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COVID-19 has caused yet another difficulty: the average American has put on about 29 pounds since the pandemic started.

This data comes from the February 2021 results of the Harris Poll, conducted by the American Psychological Association.

And even though the average gain was 29 pounds, 10% of respondents said their weight increased by 50 pounds!

Since our focus is podiatry, we feel the responsibility to bring this issue to light so you don’t find yourself experiencing serious pain in your feet because of the additional weight gain.

Some of the additional dangers posed to your feet include:

1. Fallen arches or “fat fleet,” which can be quite painful on their own and can expose you to the risk of additional injury
2. Disabling foot pain
3. Plantar fasciitis, which is the painful inflammation of the plantar fascia which runs along the bottom of your foot
4. Diabetic neuropathy, which has a wide range of symptoms, such as: pain and numbness in your feet, and even problems with your digestive system, urinary tract, blood vessels and heart
5. Gout, which is a common form of arthritis that may also include sudden and intense bursts of pain and swelling
6. Muscle, bone, and ligament stress and damage

How Do You Motivate Yourself to Lose Weight? 

You know being overweight isn’t healthy. Everyone understands that.

Awareness is not the problem. The issue is motivating yourself to actually lose weight – and keep it off.

You’re unique. Ultimately, you have to figure out how to keep yourself motivated. For now, here’s a brief guide to get you going on the right track:

1. Figure out why you want to lose weight
2. Focus on a realistic expectation of losing 1-2 pounds per week
3. Eat a healthy diet that you also enjoy (otherwise you won’t stick to it)
4. Set your eyes on the actions you need to take to lose weight
5. Only create a plan that you know you can stick to long-term
6. Keep a record of everything you eat, even if it’s as small as a piece of candy
7. Celebrate all your successes, no matter how small, and especially at the start
8. Keep in touch with a support group who can pick you up when you struggle
9. Assume setbacks will happen, but don’t let them completely derail you
10. Forgive and accept yourself when you make mistakes
11. Do exercise that you enjoy
12. Involve your dog because they love to walk and run. And they’re great emotional support too!
13. Work with a professional dietitian if you need to. Most private insurance companies cover this benefit, especially if you have an underlying condition such as diabetes. A referral is usually required from your pcp or specialist.

Losing weight, and keeping it off, isn’t easy. If it was, we wouldn’t have any overweight people!

The more help you accept from others, whether emotional, professional, or otherwise, the more likely you are to succeed.

Not only will your feet appreciate it, but the rest of your body will too!

And you’ll feel so much better about yourself also.

Does your ankle routinely “give out” on you?

If so, you’re not alone. It happens to many Americans.

Usually, this occurs because you have had an ankle sprain that never healed or received proper treatment in the past.

So if you sprain your ankle, make sure you see your podiatrist.

But since you have that problem already, take a minute to learn what you can do about it right now:

1. Physical Therapy

Your ankle really needs proper rehab to strengthen and retrain the muscles and tissues that affect your balance.

You may not even need to see a physical therapist for this. You may just need to do a few simple exercises your podiatrist recommends.

But if you have a more severe ankle sprain, then you might need to see a physical therapist for a couple months.

Since insurance companies cover physical therapy, it’s not a major cost.

You may also get exercise regimens that give you specific things you can do to strengthen your muscles for your particular physical activity to prevent ankle sprains from ever happening in the first place.

2. Ankle Braces

A simple brace really works wonders. But as with anything in America, you have an abundance of choices.

And not all options are actually good ones.

Basically, your brace should feel comfortable, but not tight. And it shouldn’t restrict blood flow or cause pain.

Braces are made of either neoprene or fabric. Generally, fabric ones are better because they allow more air to flow through. This keeps your ankle cool and comfortable and works best if you have to keep your brace on all day long.

You can also get ankle sleeves designed to provide ankle support and relief from pain. They work best if you have tendonitis, arthritis, or plantar fasciitis.

Ankle supports with straps place those straps over a sleeve to provide more support and protection. If you exercise at all, or if you play sports, you’ll want to go with these at a minimum.

Lace up ankle braces use shoelaces to offer maximum protection. If you play high impact sports with a high chance for ankle injuries, use this type of ankle brace.

