(410) 721-4505



2411 Crofton Lane, Suite 25
Crofton, MD 21114

My Blog

Archive:

Tags

My Blog

Posts for tag: swelling

By Crofton Podiatry
October 24, 2018
Category: exercise
Tags: swelling   Gout   stretch   walking   orthotic   comfortable shoes   obesity  

It’s easier than ever to lead a sedentary lifestyle. Most people work at a job where they sit for most of the day, the latest movies are readily accessible without even leaving the comfort of your home, and there are even robots that will vacuum the house for you! Yes, it’s convenient, but is it also making us less healthy?

If you feel that you have begun to lead a more sedentary lifestyle, it may be time to reassess how much time you spend engaging in physical activity. One easy way to do this is to incorporate a brisk walk into your day, on the treadmill or around your block. You can use this time to clear your head, meditate, talk to a friend, or listen to an audiobook. Plus, your body will thank you!

Benefits of Walking for Overall Health

  • Walking can help you manage your weight. You can power walk or walk for longer periods with inclines to help you burn more calories for weight maintenance or weight loss. Maintaining a healthy weight can reduce the risk of developing other health problems.
  • It can improve your mood and help you de-stress. Take meaningful and controlled strides to help you feel grounded.
  • Strengthen your bones and muscles; engage your tendons and ligaments; get your blood pumping.
  • Reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure by exercising your heart.

Benefits of Walking for Foot Health

  • Strengthen the bones and muscles of the feet and ankles.
  • Increase flexibility and stability in the muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
  • A healthy weight can reduce the risk of obesity, which can put a lot of strain on the feet and ankles.
  • Increase circulation and reduce swelling. (For those who have gout attacks in the joints of the feet, walking encourages circulation, which can help reduce the pain due to uric acid build up.)

Tips for enjoying your walks:

  • Make sure to wear comfortable and supportive shoes, with socks! If you need extra support, our podiatrist can assess your orthotic needs.
  • Warm up and loosen up stiff muscles before you set out on a brisk walk.
  • Stretch after each walk to cool down and encourage muscle recovery.
  • Start slow, but challenge yourself to gradually take slightly faster walks.

If you notice pain or a problem with sensation when you walk, our board-certified podiatrist, Dr. Brad Toll, can properly assess your foot and ankle problems. Make an appointment today at Crofton Podiatry by calling (410) 721-4505 or contacting us online!  Dr. Toll and his dedicated staff look forward to serving you at our Crofton, MD office, which also serves Gambrills, Odenton, and Bowie areas.

0 Comment(s) Permalink
By Crofton Podiatry
October 16, 2018
Category: Foot fractures
Tags: swelling   fractures   RICE method   ankles  

Did you know? Not all broken bones need surgery and a cast! In the feet and ankles, you can experience all types of fractures. Chronic pressure on the foot can cause small stress fractures, while traumatic injury from a bad fall or car accident can cause a severely broken bone that even pierces the skin. Ouch!

Because even the smallest broken bone can cause you immense pain, it’s best to get prompt treatment. If you suspect that you have a fracture in your foot or ankle, it’s important to come and have our podiatrist assess the injury. Medical imaging like X-rays or a bone scan can be used to properly diagnose even the smallest fractures.

After a diagnosis, our podiatrist might suggest one of the following solutions:

Four Treatments

  1. RICE method. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. For small hairline stress fractures, you may just need to stay off the foot and rest. Small fractures can cause immense pain, redness, and swelling. Try ice packs, compression wraps, and elevating the feet when you’re sitting to keep symptoms at a minimum.
  2. Resetting displaced bones. When an injury causes the broken bones to be misaligned, our podiatrist needs to put them in the proper place so that they can heal.
  3. Immobilizing the feet and ankles. If bones are broken to a bigger extent, you might need to keep the feet or ankles from moving so that the bones do not move out of place. A brace, boot, splint, or hard cast can help support the foot and keep it from moving out of place so that the bones can fuse back together.
  4. Surgically setting bones. Your feet or ankle might need metal pins, screws, and/or plates to keep the bones in place while they heal. This is especially the case if the bones shatter in multiple places. An immobilizing brace or cast is usually used in conjunction.

