World Foot Health Awareness Month
posted: May 12, 2015.
World Foot Health Awareness Month
As May is World Foot Health Awareness Month, it’s a good time to look at some common problems found in feet.
Start by giving your feet a visual check and try and answer the following questions: What color are they and do they feel warm or cold? Are your toes straight or crooked and do you have any lumps that give you pain? Are your toenails in good shape and easy to cut? And do you have any patches of hard skin, corns or lesions on your feet? If any of these questions give rise to further questions, you should seek advice from a professional like Toronto Podiatrist, Sheldon H. Nadal, D.P.M.
Unusual color or temperature can be indicative of a circulatory problem or the result of a systemic disease that you may or may not be aware of. Also, moist skin, especially between your toes, can be a sign of athletes’ foot and other skin conditions can lead to very dry feet.
Crooked toes can cause shoes to rub on any bony lumps and can result in blisters, corns or calluses. Hard skin, corns and calluses anywhere on your feet are a sign of too much pressure or friction. Your skin is made up of multiple layers but if it is subject to repeated pressure or friction, it can break down and cause painful blisters or it can thicken up and cause painful corns or callus.
Toenails provide numerous clues to other problems: color, shape, thickness and friability of nails can be good indicators of underlying medical conditions. Your Podiatrist may even be able to tell if you have been under a lot of stress just by looking at your toenails!
After your visual check, think about times your feet give you pain. Where is the pain and how often do you feel it? Visit your Podiatrist to find the underlying cause of your pain and he will offer advice and an appropriate treatment plan.
Remember, your feet cover thousands of miles in your life time so treat theme with some respect. In the same way your car breaks down or suffers mechanical defects when you don’t take care of it, your feet are your primary form of transport and will develop problems if you ignore them.
Resources:
http://www.fip-ifp.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94:wfham&catid=2:uncategorised