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Spring Blowout Sale Sat. 5/7 – Win a FREE Pair of Orthotic Shoes!

Mark your calendar! On Saturday, May 7th, 2016 from 1:00 – 4:00 PM we’re having our “Spring Blowout Sale.” You, your family, and your friends are all invited.

Here’s what you can expect:

Light appetizers and drinks
A drawing to win a free pair of Aetrex shoes (you need to be present to win)
Lots of great deals and door prizes
Reps from Aetrex and Vionic ready to answer your questions about orthopedic shoes
There’s absolutely no pressure to buy. Just come on out, bring a friend or family member who might be interested, and have some fun eating while you learn about the benefits of orthopedic shoes…or find a great deal on a comfortable pair of shoes.

Speaking of orthopedic shoes, why would you want a pair, instead of shoes you could find at your favorite retailer?

What’s the Benefit of Orthopedic Versus Regular Shoes?

Learn about some of the basic benefits you can expect with any pair of orthopedic shoes:

Increased Comfort
Besides style, isn’t that what you’re supposed to get with shoes? Shoes at your favorite retailer are designed to fit the feet of thousands and millions of people. That means they might, or might not, be the best fit for you.

Orthopedic shoes, on the other hand, cushion your heels, realign your foot, and snugly fit your arches. They come in sizes and widths you might not find at your favorite retailer. You feel oh-so-much-more comfortable with these shoes.

Reduce the Intensity of, and Possibly Eliminate, Foot Pain and Negative Foot Health Conditions
Individual results vary because of differences in body type, and the true cause of your feet’s bad health. But, orthopedic shoes can certainly relieve and possibly treat the symptoms of foot conditions like achilles tendinitis, bunions, cavus foot, plantar fasciitis, arthritis, claw toe, diabetic, foot, flat feet, hammer toe, heel pain, and others.

If you experience lower back pain related to your stance, orthopedic shoes may relieve that also.

You Get Comfort Without Sacrificing Style
Doesn’t the old saying go “you have to sacrifice comfort for beauty?” With some types of apparel, that still might be true.

But it’s not with orthopedic shoes.

You get comfortable and reduce pain related to your foot condition. And you can still look good too. Some medical innovations also don’t look graceful. But you don’t have to worry about that at all with orthopedic shoes!

There’s dozens of shapes and styles you can choose from, just like you would be able to do at your favorite retailer.

So…what’re you waiting for?

Remember, you can enter a drawing to win a free pair of Aetrex orthopedic shoes, one of the top brands. And even if you don’t win, you’ll still get to enjoy some light appetizers and drinks while you have fun learning about different orthopedic shoes.

So come join us this Saturday anytime from 1:00 – 4:00 PM.

Hope to see you there!

How to Properly Apply Padding for Relief from Corns, Calluses, and Blisters

The thing that really stinks about foot problems (pardon the pun) is you always know when you have them. You have to put pressure on your feet a certain amount of the day. And depending on where that foot problem happens to be, you’re going to feel it to a certain degree.

To help relieve pain and discomfort caused by corns, calluses, and blisters, many doctors recommend moleskin pads. They relieve the pressure your bodyweight places on the pad, which makes your foot feel more comfortable. And corns, calluses, and blisters can heal much faster as a result.

Proper Application of Moleskin Pads

While it’s not hard to properly apply moleskin padding, you do have to make sure you do it right. By the way, don’t be alarmed about the term “moleskin.” It simply refers to cotton fabric you use to help treat a negative foot condition like a callus, blister, or corn. Improper application means you’ll have to walk around in pain longer than necessary.

Here’s a simple process to follow:

First, Clean Your Feet
Wash your feet thoroughly and dry them. Clean, dry feet allow the moleskin padding to make the strongest bond to your foot. That means it doesn’t unexpectedly fall off, which leads to you being in pain and discomfort longer than need be.

You may optionally use dry foot powder to assist in the drying of your feet.

Making the Padding
From the padding you have available, cut a square piece that extends ½ inch beyond the edge of your blister, callus, or corn. Fold the padding in half. Then cut a semi-circle out of it.

You’ll end up with a square piece of padding with a circular hole in the center.

Why do you do that?

The moleskin itself simply works by building up the area around the negative foot condition you have. That means your callus, corn, or blister won’t rub on your footwear.

Test Before You Apply
The moleskin padding you have should include paper to cover the adhesive on the back so it doesn’t stick yet. Lay the moleskin padding over the negative condition on your foot, making sure the circle surrounds it without touching the edges.

