Halloween Candy and Diabetes

Happy Halloween to all of you that celebrate! Today is the day that we pass out candy to all of the witches and goblins that come to our door. For those of you that are diabetic though, this can be a rough holiday to get through because of all of the sweets. Lots of sugar is the worst nightmare for a diabetic because it can send their sugar shooting through the roof. So, why exactly is sugar bad for a diabetic?

Diabetes can be thought of as a gateway disease because it opens the door to diseases affecting your heart, nerves, arteries, eyes and many other parts of your body. So, how do you prevent these body parts from being affected? Well, that answer is simple, keep your sugar down. By keeping your sugar within its normal limits you are decreasing the affect that is had on your body. There are many other ways to reduce the effects of diabetes on your body.

By adding exercise to your routine, you can begin to work to lose weight which will help to control your sugar levels and your diabetes. Exercise has become a word that brings negative connotations to many people. However, starting exercise can be as simple as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking your car at the end of the Wal-Mart parking lot to walk into the store, going for a daily walk with your significant other or taking a walk around the office to stretch your legs.

Another great way to help your diabetes is to stop smoking. If you are a smoker, each time you smoke your blood sugar increases. Smoking also causes further damage to your blood vessels and nerves only exacerbating the effects of diabetes. By quitting smoking, you greatly decrease the likelihood of these other medical conditions.

Finally, monitoring your glucose daily allows you to gauge how you are doing with your diet and medications. If you are noticing that you are eating healthy foods and leaving as much sugar out of your diet as you can, you will know that you need to see your physician in order to assess your diabetic medications. It will also allow you to adjust your eating to keep your glucose within normal limits.

If you or someone you know is a diabetic patient, it is important that you form a relationship with a podiatrist to help prevent ulcers, infections, diabetic neuropathy and other conditions that result from diabetes. Our office staff would be more than happy to help you schedule an appointment, and we can be reached at (978) 794-8406. Dr. Wachtel will be happy to help you make the necessary adjustments to keep diabetes from controlling your life. Our offices serve the Tewksbury, Beverly, Billerica or North Andover, Massachusetts areas.

What do I do if Something Gets Stuck in my Foot?

Two hunters were injured in separate incidents this past Sunday due to accidentally firing their guns. One man was resting his gun up against his foot when it discharged and hit his toe while another was cleaning his gun and it discharged and hit his friend in the ankle. This weekend served as a reminder to many that guns should be handled with care.

Hunting injuries affecting the feet are very common and greatly increase during hunting season. One of the most important things to remember with a gunshot wound is that you should not remove the bullet on your own. Once a bullet becomes lodged in your foot or your ankle, you do not know what it is resting upon. For all you know, it could be resting against an artery. Instead you should go to the emergency room or nearest doctor’s office to have the bullet removed in a safe and clean environment. This will help you to prevent infection and further injury to yourself.

Your foot is made up of many little bones, blood vessels and nerves that can all be affected when a foreign object enters your foot. Because it is such a compact area, a great amount of damage can be done in a small area. So, by allowing your doctor to remove the foreign object, you are giving yourself the best chance of minimal damage and preventing excessive bleeding.

If you or someone you know has had a foreign object get into their foot, our office would be more than happy to help you schedule an appointment to have it removed. We can be reached at (978) 794-8406. Dr. Wachtel serves the Tewksbury, Dracut, Lawrence and Wilmington, Massachusetts.

What to do about Smelly Feet?

Trick or Treat, Smell my feet, Give me Something Good to Eat. Halloween is quickly approaching, and smelly feet is not something that you really want to have. However, we all know that one person that the second they take their shoes off everyone runs for the nearest window. However, there are several ways that you can help reduce the smell and help both yourself and everyone else.

The first way of preventing a bad odor from coming from your feet is to make sure that you thoroughly dry your feet after a shower. Athlete’s foot can be prevented by getting rid of the wet, dark environment that the fungus loves. Another way is to make sure that you are purchasing socks that are breathable. This helps your feet to be able to breathe when they are inside of your shoes all day especially if you are wearing leather shoes. Another option is to wear shoes that have breathable material to wear the moisture can be wicked away from your skin. Finally, you can use powder to put inside your shoes to dry them out.

If you do end up with really funny smelling feet, you can always go to your podiatrist that will help you figure out what is causing the smell. If it is due to athlete’s foot, they will be able to give you a prescription that will alleviate any itching and odor that you have.

If you or someone that you know in the Methuen, North Andover, Tewksbury or Reading, Massachusetts area are suffering from foul smelling feet, Dr. Wachtel would be more than happy to see you and help you to feel all better. You can call and make an appointment at (978) 794-8406.

The Yankees Derek Jeter Breaks His Ankle in Playoffs

The Yankees lost their chance to compete in the World Series this year when they lost the American League Playoffs this past week. They were swept by the Detroit Tigers after defeating the Baltimore Orioles just a week ago. As disappointing as the loss was, it can partially be attributed to Derek Jeter breaking his ankle in the first game. Jeter is known for being a strong driving force throughout his career with the Yankees as well as being a team leader. Once he broke his ankle, it damaged morale and the Yankees went on to lose the series.