3. NSAIDs

Not much to say here because it’s pretty straightforward. NSAIDs like ibuprofen may be prescribed to help you relieve pain.

4. Surgery

Yes. Surgery may come into play. It may be necessary to treat more severe ankle instability, and if you want to maintain a high activity level.

Surgery typically involves repair or reconstruction of the damaged ligaments.

In most cases, surgery isn’t necessary. And you can likely manage ankle instability using a combination of physical therapy and bracing.

Just because you have an unstable ankle now doesn’t mean you have to live with it the rest of your life.

Take the right action so you can exercise without fear of further harming your ankle!

Any kind of foot pain at any age is not normal.

The type of injury doesn’t matter either. Even seemingly insignificant injuries such as blisters or minor aches shouldn’t be ignored.

Even though we’re the only being who normally walks on two feet, foot pain is not something to simply accept.

If you experience foot pain or discomfort at any age, you’re wise to immediately address the issue.

Ignored injuries can turn into major problems if you don’t take care of them. And at the least, they’re painful and disruptive.

Take a look at a few of the causes of foot pain, and what you can do about them:

1. Blisters and Calluses

Both happen in fairly similar ways. For whatever reason (and frequently because footwear that fits poorly), you have lots of pressure on a certain area of your body.

Blisters, of course, cause much more pain.

If you have blisters or calluses on your feet, that usually means you have footwear that doesn’t quite fit as it should.

Consider changing your footwear.

You may also need custom orthotic inserts to keep your feet in a comfortable position.

2. Chronic Foot Pain

There’s actually too many causes of foot pain to list here.

But a few include bone spurs, bunions, gout, and stress fractures.

If you have a chronic issue, and you’re an athlete of some sort, don’t fall into the trap of thinking “no pain, no gain.”

Chronic foot pain is not a part of athletics to let go.

You must address the root issue so that chronic pain goes away. Otherwise, it only gets worse, until it becomes completely disabling and you can’t ignore it anymore.

3. Ankle Sprains

While these do routinely happen, you’re wise to always have a podiatrist look the sprain over.

The rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE) formula always helps.

But, you may actually have a more severe sprain that requires surgery or temporary immobilization to fully heal.

4. Children Experience Chronic it Too

Even youngsters can experience fairly severe foot pain.

And understand that kids may not want to or know how to communicate the problem.

For example, when children go through growth spurts, they can be at risk for Sever’s disease.

This involves swelling and irritation of the growth plate in their heel. If your child has Sever’s disease, their heel is also at additional risk of injury.

Regardless of the cause, foot pain is not normal at any age. And it can be indicative of a much more serious issue.

If you, or someone you love, experiences minor or major pain with each step, take action to see what you can do about it.

You’ll be glad you did.

Back to basics here! Sprained ankles happen all year round. And they can put you on the sideline for a good several weeks.

If you stretch or tear ligaments, a sprained ankle can even put you out of commission for a couple months.

Not fun. So take a minute to learn the most common causes of ankle sprains, and how you can get back into action as fast as possible.

What Most Commonly Causes Ankle Sprains?

Usually, when patients come in with a sprained ankle, it happens as a result of one of these factors:

1. Playing sports – Any sport requiring jumping or cutting action, such as basketball, tennis, football, soccer, or trail running has a high chance of causing an ankle sprain.
2. Uneven surfaces – It seems simple, but something like an uneven sidewalk or path can lead to you tripping and spraining your ankle.
3. Prior ankle injury – Once you sprain your ankle, you’re likely to sprain it again.
4. Poor physical condition – If you’re trying to engage in physical activity but are in poor shape to start, you put yourself at risk for an ankle sprain.
5. Improper footwear – High heels never do you any favors in regard to ankle sprains. Shoes that don’t fit properly also make you more vulnerable to an ankle sprain.

How Do You Prevent Ankle Sprains?

Fortunately, you don’t have to wait until you have an ankle sprain to take action.

You can take preventative steps so you don’t even experience one in the first place:

1. Warm up before you engage in physical activity
2. Use extra caution whenever you have to be in an area with uneven surfaces
3. Wear shoes that fit your feet well (consider orthotics), which have been designed for your specific activity
4. Wear high-heels as infrequently as possible (on a special occasion is okay)
5. Avoid physical activities for which your body isn’t currently ready for. Get yourself into shape for such activities before you actually engage in them.
6. Engage in light weightlifting activities so the muscles surrounding your ankles are strong and stable.