Now, simply remove the paper protecting the adhesive, and apply the moleskin to your foot.

And that’s all there is to it. You can get moleskin padding at any major retailer.

How to Help Your Child Keep Their Feet And Ankles Safe During Cross-Country

Does your child just love track and cross-country? Do you love running yourself?

Because of the high use and impact on your feet and ankles, injuries are likely to happen in cross-country and track. You’ve probably had such an injury before yourself.

But, it’s not always clear why these happen. And you’d like to know what you can do to help your child prevent that injury from happening in the first place. Because if you wait until it actually happens, then they have to rest. That’s hard to do when you’re used to being active.

What should you do to keep your feet and ankles safe and healthy in cross-country and track?

Check out the tips below:

Stretch and Strengthen Your Calves
The most common, and one of the most devastating, running injuries you or your child could experience is plantar fasciitis. This injury comes from overtraining, overuse, and improper footwear.

To prevent this injury, your child should have a stretching and weightlifting routine for their calves. They should also do other regular strengthening exercise for their foot.

It’s the best long-term solution to prevent foot pain caused by plantar fasciitis.

Supportive Footwear

When it comes to running injuries, we really can’t stress supportive footwear enough. That goes doubly if your child runs lots of long distances, and if they enjoy running during the offseason as a hobby.

It’s tempting to skimp and get the footwear that’s on sale. However, remember that you could be costing your child several trips to the doctor and time off during the most crucial part of their season.

Avoiding Always Running on the Same Side of the Road
This one sounds a bit strange at first, but hear us out. If your child runs on the same sidewalk every time they practice on their own, they stress the same regions of their body. Your IT band, which runs down the outside of your knee, can constantly get the stress (and especially so when running downhill).

When it gets too stressed for extended periods of time (weeks and months), it starts to get very sore and painful. In fact, it can get so sore and painful that it’s difficult just to walk.

So switching up how and where you run helps distribute the stress throughout your body.

Run On Soft-Impact Surfaces
Running on hard surfaces, like asphalt and concrete puts higher stress on your lower legs. Running on these surfaces for months or weeks at a time can lead to shin splints.

If your child loves to run on their own time, encourage them to run on trails or grass when possible.

Watch for Uneven Surfaces
As you get tired, it becomes more difficult to focus and concentrate. More mistakes happen. You don’t perform your best.

That’s when it’s easier to stop paying attention to the ground in front of you and to step in a hole and twist your ankle. Remind your child to be observant of their environment.

You can’t prevent every running injury. And when you do have one, it’s important you learn what’s causing it so you can choose a different course of action less likely to aggravate that injury in the future.

The Truth about Warts and How to Treat Them Effectively

When you got married, your spouse promised to love you…warts and all.

But if you really do have warts, we bet they’d love it even more if you got rid of them.

Today, there’s all kinds of treatments, some ridiculous and others not, for removing this unsightly condition.

So let’s see what research shows to be the most effective treatments for warts, as well as treatments you should avoid.

1. Research from the American Academy of Family Physicians Reveals…

The AAFP did research on a variety of wart treatments. They summarized what they found in this handy little graphic:

 

pic-for-ntfoot-blog

And we’ll add a little bit of clarification on how each approach works:

  • Salicylic acid therapy – This over-the-counter treatment softens the wart and dissolves it. You’ve probably heard of it or done it already. It works well.
  • Cryotherapy – This means freezing the wart you have. Only doctors can do the procedure. AAFP finds it effective, but not as much as salicylic acid therapy.
  • Pulsed dye laser therapy – With this treatment, a laser heats and destroys the wart.
  • Imiquimod – It’s a topical prescription cream.
  • Bleomycin – While it gets used to treat warts, bleomycin is an antibiotic mainly used for chemotherapy.
  • Immunotherapy – This treatment boosts your immune system’s ability to fight warts. It usually comes into play when other treatment options have failed. Warts are actually caused by one of the more than 100 forms of the HPV virus. That’s why you need to be careful when you shave so you don’t spread the wart over the rest of your body.

Home Remedies That Don’t Remove Warts

When it comes to wart removal, you’ll find more home remedies than you could even try.

Most don’t work.