Jeter has since undergone surgery in North Carolina and is said to recover fully in about 5 months. Initially it was estimated at 2-3, but the doctors are taking a more conservative time frame to account for both Jeter’s age as well as the extensive physical therapy he will need to undergo. For many of us, a surgery on our ankle would cause us to be out about 2 months, but for an elite athlete, he has a much higher level of athletic physical ability which will take some time to recoup.

Ankle fractures are relatively common because they can happen in multiple ways. Since your ankle is the junction between your foot and the rest of your body, it receives a lot of force throughout the day. It can be injured with high impact such as jumping out of a window, falling from a significant height, impact from a sport or even from stepping the wrong way. However, it comes about, it can be a long injury to heal depending upon the severity of the injury. Typically if you have injured your ankle bones, you will also injure your ligaments increasing the time of recovery. Due to the complexity of the ankle joint, you may still be able to walk after an ankle injury. However, you should still see your podiatrist because if proper healing is not achieved it will leave your ankle weaker making you more likely to injure it again.

If you or someone you know has suffered from an ankle injury, you can contact our office at (978) 794-8406. Dr. Wachtel would be more than happy to help determine what is wrong with your ankle and what steps can be taken for to achieve the best healing for you. Our offices serve the Methuen, North Andover, Tewksbury and Chelmsford, Massachusetts areas.

The Doctors: Toe Shortening for a Long Big Toe

This past week on The Doctors, a young lady was featured having a surgery done on her big toe. The surgery was done because she had an abnormally long big toe on both of her feet. Now for her, the main concern was that they looked funny. But for her podiatrist, the concern was more for a normal foot structure. In a typical foot, your second toe is either the same as or longer than the first. This relationship between your first and second toe is important for normal walking, because you are not able to push yourself forward while walking as easily when your first toe is that much longer.

So, what exactly has to be done? Well, Dr. Ali Sadrieh, a podiatrist in Beverly Hills, explained that you remove a small piece of bone from the metatarsal (the bone that is right before your toe in the foot) and this shortens the bone. Now, the most important part is that the surgery is a joint sparing procedure. The importance of this is that you are not messing with the ligaments in the area and you are maintaining the same motion at that toe.

So, the thing that most of you are concerned about is the post-surgical result. How will toe-shortening affect your lifestyle? Well, you will have stitches in your toe for about 2 weeks after the surgery that in the majority of cases will leave a very minimal scar that will be barely noticeable. You will also have some swelling, because any time that you do a surgery there is going to be healing of the skin and the bone that has to occur. So, with all of the healing cells in  your body rushing to the area to help repair your toe, you are going to have some swelling for a while to help the surgical site close up. The final result is a shorter toe that will allow a better walking pattern and less wear and tear on your shoes. As for the young lady on The Doctors, she was very impressed with your results and says she is looking forward to going shoe shopping.

If you or someone you know has a very long first toe that is causing you pain while walking or is causing unusual amounts of wear and tear on your shoes, you can schedule an appointment with Dr. Wachtel by calling (978) 794-8406. Surgery is not the only option and is not right for every patient. However, there are changes that can be made to your shoes to help you achieve a normal walking pattern. If you live in the Methuen, Tewksbury, North Reading or Bradford, Massachusetts areas, our office staff would be more than happy to help you schedule an appointment.

National Arthritis Day

Today is Arthritis Day in the United States. Did you know that there are 300,000 children in the United States with arthritis? Did you know that there are 100 different types of arthritis? It affects 1 in 5 adults and 2/3s of people with arthritis are under the age of 65! These numbers are staggering and it drastically affects the lifestyle that people lead. The range of the effects of this condition spreads from children to senior citizens, but are very similar in how they change their lifestyles.

Arthritis is a condition that tends to become worse the longer that you have it. It can range from stiffness and pain that a person can feel when the weather changes. These are the people that tell you that their knee hurts so it’s going to rain that day. At its worst though, it can change the shape of people’s hands and feet and cause them to not be able to fit their foot into a normal shoe as a result.

In many people, the pain will be worse in the evening due to using these joints throughout the day. In some people it will be so bad that they will be woken up in the middle of the night by the pain. In some forms of arthritis though, the pain may be at its worst in the morning. This is why there are so many varieties of arthritis and why it can be a great pretender because they symptoms widely vary.

So, how can you treat your arthritis? Different types of arthritis have different treatment plans, but most often you can use pain killers to help alleviate the discomfort you are feeling. Applying heat and cold packs can help as well, especially with the swelling at the joints. One of the most important things is to remain active. Now, this seems very counterproductive because these joints are in pain. However, by keeping these joints active, you will reduce the speed at which the arthritis progresses and you will hopefully be able to slow down the effects of the process. One of the best exercises you can do is swimming because it is an exercise that does not put additional stress on your joints like running or weight-lifting does.