What Do You Do to Treat Ankle Sprains?

Most ankle sprains are not severe enough to warrant surgery. But, that might become necessary in your case, depending on your podiatrist’s opinion.

Your podiatrist will use a combination of X-rays, MRIs, and physical examination to determine the best treatment approach.

Following are the potential extents of injury, and the general treatment approach for each:

1. Grade 1

Here, you have mild swelling and tenderness and perhaps microscopic ligament tears. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE) and better footwear will likely get you back to normal.

2. Grade 2

In this case, you have a partial ligament tear. Your ankle joint will be unusually loose. And, your ankle will have moderate tenderness and swelling.

Treatment may include wearing a boot for 2-3 weeks, RICE, use of OTC medications for pain relief, and better footwear.

3. Grade 3

In a Grade 3 ankle sprain, you have completely torn your ligament. Your ankle is severely swollen and tender. It’s also extremely painful to move. If your podiatrist manipulates your ankle, they feel great instability.

More than likely, you still won’t need surgery (but you might). You’ll need a cast or brace for 2-3 weeks. You’ll need physical therapy to get back to normal. And you’ll likely need some ongoing help from your podiatrist to identify the correct footwear and lifestyle changes to keep your ankle strong and stable.

If you experience an ankle injury, you’re smart to see a podiatrist as soon as possible. They can help you quickly get back to regular activity and protect your ankle so you don’t reinjure it in the future.

Many conditions cause pain in your forefoot, with metatarsalgia being one of the most common.

Unfortunately, it can cause such intense pain that it becomes impossible to do your favorite exercise.

At the same time, however, it’s highly treatable and you can count on getting back to normal (and probably without surgery).

You may have metatarsalgia if you feel:

• A sharp pain in the ball of your foot, just behind your toes
• Burning in the same area
• A steady ache and pain that worsens when you stand or engage in physical activity
• Like you have a rock or pebble in your shoe (but actually don’t)
• Tingling or numbness in your toes
• More widespread pain in the ball of your foot, if you’re an athlete

What Causes Metatarsalgia?

Like any other foot condition, metatarsalgia has a number of possible causes.

Usually, patients affected by one or more of the following factors come to us with this condition:

• Naturally high foot arches – This puts more pressure and weight on your metatarsus. And the result can eventually be pain and inflammation.
• Performing repetitive activities – This may be because of your job or intense, high-impact exercises.
• Older age – As you age, you lose fat from the bottom of your feet. This fat cushions your metatarsus. With it gone, that leaves your bone beneath exposed.
• Neuroma – Instead of having metatarsalgia, you may actually have a neuroma. A neuroma is a benign tumor of a nerve. These can form in the metatarsal region of your foot and causes burning and inflammation.
• Footwear – High heels especially, and other footwear also, can put more pressure on your metatarsal region, leading to metatarsalgia.
• Stress fractures – Because of the length of your metatarsal bones, they’re more vulnerable to stress fractures. Low vitamin D levels, along with repetitive exercise activities, can cause metatarsal stress fractures.
• Existing health conditions – Certain illnesses that lead to joint inflammation (such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis).

How Do You Treat Metatarsalgia?

Fortunately, metatarsalgia most often does not require surgery. However, it might. At the same time, it’s wisest to begin with more conservative treatments, such as:

1. Proper footwear – Arch supports, orthotics, low heels, and a wide toe box can all help.
2. Changing activity – You may need to stay off your feet entirely for a while. At minimum, you’ll need to reduce high-impact, repetitive physical activity.
3. RICE – The simple but effective rest, ice, compression, and elevation formula always helps.
4. Removing calluses – Soak your feet in warm, soapy water for 5 minutes. Use a pumice stone to scrape down your calluses. This spreads the pressure on your feet out, which helps relieve your pain.
5. Medication – You may need NSAIDs or other OTC medications.
6. Exercise – Yes. Gentle strengthening and stretching exercises can help you recover too.

It stinks to not be able to do what you want to do. But this will only be temporary. And more than likely, you won’t need surgery.

If you experience metatarsalgia, see your podiatrist so you can get rid of the pain and back to your favorite activities as soon as possible.