Here are some we’ve heard of:

  • Rubbing your wart with garlic. (Well, at least you’ll keep vampires away too!)
  • Make and apply a mix of baking powder and castor oil.
  • Crush vitamin C into a paste and apply.
  • Soak warts in pineapple juice.
  • Use the handyman’s secret weapon, duct tape.
  • Apply apple cider vinegar with cotton balls.
  • Using milkweed sap externally.
  • Use the whitish mush from the inside of a banana peel twice daily and apply it to your wart. Wash your hands thoroughly afterward so you don’t spread it.

We could go on and on with more examples. But that’s enough for now.

It’s up to you what route to go. But that’s the evidence for effective wart removal.

North Texas Foot & Ankle Now Featuring iStep Foot Scanner from Aetrex

Irving, Texas – December 6, 2012 – The leading Irving podiatrists at North Texas Foot & Ankle are proud to offer iStep, the revolutionary digital foot scanning technology produced by Aetrex, which immediately matches patients with the ideal shoes and orthotics for their feet.

In less than 30 seconds, Aetrex’s iStep technology accurately measures foot size, determines arch type and pressure points. The patented foot scanning technology is powered by 3,744 gold plated barometric sensors that measure the pressure exerted by feet. Due to a high concentration of censors, the device can perform a precise reading even for a small child. Incorporating 1,326 infrared LEDS and Receptors that are aligned every half millimeter, the iStep provides unmatched accuracy when measuring feet.

Upon measuring, the iStep immediately suggests custom selected footwear and types of medical inserts to best suit the patient’s individual footwear needs. iStep provides custom selected solutions to help people lead healthy and active lifestyles.

North Texas Foot & Ankle proudly offers therapeutic, casual, dress, sandal, and athletic footwear from Aetrex. Aetrex’s latest fall/winter footwear line is available in the North Texas Foot & Ankle office. The newest styles from Aetrex include pumps, booties, tall boots, and slip-ons that combine fashion, comfort, and customization.

“Aetrex makes high quality footwear and medical inserts with numerous benefits such as reduced joint stress, better body alignment, and increased stability,” says Dr. Ronica Holcombe, Podiatrist at North Texas Foot & Ankle, “And their shoes are very stylish—which is something that hasn’t been offered by many other pedorthic footwear companies.”

North Texas Foot & Ankle will help scan patients’ feet to determine foot pressure and type, arch height, and shoe size. North Texas Foot & Ankle’s podiatry specialists will consider the results in addition to the patient’s weight, running goals, and injury history in order to help pick out a few pairs for them to try. Patients can then pick the pair that is the most comfortable to them.

Visit North Texas Foot & Ankle to have your foot scanned today! Call (214) 574-9255 to make an appointment or request one online.

About North Texas Foot & Ankle

Started in 2001, North Texas Foot & Ankle specializes in treatment of all foot and ankle disorders. The team of board-certified doctors and trained office staff work together to provide individualized attention and treatment, as well as to maintain lasting relationships with patients. Offering a comfortable environment equipped with cutting-edge podiatric technology, North Texas Foot & Ankle provide treatments for children, adults and seniors. North Texas Foot & Ankle continues to raise the standards of foot and ankle care in a friendly and professional atmosphere with uncompromised integrity. Visit http://ntfoot.com for more information, or like North Texas Foot & Ankle on Facebook at http://facebook.com/ntfoot.

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North Texas Foot & Ankle Offers MLS Laser Therapy for Fast Treatment of Foot Pain

Irving, Texas, October 8, 2012 – The leading podiatry specialists at North Texas Foot & Ankle are proud to announce the offering of MLS Laser Therapy to patients in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. North Texas Foot & Ankle is proud to be on the forefront of medical technology, by providing this FDA approved treatment for foot and ankle injuries, pain, and other conditions.

MLS Laser Therapy is an innovative breakthrough in restoring mobility to patients. This innovative procedure has been proven successful through extensive and credible studies conducted by some of the finest institutions in the United States, including Harvard University. MLS Therapy uses an MLS pulse, which is a combined, synchronized emission of continuous and pulsed laser emissions with different infrared wavelengths, to address swelling, pain, and loss of joint motion simultaneously. Through exposure to the MLS Laser, cells of tendons, ligaments and muscles repair themselves faster, allowing pain to subside quickly as inflammation is reduced.

“We have truly been amazed at the results of the MLS laser, especially in pathologies such as tendonitis and plantar fasciitis” said North Texas Foot & Ankle founder Ronica Holcombe, DPM, “We have also seen it reduce post op pain as well as pain associated with neuropathy. We call it our ‘magic wand’ in the office.”