However severe the fracture, our board-certified podiatrist, Dr. Brad Toll, can properly assess and diagnose your painful foot and ankle symptoms. Then, he can prescribe you the proper treatment for your foot fracture. Make an appointment today at Crofton Podiatry by calling (410) 721-4505. Our podiatry team awaits at our Crofton, MD office, which also serves the surrounding areas of Gambrills, Odenton, and Bowie.

 

0 Comment(s) Permalink
By Crofton Podiatry
September 18, 2018
Category: Children's Feet
Tags: swelling   corns   calluses   blisters   shoes   Sever's disease   gait problems  

Depending on the age of your children, they may or may not be able to vocalize their foot problems to you. Some children might even ignore or hide foot pain or discomfort so that they do not have to “go see the doctor.”

 

Remember: Foot pain is NOT normal for growing children. Pain in the feet or ankles should not be attributed to growing pains. If your child complains of discomfort, it’s more than likely that they have a foot problem that needs attention, such as Sever’s Disease. Bring them in as soon as possible to receive an assessment with our podiatrist.

The following are signs that your child might have a foot problem:

Non-verbal signs:

  • Cranky and keeps touching feet.
  • Does not want to put shoes on and/or does not want you to touch their feet.
  • Wants to be picked up more often, rather than spend time walking or running. Keeps going back to crawling, even after they have become “expert walkers.”

Verbal signs:

  • Complains of foot pain or discomfort (Make sure that their shoes are not too small or too tight).

Visual signs:

  • Redness, swelling, bruising, and/or heat. (After an injury, your child might have some of these symptoms. However, if they won’t go away after a few days of home treatment, there could be a more serious problem.)
  • Blisters, corns, or calluses developing on the feet (Look for these when you have them in the bath or when you are clipping toenails).
  • Toe or foot deformities.
  • Gait problems, such as in-toeing or toe walking. Watch them as they walk to see if something seems abnormal or if they seem to be tripping over their own feet. Some problems do correct themselves as children grow, but it doesn’t hurt to have them checked out.
  • Limping or refusal to run. If feet or ankles are uncomfortable, your children might limp without realizing that they are doing so.

Because children’s bodies continue to develop and grow, it’s best to correct problems before they become worse. Some children need some orthotics to help them feel better, while other children might need surgery to correct a major deformity. Our podiatrist can help you find the best solution for your children’s foot problems.

Make an appointment by calling (410) 721-4505 to see our board-certified foot doctor, Dr. Brad Toll at Crofton Podiatry. Our team is ready to assist you and your family at our Crofton, MD office, which also serves the surrounding Gambrills, Odenton, and Bowie, MD areas.

0 Comment(s) Permalink
By Crofton Podiatry
August 29, 2018
Category: ankle pain

Whether or not you realize it, the Achilles tendon is very highly utilized, and therefore prone to developing Achilles tendonitis. It is the largest and strongest tendon in the body, allowing the calf muscle to pull up on the heel bone. Any time your heel is raised off the ground, your Achilles tendon is in action.

The Achilles is prone to injury and inflammation because of the forces it endures and how often it is utilized. If the tendon becomes inflamed from overuse, it can be characterized as Achilles tendonitis.

Causes of Achilles tendonitis

For most instances of Achilles tendonitis, it occurs because of a sudden increase in intensity or duration of activity. A common injury for runners, adding a lot of sprinting or uphill running can cause inflammation and pain. For some, symptoms can set in as soon as you engage in an abrupt activity. For others, it can cause you chronic pain that can get worse over time.

When you are affected by Achilles tendonitis, you might feel:

  • Soreness, aching or burning pain in the back of the ankle or calf, especially after a workout.
  • Swelling along the back of the ankle
  • Tenderness or stiffness at the back of the ankle when you wake up.
  • Development of a bone spur where the ankle meets the calf (after long-term aggravation of the Achilles tendon).

