the severity of their condition they may need to wear bracing at night for a while to help their feet stay where they are now. You can think of this process the same way we think of a retainer after braces for our teeth. You are holding the body part in the final position to maintain the results.

If you or someone you know has a child that is walking with their feet inward, our office staff would be happy to help you make an appointment. Dr. Wachtel will be able to figure out what the underlying cause is of the child’s foot position and will be able to help them fix the problem. Our offices swerve the Tewksbury, Methuen, North Reading and Lowell, Massachusetts areas.

Jayron Hosley's Turf Toe

Jayron Hosley, a cornerback for the New York Giants, injured his foot on Saturday during the preseason game of the Giants vs. the Jets. Hosley made several great plays during the game, but his foot injury has him sitting it out for a while. The trainers think that the injury is turf toe and say that how quickly he gets back out on the field will largely depend on how he is feeling in the next several days.

Turf toe is an injury that is very common in turf sports like soccer, football and even baseball. Players will be running through the field and will take a step forward and bring their big toe to high off the ground. As a result, they can tear the tendon that supports their connection between the toe and the rest of the foot, or they can even fracture a bone if it is severe enough.

The question of how long Hosley will be out is due to the treatment of this condition. The severity of the injury greatly dictates the length of time a player must stay off of the affected foot. In a very mild injury, taping the toe and possibly using an insole to restrict motion is really all they need to do and they can return to play almost immediately. If it is an intermediate injury, it is the same treatment, but they will be out of play for up to two weeks. The worst case scenario translates to using a boot or cast and no play for 2-6 weeks. This can be very difficult for an active athlete to stay away from their sport so long, but it is necessary to prevent further injury.

As your kids start school and their sports this fall, some of them may end up with a turf toe injury. The most important thing to do is ice the area, rest it and get to a doctor as soon as you can. If you are in the Burlington, Chelmsford, Middleton or North Reading, Massachusetts area and someone you know injures their foot while playing a sport, our office would be more than happy to help you schedule an appointment.

Laser Treatment for Injuries Associated with New Exercise Plans

There is nothing worse than starting a new workout to injure yourself within the first week or your regimen. Overuse injuries are a common mishap that people have. When you start a new plan such as running, jumping rope or even these new boot camps, you can get and injury just from doing the same repetitive motions over and over again. This constant repetition can put a constant pull and release motion on those ligaments and tendons that they can end up tearing or even rupturing with time.

One treatment for torn ligaments and tendons is laser therapy. This therapy focuses a specific wavelength of energy at the affected area and stimulates your body to revert to a state of acute injury. By bringing your body into this acute state, all of the blood cells and chemicals in your body that promote healthy healing will be stimulated. When this is done, your body will be pushed to heal itself back to as close to its original strong state as it can. The difference between acute healing and chronic healing is that in an acute stage, your body has the ability to return to its original level of strength and mobility whereas with chronic, you may experience less range of motion and less strength then you had prior to the injury. Losing range of motion and strength is never a good thing because that is something you won’t be able to work through and improve as readily.

The laser treatments may take several office visits to obtain maximum results. Depending upon your particular injury, your podiatrist may want to offload your injured foot, ice it, and rest your foot. Your podiatrist will be able to assess the level of injury through physical exam and x-rays. They will then be able to determine if you need conservative, noninvasive intervention or if you need surgery.

The most important thing with any type of sports related injury is to see your doctor quickly so that they can assess the severity and get you started on a treatment plan. If you or someone you know has an injury like this and lives in the Methuen, Tewksbury, North Andover or Lowell, Massachusetts areas, our office would be more than happy to help you schedule an appointment.

Diabetes and Ulcers: Prevention and Treatment

Diabetes is a condition that has been rapidly spreading throughout the United States. It is a condition where your body is unable to process sugar the way that it should be. As a result, many different medical conditions can follow. The key to preventing these additional conditions is to control your blood sugar and stay in shape. However, with time, your diabetes can progress to eventually cause peripheral neuropathy. Neuropathy in diabetics starts at your feet and causes your feet to not be able to feel things that are touching them. This includes things such as pebbles or rolled up socks inside your shoe.

After a long day of your feet rubbing up against these additional objects, you can end up rubbing an ulcer. These ulcers, if not treated, can lead to infection in your skin and muscles and then into your bone. This is why it is so important to go to your podiatrist for regular check-ups. It is especially important because just as you may not feel that pebble in your shoe, you’ll also not feel the ulcer on the bottom of your foot.

Once an ulcer occurs, it must be treated aggressively to avoid other complications. Your podiatrist will have a specific treatment plan for your particular ulcer that must be followed to get best results. This treatment can include removal of the dead tissue, antibiotics, cushioning the ulcer, using crutches and even using skin grafts. Regardless of the treatment plan, you must be religious in your care in order to get the best results and avoid worse results.

If you or someone you know is a diabetic patient, it is vital that you form a relationship with your podiatrist. If you live in the North Andover, Billerica, Tewksbury or Newburyport, Massachusetts area, our office would be more than happy to help you schedule an appointment. Dr. Wachtel will be able to get you onto a regular exam schedule to provide you with the best preventative care and intervention.

Fall Prevention

Did you know that our practice does assessment for your risk of falling? Falls account for a large percent of medical emergencies each year. We’ve all seen the commercials where the woman has fallen and is telling the camera that she can’t get up. Many of us don’t think twice about this commercial and we are just anxious to get back to whatever program we are watching. The reality is that this commercial, no matter how melodramatic it may seem is a real concern for many people. The older we become the more unsteady we become and the less balance we have while we are walking. There are certain conditions that can lead to an even greater risk though including a messy house, pets running between your feet, a hunched back and diabetic neuropathy.