MLS Laser Therapy is an effective treatment for conditions such as tendon and ligament injuries, soft tissue injuries, muscle strains and tears, sore muscles and joints, degenerative joint conditions, and more. Benefits of MLS include timely healing of sprains and strains, rapid recovery of the structural integrity of the injured region, immediate improvement of local blood circulation, and rapid repair of superficial injuries such as wounds and ulcers.

MLS Laser Therapy treatments last between 10-15 minutes each and do not require any local anesthesia. The benefits generally last between two and three days. In order to achieve optimal and sometimes permanent results, a standard series of 6-10 treatments is recommended, with treatments separated by at least 15 hours.

When a physical condition or injury affects a patient’s mobility or quality of life, MLS Laser Therapy is a highly effective, affordable, and non-invasive option to manage pain, inflammation, and other conditions. Through this advanced technology, patients can often find relief from foot and ankle pain without needing injections, medications, or surgery.

For additional information about MLS Laser Therapy, visit http://ntfoot.com or contact North Texas Foot & Ankle at (214) 574-9255.

About North Texas Foot & Ankle

Started in 2001, North Texas Foot & Ankle specializes in treatment of all foot and ankle disorders. The team of board-certified doctors and trained office staff work together to provide individualized attention and treatment, as well as to maintain lasting relationships with patients. Offering a comfortable environment equipped with cutting-edge podiatric technology, North Texas Foot & Ankle provide treatments for children, adults and seniors. North Texas Foot & Ankle continues to raise the standards of foot and ankle care in a friendly and professional atmosphere with uncompromised integrity. Visit http://ntfoot.com for more information, or like North Texas Foot & Ankle on Facebook at http://facebook.com/ntfoot.

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North Texas Foot & Ankle Launches Newly Redesigned Website

NTFoot.com has been redesigned to offer patients up-to-date podiatry information and a user-friendly online experience.

Irving, Texas – August 22, 2012 – The leading podiatry specialists at North Texas Foot & Ankle announce the launch of their newly redesigned website, http://ntfoot.com. Designed and developed by i5 web works, an award-winning website development and Internet marketing company in Dallas-Fort Worth, the redesigned website features user-friendly navigation, educational resources such as videos and detailed treatment information, downloadable patient forms, and more.

“We are very excited about our new website and working with i5 web works to better serve and communicate both with potential new patients as well as with our current patients,” said North Texas Foot & Ankle podiatrist Dr. Ronica Holcombe.

On the website, patients can easily request an appointment online and download PDF versions of required new patient forms to complete before the office visit and save time.  NTFoot.com offers patient education videos for a variety of topics including podiatric medicine, sports injuries, diabetes, wound management, and heel pain. There are individual information pages for each service provided by North Texas Foot & Ankle with descriptions of conditions and tips for prevention.

The office of North Texas Foot & Ankle is a state-of-the-art facility with in-office technology including digital x-ray and electronic medical records. The “New Technology” page of the website features cutting-edge equipment used by North Texas Foot & Ankle such as Shockwave Therapy (EPAT), MLS Therapy, Noveon Toenail Laser Treatment, and Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) Testing.

Learn more about North Texas Foot & Ankle’s Board Certified Podiatrists, Ronica N. Holcombe, DPM and Mitch Williams, DPM on a website page entitled, “Our Doctors.” Dr. Ronica Holcombe and Dr. Mitch Williams are native Texans who completed residencies in reconstructive Foot and Ankle Surgery, as well as orthopedic trauma fellowships in Europe. Both doctors focus on patient education and providing non-operative and surgical treatments for all foot and ankle disorders.

The new website also provides links to North Texas Foot & Ankle’s social networking profiles, so patients can follow and interact with the practice on Facebook and Twitter.

To see the newly designed North Texas Foot & Ankle website, visit http://ntfoot.com.

About North Texas Foot & Ankle

Started in 2001, North Texas Foot & Ankle specializes in treatment of all foot and ankle disorders. The team of board-certified doctors and trained office staff work together to provide individualized attention and treatment, as well as to maintain lasting relationships with patients. Offering a comfortable environment equipped with cutting-edge podiatric technology, North Texas Foot & Ankle provide treatments for children, adults and seniors. North Texas Foot & Ankle continues to raise the standards of foot and ankle care in a friendly and professional atmosphere with uncompromised integrity. Visit http://ntfoot.com for more information, or like North Texas Foot & Ankle on Facebook at http://facebook.com/ntfoot.

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