Mercer-Ocean Podiatry, PC

Heel pain is generally the result of walking abnormalities that place too much stress on the heel bone and the soft tissues that attach to it. Heel pain is a very common but potentially disruptive affliction that has many possible causes, including stress fractures, arthritis, nerve irritation, cysts, tendonitis and most often, plantar fasciitis. Fortunately, no matter what is causing your heel pain, the podiatrists at Mercer-Ocean Podiatry can treat it. Heel pain is not usually caused by a single injury, such as a twist or a fall, but rather the result of repetitive stress and the pounding of the heel. Your feet can handle a heavy load, but too much stress pushes them over their limit. Heel pain is frequently triggered by wearing flat footwear, because this type of footwear can stretch the plantar fascia to such an extent that the area becomes swollen (inflamed). When you continue to walk on a sore heel, it will only get worse and could become a chronic condition leading to more probl...

Among the more mysterious ailments we treat at Mercer-Ocean Podiatry are ganglion cysts. These swellings normally occur in the hands, but are sometimes found on the feet or ankles. Although they are not cancerous, they may cause patients pain or dysfunction and are worth examining. Joints are full of lubricating liquids that help tendons to pull on them without causing wear-and-tear. But in people with ganglion cysts, a pocket of fluid has bulged outward, displacing the sheath that normally surrounds joint and tendon structures. The cysts may be too small to notice or they may be an inch wide and change in size.  They occur most often in young women who do repetitive activities or have injured the affected joint in the past. The pressure the cyst puts on nerves could cause pain, tingling, or numbness. We’ll need to do imaging and tactile tests to ensure that we’ve identified a ganglion cyst correctly. If the diagnosis is confirmed, we can use a syringe to withdraw fluid from the cyst, ...

The holidays provide a lot of opportunities for feasting, but that could mean trouble for people with gout. At Mercer-Ocean Podiatry, we treat patients suffering from many kinds of arthritis. But gout is a disease that patients can prevent through lifestyle changes, which is why we want our patients to understand what causes it. Arthritis is a term used to describe several diseases that result in inflamed joints. Attacks of gout are clearly identifiable by the red swelling they cause at the base of the big toe (and, more rarely, on the ankles and in fingers). Gout is caused by uric acid crystals building up in the feet. When people eat certain foods, such as red meat, seafood, sugar, and alcohol, they ingest substances called purines that form uric acid inside the body. The kidneys normally filter uric acid, but if their function is compromised and a large number of crystals have built up, a sudden increase in purines can trigger a gout attack. Gout attacks could last for hours or days...