When diabetes is mentioned, people seem to automatically think about amputation. So many have a story. “My uncle had it and he had both of his legs off!” How people love to share bad news! At The Foot Advantage, our goal is to take the worry out of your day. While it is true that the amputation rate is higher in those living with diabetes than without, we know now that 80% of those amputations are preventable and we have real, positive steps to reduce your concerns.
How can you prevent amputation in someone with diabetes? Knowledge is key. 85% of those amputations started with a wound – usually on the foot. So, if we are able to determine your particular risk factors for a wound AND deal with them, your risk is dramatically reduced. For years we have been using a well-researched screening tool to determine your level of risk. This allows us to figure out what risks you have for a wound and work with you to put a plan in place to address or counteract them.
Created by Dr. Shane Inlow in 2004, the tool was updated by Wounds Canada (then the Canadian Association of Wound Care) in 2011 and has since been adopted by Diabetes Canada. Wounds Canada created an additional update in 2018 to bring the tool in line with work done by the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot. The Foot Advantage gives you access to care based on the most current research.
Metatarsalgia
Suffering from forefoot pain? There are many potential causes for that pain. 52 of our body’s 206 bones are in our feet. None of them are a regular shape. The foot is much more complex in its structure and function than most realize. Pain in the main joint of the big toe, for example, could be the end result of the bowing of the lower leg, and/or tight calf muscles. Maybe your shoes are too tight, even though they seem to be the right size, or maybe the soles are too flexible. Perhaps your metatarsals are out of position, or even your shoes are fit to the big toe, and the 2nd and 3rd toes are as long as or even longer than the big toe. Maybe you have some inflamed nerves (neuritis) or maybe your friend is right that according to Google, you must have a Morton’s neuroma.
There is no need to continue to suffer. Whatever the actual problem, it cannot be diagnosed without a proper history and examination from someone appropriately trained to do so AND treat the cause of your problem as well as they symptoms. Trust your feet to the professionals. Chiropodists treat diseases, disorders and dysfunctions of the foot – all the time!
Weak Ankles?
Maybe not. If you have a history of turning your ankles easily, sometimes it has nothing to do with your ankles. Though some people do suffer from lateral ankle instability, far more commonly have a condition called Functional Hallux Limitus that can result in the feet ending up in unstable positions as you walk. Once you hit a little rock, a crack or uneven ground, oops! Over you go!
A chiropodist will take a history of your problem, examine you – including the shape of your legs and feet, how you stand and walk, the ranges of motion of several of your joints, perhaps even the wear patterns on your shoes and be able to tell you about non-surgical options to make your walking more stable and the outcomes less painful.
Callus, Corn or wart?
Think you have a corn or a wart? Not sure which – or if it is something else? We can help you with that. Corns are hard skin made by your own skin in areas of excess pressure and/or friction. Like someone who works with their hands and gets calluses, our skin works to protect us from this friction by making the hard skin. It develops slowly, is thicker and harder than our normal skin. A corn differs from a callus in that it has a central core or “nucleus” as we call it. The callus is the same consistency without the core. There is no root to a corn. It is simply hard skin made by your own skin and normal skin is below it. Sometimes soft corns develop between the toes. They too are caused by friction and pressure, but made worse by moisture between the toes.
A wart, on the other hand, is a viral infection of the skin. It tends to come on suddenly and does not have to occur in a place that has pressure or friction. The virus cannot survive for long outside of the body and cannot reproduce on its own. The virus invades our skin cells and takes over the cells internal machinery to reproduce and nourish itself. Treatment is based on destroying the infected tissue.
The bottom line is, you don’t have to live with the discomfort or pain. To address these conditions effectively, you do need to see a professional trained to diagnose and treat not just your symptoms, but their cause.
Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy
Are you living with diabetes and numbness in your toes and feet? Do you suffer from pins and needles, shooting or burning pains? You could be at risk of injury and infection.
The good news is that after a proper assessment, there are measures that may improve your comfort as well as decrease your risks of serious complications. At The Foot Advantage, we utilize a research-backed screening tool to identify your risk(s) of developing a wound – including your level of sensation. Your sensation level is measured so that in future, changes can be identified. Our findings are discussed with you and recommendations about choices you can make as well as contributions that we can make to your wellbeing are discussed. We communicate our findings, along with recommendations to your family doctor, so everyone is on the same page in maximizing your health. AND… there is treatment that may help your symptoms of numbness, pins and needles and shooting or burning pains.
For best results, you need a team of professionals looking after you – people trained in dealing with diabetes and those living with it. Don’t ignore your feet until it is too late. Add a chiropodist to your team today.
Is an Arch Support Enough?
Custom Fit™ Orthotics, Custom Made Orthotics, Custom Arch Insoles. How are you supposed to know which ones will help your problem? And what is the difference anyway?
Custom Fit™ Orthotics are pre-made. You stand on a mat and the computer maps the pressure areas on the bottom of your feet. The computer holds a library of pressure maps and rapidly matches your pressure map to one in its database. Then it gives you the device that corresponds to that map. Simple.
Custom Arch Insoles allow you to attach a support in the arch area corresponding to a low, medium or high arch. Even simpler.
Except…
The foot is not that simple. It is a remarkably complex structure that contains ¼ of the body’s bones and has even more complex mechanics. The arch is like the hole in a donut – it’s just a space. But it indicates what is happening around it. Arch height when weight bearing is impacted by leg length (if one is longer than the other), shape of the legs, tightness of the calf muscles, and spatial relationship of the forefoot to the rear foot amongst other factors. These are things that are discovered in a proper physical examination by a trained professional. A computer can’t do that, and simply estimating if an arch is low, medium or high is not enough. The professional is able to determine what kind, amount and location of correction is needed to address your problem and see that it is built into your Custom Made Orthotics.
If you really have a foot problem, don’t waste your time or money on half measures. Custom made orthotics are the smart choice.
Treating the Cause, not just the symptoms
Heel pain? Frustrated that the padding under the heel did not get rid of the problem? Ingrown toenail? Antibiotics did not solve it? That’s because in each case, the symptoms, not the cause, were treated. Heel pain – plantar fasciitis – is caused by an excessive stretch of the band running through the arch known as the plantar fascia. There are many physical/mechanical reasons that this can occur and it differs from person to person. Ingrown toenails occur when the nail has actually pierced the flesh of the toe. Antibiotics will help to clear the infection, but if it is truly ingrown, the nail is still sticking into the toe! Sometimes the scoliosis does not originate in the back, but is a result of an undiagnosed leg length difference. Often knee pain that shows nothing on x-ray is the result of leg rotation when the foot flattens out.
A chiropodist is trained to do a thorough examination that should reveal the cause of your problem, so it, not just the symptoms can be treated. We can determine the cause of your problem, and treat it. You don’t need to be uncomfortable or be in pain any longer.