Conditions

Our feet often go overlooked. From long walks to ill-fitting shoes, most of us have accepted that sore feet are just a fact of life. However, some types of foot pain are more serious than others – and shouldn’t be ignored, as they can grow worse if left untreated. For example, with too much abuse, … Read more

Callused hands are often considered to be the symbol of hard work, but they’re more than just a sign of good virtue. They can be an annoying nuisance or, at worst, a medical condition that requires attention. This is especially true when they develop alongside corns on your feet. What are calluses and corns? How … Read more

The name of a notorious pinky toe bunion finds its origins in a centuries-old profession. Tailor’s Bunions are the kind that formed on the feet of tailors as they worked, sitting with their legs crossed and the outside edges of their feet brushing against the ground. When the tailor’s pinky toe connected with the floor … Read more

If you have been diagnosed with any type of diabetes, then you know what a difficult condition it is to deal with on its own – let alone any other health problems that might arise from it. Unfortunately, patients who suffer from diabetes may find they are more susceptible to foot injuries than other people. … Read more

If you’re an active person who likes to play a lot of heavy-impact sports (like football, soccer, basketball, wrestling, gymnastics, or dancing), then you know how much strain these sports put on your feet. This strain is only worsened if you often play on artificial grass surfaces like AstroTurf. These surfaces place greater friction on … Read more

Gout is a painful joint condition that can occur without warning, as well as reoccur frequently in people who contract it. Gout in the foot and gout in the toe are some of the most common joint maladies, but even with their commonality, their causes are still hard to identify. As such, gout can be … Read more

Your feet bear a lot of weight over the course of your life, but it’s still easy to forget how strong these parts of our body are. Most of the time, we’re more inclined to notice our feet when we’ve hurt ourselves and they can no longer bear our weight as easily. Such is the … Read more

Whether you love jogging, dancing, kickboxing, or just walking through the park, if you spend a great deal of time on your feet, you’re bound to feel some aches and pains now and then. If these aches are beginning to escalate, however, it could be more serious than normal fatigue. You may have a common … Read more

In our modern times, we are very much aware of the state of our health. Everywhere you look, there are warnings about how our lack of movement causes issues both mentally and physically. Indeed, the rising popularity of running, walking, and jogging is a testament to this new-found consciousness. With all this talk of walking … Read more

Your tendons are tough bands of tissue that connect your muscles to your bones, allowing the force of your muscles to flow more easily throughout your body. This gives your movements greater stability, and some tendons can even store energy to help you move faster. The peroneal tendons are very much the former kind. There … Read more

Plantar fibroma can be a massive worry if you aren’t familiar with it. Knowing what it looks like and how it will impact your life is essential to treating it appropriately. The good news, as will be explored in this article, is that plantar fibroma and its affiliated versions is benign. It is not caused … Read more

Arthritis is one of the most pervasive and unpleasant conditions around. There exists over 100 different types of arthritis, not to mention conditions related to arthritis. While arthritis does occur more frequently as people grow older, it currently afflicts more than 50 million adults and over 300,000 children in America alone. To put it simply, … Read more

Named after the French neurologist Jean-Marie Charcot (pronounced “shar-ko”), Charcot disease affects the bones, joints, and surrounding soft tissues of the foot or ankle. Because of this, it is commonly referred to as ‘Charcot foot.’ This condition gradually weakens your bones, which in turn can cause them to fracture, break, or even dislocate the joints … Read more

Tendons are the tough, elastic cords of tissue that connect your bones to your muscles. They transmit the force of your muscles to your bones to aid with movement and to provide stability. The Achilles tendon is the largest and strongest tendon in your body. It connects your heel bone to your calf muscle and … Read more

Experiencing pain in your foot? Do you have a misshapen toe? Don’t jump on the worst possible diagnosis just yet! This quick and simple explanation will help you decide if you really have hammertoe, and what you can do about it. What is Hammertoe Deformity? Hammertoe, and its sister condition ‘mallet toe,’ are deformities of … Read more

Bone spurs can be difficult to identify – not because they resemble any other kind of foot ailment, but because they can often be small and easily dismissed as a misunderstood abnormality of the skin or foot. Bone spurs, or osteophytes, are, in fact, non-extrusive projections that can appear anywhere on the foot. Identifying a … Read more

Cramps can cause as much worry to the person experiencing them as pain, especially if you don’t know what’s causing them. If your foot or leg is cramping, though, don’t panic! There are a number of physical situations that can result in cramping, none of which are unusual or cause for worry. When you develop … Read more

