As we get older, we know we need to take better care of our bodies… which should always include our stinky feet. In addition to keeping them clean and dry, did you know that your socks matter too? In this episode, Millennium Physician Group’s Michelle McCormick talks with a podiatrist about taking care of our aging, and aching, feet.
As we get older, we know we need to take better care of our bodies… which should always include our stinky feet. In addition to keeping them clean and dry, did you know that your socks matter too? In this episode, Millennium Physician Group’s Michelle McCormick talks with a podiatrist about taking care of our aging, and aching, feet.
Welcome to inspiration health radio sponsored by millennium physician group. I'm Michelle McCormick. As we get older, we know we need to take better care of our bodies, which sometimes includes our sneaky feet. In addition to keeping them clean and dry. Did you know that your socks matter too? Well, they do. In this episode, we're gonna talk to a podiatrist about taking care of our aging and aching feet. But first millennium physician group is a leading comprehensive, independent physician group in Florida. With more than 700 healthcare providers at 150 locations in 19 Florida counties, we serve nearly half a million patients, millennium physician group. Your connection to a healthier life. Learn more@millenniumphysician.com, connection innovation, inspiration health E each week. We talk about the healthcare issues that are important to you by inviting providers and experts to inspire you, to take control of your healthcare decisions. Join us right now for a healthcare journey as we work together to achieve the best health outcome for you. Well, according to daily caring.com, just some random side I found when searching feet healthy feet are essential seniors to stay mobile balanced and as independent as possible seems easy enough, but our aging feet do need a lot of TLC. Our guest today is Dr. Nache Robinson, a podiatrist who specializes in keeping our feet happy. Don't you? Dr. Robinson,<laugh>
Speaker 2:You thank.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, welcome to the show. Thank you. Um, give us a little bit of background about yourself, um, about your clinic and, um, then we're gonna talk all things feet.
Speaker 2:Okay. Um, so hi, everyone is Michelle introduced. I am Dr. Robinson. I practice with Meridian podiatry. It's my practice that I started a year ago here in Jacksonville, Florida. And we treat patients of all ages from newborns all the way up till the age in pop population, which is the, uh, focus of our podcast today.
Speaker 1:<laugh> right. Well, you know, because baby feet are so cute.<laugh> and then aging feet, not so much.<laugh>
Speaker 2:If we don't take care of them, they can be all right. They can be, we're
Speaker 1:Gonna talk about keeping our feet cute and happy, but what's your, what's your back background? What led you to podiatry?
Speaker 2:Um, so I actually, we're worked with a podiatrist when I was in college and that's kind of how I got into podiatry. I liked the flexibility of it all in being able to treat different conditions, um, in the feet on a day to day basis, not doing the same thing every day and having the ability to do surgeries on my patients, seeing them in the office, treating conditions that they have treating babies, treating middle aged adults, older patients, everybody. So being able to take care of everybody, um, and having everything available. Yeah. And that's kind of why I got into podiatry. Um, after that I went to temple, uh, school of pediatric medicine. Um, and then I did my surgical residency in Brooklyn, New York at YCO Heights medical center, and then I moved to Jacksonville. Wow.
Speaker 1:It's yeah. So straight down the east coast. Yeah. Well, you know, feet. Yes. Pretty important.<laugh>
Speaker 2:Very
Speaker 1:Important. Um,
Speaker 2:Often neglected
Speaker 1:And often neglected. Right? So give us a little bit about feet. You know, we, we know there's a lot of bones in the feet and, and muscles and, and sensory nerves and, and all that stuff. Just kind of give us the anatomy of a foot, just to kinda give us a, the short man layman version<laugh> of, of, of our feet.
Speaker 2:Okay. So, um, there're 26 bones in the foot, small as they are each one. Um, and there's hundreds of muscles, several Liga that all come together to perfectly support the foot. I think the biggest areas that we wanna highlight that will be beneficial for the future conversations would be the heel, which is the back of the foot, which is where you bear most of your weight, the arch mm-hmm<affirmative>, which is the central portion of the foot that most people often have trouble with. And then the ball of the foot is that portion that's further towards the toes from the arch, but before you get to the toes and then the toes, and then the top of the foot, everybody knows mm-hmm<affirmative> toes three or four areas. So that when we talk about them in the future, you'll know exactly what we're referring to.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Feet, um, totally interesting. You know, we live in a beach community, so you always see people in flip flops, you always see people barefoot or wearing those silly shoes with the toes cut out<laugh> you know, so, um, so a lot going on, um, is it important to keep our feet clean and dry?
Speaker 2:I mean, yeah. I mean, both the feet are that part of the body, the same way you would take care of the rest of your body. It's the same way you would take care of your feet. So taking a shower, bath, cleaning your feet properly, removing all dead cells that we shed normally like the rest of our body, removing that cuz that can Harbor bacteria and you can also get fungus in the feet because of that. So cleaning your feet thoroughly, drying them properly, cuz fungus likes moist environment. So the feet are in dark shoes every day. They're moist. That is the ideal environment for fungus to go happy and do whatever they want. So
Speaker 1:Is that what causes the stink in the feet?
