Ankle Pain
The ankle is one of the most commonly injured joints. Because it is a weight-bearing joint, it frequently does not have the opportunity to heal properly when injured due to the need of the individual to walk. This can lead to a chronic or constantly unstable or loose ankle joint, constantly rolling over and spraining. The danger with these continual sprains is traumatic arthritis can develop to the ankle. Bear in mind, there does not exist a good ankle joint replacement such as the knee and hip. One set of ankles must last a lifetime.

Arch Pain
If not caused by direct injury, painful arches are most often the result of the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the foot becoming fatigued in their attempt to support falling arches. Medically, this is termed pronation. Very frequently, the ligament on the bottom of the foot is stressed to the level of pathology creating small tears along the ligament. This leads to inflammation and bleeding along the injured ligament. Eventually, this can cause a heel spur at the insertion of this ligament into the heel bone. This is termed Plantar Fasciitis.

Athlete's Foot
Athlete's foot, or tinea pedis, is a fungus infection of the skin of the foot. A fungus is a microscopic plant, which is parasitic. That means it needs to grow on and feed off of another living organism in order to survive. The organism it feeds off is known as the "host" organism. The host is human skin.

Bunions
A Bunion is a combination of several problems with the big toe joint. First is a misalignment of the big toe with a drifting of the big toe towards the lesser toes. The medical term for this is hallux abducto-valgus. Second is a painful growth on the side of the joint termed exostosis. A bunion with hallux abducto-valgus can lead to severe arthritis in the big toe joint.

Corns/Calluses
A callus is a thickening of the epidermal layer of skin, typically in reaction to shearing forces on the bottom of the foot. Calluses can be painful and pose a risk by increasing the pressure on the deeper layers of skin, the dermal layer and as such, can lead to ulceration and infection.

Dry Cracked Heels
Dry skin on the foot is a common problem. People with circulation problems especially are prone to developing dry skin to their heels and around other areas of the foot. Athletes and those more demanding on their feet also are more prone to developing dry, cracked skin.

Hammer Toe/Crooked Toe
A hammertoe or crooked toe is actually a contraction of the two joints inside of the toe caused by an imbalance in the tendon controlling the toe. This is similar to a box kite with four strings attached. If there is a pull to one side on the kite, the kite will move. After years of tendon imbalance, the toe may become rigid or permanently contracted.

Heel Pain/Plantar Fasciitis
Heel pain is extremely common in podiatric medicine. Pain on the bottom of the heel can be caused by direct injury, or more commonly, is the result of a mechanical imbalance in the arch.

Neuroma
Pain in the ball of the foot presenting with sharp or electric shooting pain between the toes may be a neuroma. A neuroma is a damaged nerve.

Shin-splints
Shin Splints typically occur in the anterior or front of the leg. This is due to overuse of the anti-gravity muscles in the front of the leg responsible for slowing down and controlling the foot and leg as it strikes the ground. If the foot is unstable as it contacts the ground, pronation or a collapse of the arch occurs. This creates further stress on the anterior leg muscles, causing them to fatigue even faster. These fatigued muscles become sore and present as shin-splints.

Stress Fracture
Stress fracture of the ball of the feet, medically termed head of the Metatarsals, occurs when an excessive load or force us placed on the ball of the foot or metatarsal heads.

Warts
Warts and calluses are commonly mistaken. A wart is a type of skin lesion which is viral in origin. Specifically, it is identified as the human papilloma virus. It typically enters the skin on the foot through injury to the skin and subsequently grows and multiplies as it infects nearby cells.

Put your feet in good hands today. Call Drs. Leonheart and Salton at:
(253) 841-FOOT (3668)