It happens to the best of us. Even if we wear proper foot protection, we can still suffer from foot pain. However, if the pain lingers on after you’ve spent a day off your feet resting, then you may have something more serious to consider. If you feel pain in the ball of your feet … Read more

If you lead a very active lifestyle, encountering foot pain can dramatically affect your routine. So what are you supposed to do? How do you stave off the pain in order to keep up your hobbies or responsibilities? Of course, there are a variety of different foot pains, but if your discomfort is focused in … Read more

If you’re experiencing unusual pain in your feet, as well as in your legs and lower back, there could be a number of reasons why. However, one of the more common (and most uncomfortable) answers to this problem is in the way you pronate your feet, both with your stance and in your gait. Pronated … Read more

After a long day at work, it can be easy to dismiss the pain you feel in your feet as a temporary inconvenience. It becomes more worrying, though, when that pain won’t go away. Pain in the arch of your foot can come from a variety of sources. Most typically, this pain is felt in … Read more

Ever woken up one morning, felt a painful twinge in your foot, and wondered, “Why does my heel hurt?” It really sucks when a random pain springs up in your feet. Unexplained pains in particular suck to deal with, since at least with stepping on a LEGO, you know the reason why your foot suddenly … Read more

The human body is a weird, organic machine, and sometimes a bit of grit gets into the gears. Joints break down, tendons tear, and weird bumps appear. Problems arise from time to time, causing all manner of issues and unpleasantness. Ganglion cysts are one of the latter. What is a ganglion cyst, you ask? A … Read more

Bunions are a strange name for an equally strange deformity of the big toe. Bunions on feet are awkward, painful, and swollen problems that deform the largest toe and put a hamper in your stride. As common as foot bunions are, you or someone you know has probably dealt with them before. There are treatments … Read more

Most people only think about their toenails in terms of grooming or cosmetic procedures. Looking past the superficial surface, however, and paying attention to your nails’ appearance, texture, and shape can help you stay on top of your health. Not many people are aware, but your toenails, or nails in general, are often a barometer … Read more

A split toenail is never pleasant to deal with. Aside from being embarrassing or unsightly, they can be painful, as well as a potential sign of more serious health issues. It is important to listen to your body! Split toenails can also open the door to a slew of other unpleasant things, like fungal infections. … Read more

Feet are funny. On average, your feet hold a quarter of the bones in your body, contain 8,000 nerves, and will carry you over 100,000 miles in your lifetime. Taking care of your feet is something more of us should do – just in case you need a convenient excuse to book that foot massage, … Read more

If you’re looking for a short answer; yes. Plantar warts are transmitted from one person to the other. This is because they spread through indirect skin contact. Using the same shower as an infected person exposes you to the virus that triggers plantar warts. Because the warts are transmitted through touch, there is always a … Read more

Simply put, a plantar wart is an infection on the bottom of your foot that manifests in hard, calloused-covered warts. The term plantar is most often used for plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the tendon at the bottom of your foot named the plantar fascia, which goes from your heel to connect to your metatarsals … Read more

You may find yourself asking, “Why do I have white spots on my nails?”. They can show up without warning and seemingly without reason – strange, white patches of all shapes and sizes. Are they indicative of an allergic reaction? Did you bend a nail while you were at work? You might not remember bumping … Read more

It’s a surprisingly common problem—pain, redness, and swelling in one of your toes. This affects both men and women, and happens most often in the big toe. The Mayo Clinic estimates that ingrown toenails affects over 3 million people! But what caused it? How do you treat it? And do you need to see a … Read more

A bruise appearing on your toenail can be an experience that, in the best case, leads to discomfort, and in the worst, fever and infection. Bruised toenails are a common occurrence, especially amongst athletes— sometimes even considered to be a rite of passage amongst those who run marathons. However, just because it is common, doesn’t … Read more

If you’re experiencing itching between your toes, chances are that you’re suffering from athlete’s foot, or ‘tinea pedis’ to give it its clinical name. Athlete’s foot is a common fungal infection – thought to infect around 25% of us – that can be caused by transmission of at least four different kinds of fungus. It … Read more

A black toenail – whether the whole nail or just a small part of it – can be caused by a number of things, including toenail fungus. Athletes, especially runners, are also known to suffer from black toenails, while trauma to the nail can also blacken them. We’ll run through the possible causes for black toenails … Read more