Speaker 2:Yes. It's fungus that causes the smell, um, that we often are ashamed of when we take our shoes off and everybody knows.
Speaker 1:Right, right. So, you know, I, I have a real bad habit or maybe it's a good habit of putting like foot powder in my shoes before I put'em on like if I'm wearing heels or something. But then when I take off my, my shoes there's little footprints all over the place does shoe powder work.
Speaker 2:So it does. And um, the downside, like you mentioned is getting powder everywhere, but it does help to keep the shoe dry. It helps to keep your foot dry absorb any additional moisture and most of'em or some of'em have antifungal properties in there. So it will kill any fungus that the powder comes into contact with. But I usually recommend for my patients to use a shoe spray where you're killing the fungus bacteria mold in the shoe without shedding powder everywhere when you remove your
Speaker 1:Shoes. So maybe I should move to a spray. So when I go to yoga and I'm on my mat, you don't see my white feet on the mat. I'm always kind of embarrassed.
Speaker 2:I go footprints
Speaker 1:On the mat. I always feel like when I come home and I take off my shoes at the carpet, we'll, you know, wear off the powder, but the spray. So do you recommend spraying the shoe before? So you put it on or at night, usually
Speaker 2:If you have a shoe that you wear, um, frequently spraying that when you take it off. So that way it's dry when you go to put it on the next morning or the next time, but usually after you wear them, spraying them down or the first time you get the spray going through spraying everything. If the shoe has an insole that comes out, removing that insole, spraying that down as well. Cuz the fungus will live between the shoe bed itself and the, the insert that comes in the shoe mm-hmm<affirmative> so removing that, spraying everything down it dry properly, and then wearing them.
Speaker 1:All right. I love it. I love it. But okay. So to take better care of our feet, yes. We wanna make sure they're clean and dry, but are we wearing the wrong shoes?
Speaker 2:Well,<laugh>
Speaker 1:Most likely most
Speaker 2:People, a lot of people, I would say most, a lot of people are, especially here in Florida. Like you said, the beach everybody's in sand and flip bobs. It's really hot. No one wants to be wearing closed shoes every day, but not everybody has the same issues with their feet. So a shoe that may be okay for one person to wear maybe detrimental for another person. So it all depends on the overall foot itself. Each foot is different.
Speaker 1:Yeah. We are talking with Dr. Nache Robinson, a pathologist who is, uh, specializing in keeping our feet happy. We're talking a little bit about the foot itself. Now. I mentioned at the very beginning of the show about the right socks. So<laugh>, you know, people like the no-show socks or they like the ankle socks or the other socks that cut off the circulation. So how do you pick a, a sock and should you wear
Speaker 2:Yes. So socks are helpful with absorbing and wicking away moisture, uh, from the foot helping to keep the foot dry because we spoke about that being very important, but having a sock that fits properly is also equally important. So a lot of times, if the sock is too big, there will be a rubbing of the sock against the skin. When you wear a shoe, which then causes friction and blisters or those red spots that you notice from irritation. So it is definitely important to wear the right size sock, but also wearing a sock. If you have a closed in shoe, cuz your feet sweat mm-hmm
Speaker 1:<affirmative> oh yeah, absolutely. I mean in runners, I mean runners with socks now they have like socks you can get with kind of like an arch support in the sock. Yes. Is, is that helpful for,
Speaker 2:So it's more of the compression. So compression helps to decrease muscle fatigue. So the same reason why you'd wear a compression sock up to the knee for runners or even a compression sleeve that just encompasses the calf. It's the same reason that you would wear it in the arch. It helps to decrease the fatigue in the area by giving additional support, constriction provides additional support.
Speaker 1:Okay. We're gonna talk a little bit about compression later on too. Now you mentioned blisters real quick. Yes. And, and as our population, as we get older and we have mobility issues and maybe some balance issues can blisters be a part of that.
Speaker 2:So blisters usually indicate that there's abnormal rub against the skin and that superficial your layer of the skin usually shears off or you can have where it fills in with fluid underneath and then it shears off. So wearing the right shoe, a right fitting shoe to help to prevent that. But also with the aging skin, it is a lot thinner and a lot drier. So it's more prone to getting blisters or even skin tears from the friction mm-hmm<affirmative>
Speaker 1:And then that can cause infection even.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So any break in the skin can cause infection. Yeah. So you wanna always protect the skin as best you can to help to prevent any breaks in the skin cuz that's how pathogens enter and you get bacterial infection, fungal infection, yeast, molds, whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And we're gonna talk about that coming up too. So stick around Dr. Noche. Robinson will talk about foot injuries. We're gonna talk about some treatment coming up in the, in the next segment. We're also gonna talk a little bit about orthotics for our arches. I know my arch is painful at times too and padding. So stick around the conversation will continue. Inspiration health radio sponsored by millennium physician group will be right back. Welcome back to inspiration health radio sponsored by millennium physician group. I'm Michelle McCormick. Each week. We talk about the healthcare issues that are important to you by inviting providers and experts to inspire you, to take control of your healthcare decisions. As we get older, we know we need to take better care of our bodies and that always includes our feet. Don't forget about your feet there at the bottom of the body. In addition to keeping them clean and dry, we found out in the last segment that socks matter too. So in this episode, we are talking to a podiatrist about taking care of our aging and mostly aching feet. I know I have super aching feet at times. Our guest today is Dr. Nache Robinson. She is a podiatrist in Jacksonville who specializes in key, our feet happy. And Dr. Robinson, we talked, uh, in the first segment about shoes and socks and keeping our feet clean, like the rest of our body, but our feet. And we, we touched on it at the very end are prone to injuries. So not just like skin, tears and blisters, but anything from ingrow toenails to sprained ankles. Um, in my young young daughter, you know, has in grown to now problems all the time. Now can we talk a little bit about that? Cuz it's gotta be something you see pretty pretty commonly, especially in the older population too. Yes.