Diabetic neuropathy is a huge medical concern that is growing each year due to the increasing numbers of people diagnosed with diabetes. Neuropathy is a big fancy word to describe the loss of feeling and sensation within a certain part of your body. In diabetics, neuropathy affects your feet and can begin with a tingling, burning sensation that can lead to numbness and an inability to feel something touching your foot. When you are walking, you need this sensation to be able to feel the surface beneath your feet and whether or not you are on a flat surface or an incline.

Imagine a person that is standing on 2 feet and looking straight ahead. This person is going to have a pretty steady stance position and their feet and hips will not move that much. Now take that same person and have them close their eyes while standing on their 2 feet, this person is going to have less balance as a result of removing the visual component. Now let’s think of the same scenario, but now the person is standing on one foot first with their eyes open and then their eyes closed. In each of these there will be less balance. Now if you took this person and had them stand on a soft surface with their eyes closed and on one foot, they will be very likely to fall over. The last situation with a soft surface and eyes closed while standing on one foot is similar to the diabetic patient that can’t feel the ground beneath them and is walking around. These people will not be able to process what they are stepping on, if the surface is level, or even if they are touching the ground. The worse the neuropathy is, the greater the risk these people are at for a fall.

 Dr. Wachtel is able to assess individuals and determine their percentage likelihood of a fall. He is also able to offer treatment options to prevent you from falling and sustaining greater injuries. These treatments can range from medications in the early stage of neuropathy through housing modifications and different shoe types to provide greater stability. If you or someone you know has neuropathy or has had previous falls and lives in the Beverly, Billerica, Westford or Winchester, Massachusetts area, our office would be more than happy to schedule an appointment for you.

Are you Looking for the Perfect Heels for your Wedding or Day-to-Day?

A recent article was released by the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel discussing tips for shoe selection for brides on their wedding day. In the article, Dr. Jacqueline Sutera, a spokesperson for the American Podiatric Medicine Association offered her advice on what you should be looking for in a shoe.

Some of the important points that are cited within the article include lower heels, rounder toes, some give within the material, and shopping for your shoes in the afternoon. Lower heels are a must when you will be on your feet the majority of the day. Higher heels (above 2 inches) cause you to walk on the heads of your metatarsals. Your metatarsals are the five long bones in your foot that connect your toes to your rearfoot. Since this is not a natural position for you to be in, you’ll often notice that after a day of wearking high heels all day you will have soreness right along the ball of your foot. This pain is due to the excess pressure being placed where your body is not used to supporting it. Rounder toed shoes are important because the narrow pointy shoes push your toes together in a position they are not supposed to be in. This can cause blisters on the inside of your big toe and the outside of your pinky toe. This position has also been shown to be the cause of some bunions. A more flexible material for your shoes will allow your foot to spread out and contract the way that it normally does while you are walking. If you use a really stiff and rigid material, your foot will be held in one position inhibiting your foot from expanding through your gait cycle. Finally, you should shop for your shoes in the afternoon because everyone’s foot expands throughout the day. So, by the end of the day, your foot may be an entire size wider or longer depending on your foot type. As a result, if you shop in the morning and get smaller shoes your foot will be scrunched up by the end of the day.

All of these points that were discussed in the article are key to having comfortable feet. Many women feel that their feet should be in pain if they are looking fabulous, or that they will be able to break the shoes in over time. The reality is that any shoe that you buy should be comfortable in the store before purchase because it really will not improve with wear.

If you are having difficulty with shoe fitting and finding a comfortable pair of shoes, Dr. Wachtel would be more than happy to measure your foot and suggest some shoe brands that would have the best results for you. Our offices serve the Methuen, Lowell, Tewksbury and North Andover, Massachusetts areas and our staff would be more than happy to help schedule you an appointment.

Why are Gymnasts so Flexible?

Gymnasts are an extremely disciplined group of people. They spent countless hours training and perfecting their tricks to one day hopefully compete. Their skills require a great deal of flexibility that they must work at daily to maintain. Our ligaments and muscles are such that it takes many years to build up to a certain level of flexibility and just weeks to decrease it. This is why when a gymnast gets injured it takes so long for them to regain their level of athleticism.

There is a disorder that exists medically though that can increase your flexibility as a result of a medical condition. This condition is referred to as ligamentous laxity. Some signs of this condition are hyperextendable knees and elbows and the ability to bend your thumb to meet your forearm. These signs point to this condition which means there is an increased flexibility in your ligaments and they are not as taut as they typically would be.

Now, this sounds like it would be ideal for dancers and gymnasts that require a high level of flexibility. However, it also leads to an increased risk of injury. A ligaments tautness is what prevents it from bending and getting microtears. When this tightness is removed, your ligaments are left free to bend as they please and are more likely to suffer injuries. This is why some countries will not allow individuals with this condition to compete in these sports.

Unfortunately there is not much that can be done for these patients because the condition is on a cellular level. The best treatment is to avoid activities that exploit their flexibility. This means that although these people are more flexible they should stay away from gymnastics and ballet to reduce the likelihood of injury. In the event of an injury to a ligament, such as rolling your ankle, it is important that they seek medical help immediately.

If you or someone you know has undergone an ankle twist or sprain, our office staff would be more than happy to make an appointment for you.  Dr. Wachtel serves the Methuen, Tewksbury, Newburyport, and Lowell, Massachusetts areas.