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Medical pages:
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Medical: Foot Pain from Neuropathy, Tailor’s Bunion, Foot Ulcers
Neuropathy
An individual diagnosed with neuropathy has lost sensation in his feet.
With neuropathy, your feet aren’t able to recognize when they’re being subjected to extreme heat or cold. The
nerves in your feet aren’t able to inform your brain when they’re in pain. Neuropathy is often related
to diabetes.
Cause: Besides diabetes, peripheral neuropathy may also be attributed to alcoholism, nutritional problems, and
even AIDS. When your feet are exposed to temperature extremities, it can also lead to peripheral neuropathy.
Other lesser-known causes are wrong choice of medication, arthritis or other diseases common to aging, and scleroderma.
Treatment:
- Lifestyle Changes – Decreasing intake of alcohol and nicotine as well as regulating exercise in your life
will greatly help in preventing you from experiencing peripheral neuropathy.
- Footwear Choices – By simply choosing the right shoes to wear, you’re already lowering the risk of having
peripheral neuropathy. We’re not saying that you should stay off those lovely stilettos forever, but rather,
just limit use of them to special occasions.
- Regulating Glucose Levels – Diabetics must take care not to have too low or too high glucose levels because
this can lead to peripheral neuropathy.
- Regular Check-Ups – Even if you are taking absolute care of your feet, visiting the doctor regularly still
wouldn’t hurt.
- Medication – At times, rather than loss of feeling, your feet may instead be subjected to extreme pain when
it is suffering from peripheral neuropathy. In such cases, use of pain relievers and antidepressants are advisable.
Tailor’s Bunion
Also known as a bunionette, tailor’s bunion is a metatarsal disorder. More specifically, this condition is
an enlargement of the fifth metatarsal bone in your tiny toe. Although tailor’s bunion is more often an
inborn disorder, you can have a physician confirm your suspicions through X-rays.
Signs: If you happen to notice that your tiny toe has a slightly different appearance compared to other
people’s tiny toes, that’s already a good indication you have tailor’s bunion.
Making It Worse: If you have tailor’s bunion, your condition will only worsen if you persist in wearing
ill-fitting shoes that place constant pressure and friction on your toe.
Treatment:
- The Right Shoes: If you have tailor’s bunion, it automatically requires you to bid farewell to shoes with
tight or pointy tips. Find roomier shoes!
- Oral Medication: You can take pain relievers to keep the pain and inflammation at a tolerable level.
- Injection: Your physician may also inject corticosteroid to your system to reduce inflammation.
- Bunionette Pads – Use of these will help decrease the pain you feel in your feet and ankles.
- Icing – For emergency situations, slapping a pack of ice will ease the pain.
- Surgery – If there’s chronic and persistent pain, the only possible recourse left to you may be undergoing
surgery. You’ll be glad to know however that these surgeries have high success rates. Recovery time depends
on the type of degree of seriousness of the surgery.
Foot Ulcers
Yes, stomachs are not the only ones that develop ulcers. Our feet are vulnerable to them, too…unfortunately.
Diabetics are more prone to having foot ulcers than other individuals. Worse, if foot ulcers are not given
immediate treatment, they may later on require amputation of a part of the foot or the whole leg itself.
When there’s a break in the skin, it can lead to a foot ulcer. This break is an opening that may allow bacteria
and virus to enter your body.
Cause: If you like walking barefoot, favor ill-fitting shoes, or experience constant and extreme pressure or
friction on your feet, such preferences or circumstances can lead to foot ulcers.
Symptoms of an Infected Foot Ulcer: Visible redness and swelling are common symptoms of this condition.
Experiencing fevers, colds, abnormal increase in glucose levels, and becoming easily exhausted are other
signs of an infected foot ulcer.
Treatment: Besides getting rid of circumstances that led to foot ulcers, you can also take medication and
use dressings to treat them.
NEXT: Plantar Fasciitis, Hammertoes
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