Charcot's Foot

Diabetes and other medical conditions can cause what is known as peripheral neuropathy. This is when the nerves in the extremities are damaged, resulting in tingling and numbness. Charcot’s foot happens when these patients injure their feet and don’t realize it. That’s why patients with peripheral neuropathy need regular appointments at Mercer-Ocean Podiatry, PC. Drs. Frank Killian and Sameep Chandrani have offices in Plainsboro Township, Hamilton Township, and Toms River, NJ. Contact us to learn more.


 


Besides numbing the feet, neuropathy also destroys the foot bones. The arch then becomes the lowest area of the foot. High amounts of pressure on the new location of the arch create severe pain. The arch becomes riddled with ulcers and dangerous bacteria.


 


Your podiatrists at Hamilton Township, Plainsboro Township, and Toms River, NJ, encourage you to know the signs of Charcot’s foot. The main symptoms are redness, swelling, pain, and heat stemming from the foot. Other medical professionals will mistake this as a fever but that is not the case. It’s why you require an evaluation from a trained podiatrist.


 


Schedule an appointment to get your Charcot’s foot diagnosed. It requires a simple examination along with imaging scans, like an MRI or CT scan. An X-ray will not detect earlier stages of Charcot’s foot.


 


Early intervention secures a healthy recovery. Your podiatrist will start by treating preexisting infections. The next step is providing treatment for any sores or ulcers. Then the focus switches to immobilization. The purpose of this is to keep the arch of your foot from collapsing further. In turn, this reduces your pain and swelling. A protective foot brace helps your foot from relapsing.


 


Mercer-Ocean Podiatry, PC, is a quality podiatry practice located in Plainsboro Township, Toms River, and Hamilton Township, NJ. To schedule an appointment with Drs. Frank Killian and Sameep Chandrani, visit https://www.newjerseyfoot.com/.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sever's Disease

Do you recall suffering frequent heel pain as a child? If you do, that’s not unusual; children’s bones haven’t fully fused together, and they are more vulnerable to overuse injuries than adults. However, nobody likes seeing their child in pain, and if a child frequently suffers from sore heels, there may be a biomechanical issue at play. At Mercer-Ocean Podiatry, we assist patients of all ages, so we thought it would be a good idea to explain Sever’s Disease, a common source of childhood foot problems, in more detail. Sever’s disease, or calcaneal apophysitis, is inflammation of the growth plate connecting the back of the heel bone to the bone’s main body. The back of the heel bone is where the Achilles tendon, one of the strongest tendons in the body, attaches. When the calf muscles or the tendon itself are tight, the tendon will pull the heel up and backwards, causing soreness in the soft growth plate. The calf muscles are likely to tighten up after a person has been running and jum
Read more

Clipping Toenails

Clipping your toenails correctly is the key to avoiding an ingrown nail. But many people are misinformed about this basic aspect of footcare, and during the summer, people are paying more attention to their bare feet and wondering how to trim their nails correctly. If you’re diabetic, this may be something that you’ll always need to be cautious about, but for most people at Mercer-Ocean Podiatry in northern New Jersey, the following advice will keep their toes safe and presentable. It’s a good idea to have separate clippers for the toenails and fingernails. Toenail clippers are a little larger, and using separate clippers will reduce the spread of bacteria. The toenails should be clean when they’re cut, but unless they’re extremely thick, they shouldn’t be wet. A wet nail is at greater risk of tearing. As you cut, go straight across, using a few small trims. You don’t want your nails to be rounded off, or they’ll be at greater risk of growing into the skin and causing a hangnail. Inst
Read more

Choosing Shoes for Children

The doctors at Mercer-Ocean Podiatry get a lot of questions from patients about shoes, and how to choose the best shoes for their families.  Children three and older experience foot growth at the rate of one-half a foot size every four to six months, but a growth spurt can cause a child’s feet can grow up to two sizes in a six month period.   So how can you keep their feet comfy, without going broke from buying new shoes?  Leave room for growth when selecting.  There should always be extra room for a child’s foot to grow in the toe area or ‘box’ of the shoe.  A good measure for this extra wiggle room could be the width of one of your fingers.  From the tip of the child’s big toe to the tip of the shoe, extra space the length of one finger width should do. As kids age, they put their shoes through a lot, and luckily most shoes are made to withstand some of this wear and tear.  Before tossing every scuffed pair, look around the edge of the sole for wear in the material.  This is a sign t
Read more