What you can do to ease the pain of Achilles tendonitis:

  • Stop what you’re doing! The Achilles tendon takes longer to heal because of the low blood flow. Give your ankle time to heal before you put it through more work. If our podiatrist believes you need to immobilize your feet, he’ll prescribe an orthotic brace or cast.
  • Stretch the Achilles tendon to relieve tightness or stiffness.
  • Get a foot massage. Roll a frozen water bottle or another cylindrical object up and down your lower leg. A partner can also help you release painful symptoms.
  • Use orthotics. Orthotic inserts can help to provide more support to your feet and ankles. Our podiatrist can help you figure out how to best utilize them.

In extreme cases, surgery might be necessary to correct a chronic case of Achilles tendonitis. Make an appointment today at our Crofton, MD office to see our board-certified podiatrist, Dr. Brad Toll. At Crofton Podiatry, we will use the latest treatment options to assess and take care of your family’s foot and ankle care needs. We provide services to the Gambrills, Odenton, and Bowie, MD areas.

0 Comment(s) Permalink
By Crofton Podiatry
August 15, 2018
Category: Arthritis
Tags: swelling   Gout   shoes   injury  

Gout can be a very debilitating condition to have. It can affect your daily life and require you to make many changes to your lifestyle. This form of arthritis is caused by a buildup of uric acid in your joints. It commonly affects your feet, especially your big toe joint. However, it can also affect other joints like the ankles and knees as well.

Following several painful bouts of gout, you may notice a pattern to when they arise. Participating in some activities or eating certain foods can put you at higher risk of experiencing a gout attack:

  • Eating foods that are high in purines (seafood, alcohols) and other inflammatory foods, such as those with a lot of refined sugar (sugary drinks)
  • Drinking excess alcohol
  • Not drinking enough water (dehydration)
  • Taking certain medications that cause a flare-up as a side effect
  • Being sick (including hospitalization, surgery, kidney disease)
  • Wearing poorly-fitting and unsupportive shoes (shoes that aggravate the affected joints can trigger an attack)
  • Jumping or other high-impact activity, injury (impact or trauma to the affected joint can cause a bout of gout)

You may also learn to recognize the symptoms of an oncoming bout of gout, including but not limited to:

  • Feeling: burning, tingling, pain, stiffness, and/or soreness in the joints
  • Seeing: redness and swelling

Do your best to avoid increasing the risk of a gout attack. However, if you have indulged a bit, you may want to take steps to reduce your chance of a prolonged and painful attack. This is especially the case for those who experience gout without warning, even being woken up by sudden painful gout attacks.

When you feel a bout of gout about to happen, or if you want to reduce the risk of gout attacks, try some of the following:

  • Hydrate! Drink lots and lots of water to assist you in flushing out excess uric acid.
  • Exercise! If symptoms have not fully set in, but you feel an attack coming on, you’ll want to keep moving (walk around) in order to promote circulation. It will help you prevent large uric acid buildup. However, if symptoms have set in and you are in pain, it’s best to rest.
  • Rest! If you’re already in pain, sit and elevate your feet. An excess strain on painful joints will worsen the gout attack.
  • Use ice packs or cold compresses and/or take NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) to reduce inflammation and pain.

Once you’ve been diagnosed with gout, you should keep up with a healthy lifestyle and diet. Keep up with your medications to reduce your chance of a gout attack. However, if you need additional assistance with foot care for gout, make an appointment at our Crofton, MD office to see our board-certified podiatrist, Dr. Brad Toll. At Crofton Podiatry, we will use the latest treatment options to assess and take care of your foot and ankle care needs. Contact our dedicated team at our Crofton, MD office, which also serves the surrounding areas of Gambrills, Odenton, and Bowie, MD.

 

0 Comment(s) Permalink


Contact Us


Call Today (410) 721-4505

2411 Crofton Lane, Suite 25
Crofton, MD 21114

Podiatrist - Crofton, Crofton Podiatry, 2411 Crofton Lane, Suite 25, Crofton MD, 21114 (410) 721-4505