If you or someone that you know has arthritis or is experiencing pain in their joints, please call us at (978) 794-8406. Dr. Wachtel will be able to help you with determining what the cause of your pain is, as well as work with you to decide a treatment plan that will best fit into your life. Our offices serve the Salem, Windham, Pelham and Hampstead, New Hampshire areas.

What to do if you Step on a Piece of Wood, Glass or a Rusty Nail?

Fall is in the air and it is the perfect time of year to go camping and build a bonfire. There are a lot of important things to remember to bring when you go camping, probably one of the tope ones is the marshmallows for the campfire. But, while you are collecting the wood for the fire and setting up the tent make sure to remember to wear good sturdy shoes.

Shoes protect us from a whole slew of things including sticks, bugs that live in the dirt, broken glass and rusty nails. It is important that we keep these things out of our feet because our feet are so narrow that it doesn’t take much for a nail to poke through from bottom to top. Once it goes in, there is no way to tell if it has injured an important structure or not.

Removal of a foreign body can be a tricky thing because certain objects don’t show up well on X-ray. It is also difficult to tell exactly what size the object is. So, taking it out can be as easy as an office visit to remove the object or can take as much as a minor surgery to remove the item. The other thing that we have to very careful about is the area getting infected. Some items, such as those rusty nails or slivers of wood can carry bacteria on them that can lead to pretty serious infections if not treated immediately.

Reality is though, many of us have gotten splinters before and we just take them out and move on with our lives. However, should you get something into your foot that you are having difficulty removing it is best to go and see your podiatrist. If you or someone you know has stepped on something and you can’t get it out of your foot, please give Dr. Wachtel a call at (978) 794-8406. Our offices serve the Reading, Tewksbury, North Andover and Chelmsford, Massachusetts areas.

Are You a Bathroom Surgeon?

Is there a pesky nail that is digging into your toe or a wart that has been bothering you? Have you tried to do surgery on your own and now it is red and painful? You may have an infection due to your bathroom operations and that is not something to try and treat yourself.

We’ve all done it at one point or another, something starts to hurt so we dig at it, poke it, or try and pull it off. In some cases, we go on living life with no worries and it’s just fine. But sometimes, you can end up with a red, swollen, painful toe that is badly infected and needs to be treated. For people that get a lot of warts and grown in nails, this can be a big problem because they are constantly dealing with this painful annoyance that they are just sick of. However, you have to resist the urge and you should come in and get them treated instead, because not only can you end up badly cutting yourself and making it worse, but there are also a larger number of germs that live in your bathroom and are just itching at the chance to get in your skin and wreak havoc.

So, what happens if your number is up and this is the time that you have gotten an infection. Well, you should head over to your podiatrist office as quickly as you can so that they can clean out the area, get you on an antibiotic and monitor you closely to make sure that the infection doesn’t get worse. Many people don’t think that the infection they see on their skin can get down and into their bones if it is not managed quickly. Infection will feed off of anything that is available until it is stopped, and unfortunately, a dark moist area like inside your shoes and socks is the perfect place.

So, if you are prone to warts or ingrown toenails, you can make an appointment by calling (978) 794-8406. Dr. Wachtel would be more than happy to see you and discuss several treatment options that are available for your ingrown nails or warts. Our offices treat the Bradford, Burlington, Beverly, and Lowell, Massachusetts areas. Also, if you already have an infection, he will be able to help you get treatment started so that you can avoid other complications. Most important of all though, remember that an operating room is sterile and the instruments used in the doctor’s office are sterilized, however your bathroom is not, and it will only open you up to a whole slew of nasty bugs.

The Cause of the Calluses on Your Feet

So, what’s the deal with these calluses that are forming on my feet? Calluses are the result of increased pressure in a specific area. The friction due to that increased pressure causes a buildup of skin in the area that is dead and has no feeling. However, if enough of this skin builds up, then you can end up with pain in that area due to the additional pressure. So, how do you fix the calluses?

Well, there are a couple of ways to treat calluses. First, we can pad the areas and prevent them from rubbing up against your shoe and forming these calluses. For some people, this option will work great, but for others, it is not as helpful. Next, there is trimming the calluses. This can be done by visiting your podiatrist for the calluses to be trimmed down. Typically this is done about every three months unless your calluses grow quicker or slower than typical. Another option for treating calluses includes orthoses. Orthoses function as a way to hold your foot in a specific position correcting them and reducing the pressure in these specific areas. For many of us, our feet do not function in the “normal” way. So, we will often have at least one toe that will have more pressure on top of it or below it that will form a callus. Orthoses can be manufactured to offload these areas and prevent the excess pressure. Finally, if the deformity of your foot is severe enough and is causing you pain, surgery can be considered as a final option.

Something that you should know about all of these options is that they work great for some people and others they may not work at all. So, it is a game of elimination where we move through the options to see what works best for you.

If you or someone that you know is suffering from calluses that are causing you discomfort, you can contact our office at (978) 794-8406. Our office serves the Methuen, Tewksbury, North Andover and Lowell, Massachusetts area. Dr. Wachtel will be able to determine the cause of your pain and work with you to decide upon the best treatment plan for you.