Speaker 2:So it it's twofold. So we'll see it in younger kids, um, before adolescence as a very big population and then the older population is where you'll see it coming back again with the inro toenail. So yes, it is very painful, very uncomfortable to deal with. Um, but yeah, we do have several treatment options for them.
Speaker 1:What causes
Speaker 2:Them? So an inro toenail can be caused two ways. The first being that the nail itself, the shape of the nail, where it curves down into the side of the skin, growing into the skin, causing pain in an inflammation, sometimes it can break the skin, which is when it would become infected the red swollen drainage. That's when it's become infected. The other issue that can result in an Ingra is trauma to the nail. So the nail presses up against the skin on the side of the nail that's normal, but if you wear a shoe that's too tight or if something hits your toe, it can cause that nail to penetrate that skin, breaking the skin. Now you get bacteria that enters it get swollen. It gets inflamed, the nail presses in further cuz the skin is more swollen and it's an ongoing cycle. Mm
Speaker 1:Yeah. My, my daughter had terrible issues with in Gron toenails. And then I think she would try to kind of cut it out herself. Yes. And that causes more trauma. Yes. And then we ended up having to go see a podiatrist for any, any help at all. And that's even more painful I think at times. Well, but helpful but helpful.
Speaker 2:Yes. And we actually do have a new treatment for in gro toenails that's of PainFREE
Speaker 1:Oh, due tell I
Speaker 2:Know. So it's called Onix and what it does is it's a small band that's applied to the base of the nail and it supports the nail as it grows out to correct the shape and prevent that curving in on the sides of the nails. That usually is what causes pain. So it kind of trains the nails like braces for your teeth. Mm-hmm<affirmative> but it's not painful and there's no metal to it. Hmm. And it just supports the nail as the nail grows out to allow the nail to grow into the normal shape that it
Speaker 1:Should now who qualifies for that? Anybody? Oh.
Speaker 2:Anybody in growing toenail or pain with the nail growing into the skin. Yeah. Does
Speaker 1:Medicare cover that?
Speaker 2:Medicare does not. Oh, This is a fun new treatment machine.
Speaker 1:Yeah. We gotta wait. We gotta to see if it's, uh, if, if they should. Yes, they should. Yeah, they should. They don't.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But no, it's a new treatment, unfortunately it's not covered by insurance, but it does provide significant relief. Um, for patients, especially patients that are not, uh, candidates for a nail procedure. So a patient with significant, poorly managed diabetes, peripheral artery disease, those are patients that this is specif beneficial for because a nail procedure can cause significantly more harm for them because of their underlying medical conditions.
Speaker 1:That, that makes sense. That really makes sense. Now back to like other injuries that we can do to our foot, our feet, including sprained ankles. So do you see a lot of sprained ankles in your practice? I
Speaker 2:Do see a lot of sprained ankles actually. Um, the biggest thing that causes a sprained ankle is a previous untreated sprained ankle. So once that ligament gets damaged, if it's not rehabbed properly, then you're more prone to spraining your ankle again in the future. So definitely if you have a sprained ankle being sure to get it treated appropriately right away doing the correct therapy to help, to strengthen everything around the ankle, help to support the ankle, to prevent a future injury in the future. Mm-hmm
Speaker 1:<affirmative> do you consider like planar fasciitis? Is that an injury or is that something that happens because of overuse?
Speaker 2:So it is, it is, it can be both. Um, basically planar fasciitis is an inflammation around the planar, fascia who, which is the ligament on the bottom of the foot that supports the arch. Now, unfortunately over time, the arch Cann collapse, and that puts additional strain on the Plano fascia, which then would precipitate planar fasciitis. But however high impact activities can also cause inflammation around the Plano fascia, which would then lead to Plano fasciitis. So you get up, uh, spraying it's nice and warm out. So side, we decide we're gonna be runners mm-hmm<affirmative> so we get out, everybody goes running and then the plant fascia gets really inflamed and now plant fasciitis
Speaker 1:And you can't run anymore. You
Speaker 2:Can't run well. Well
Speaker 3:<laugh> we advise. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. There, there are the hardcore people that will keep running with, with pain.
Speaker 2:Yes. We advise against it, but yes, it, it, it can happen with overuse and it can also be just something that happens because of the way our society is. A lot of people work on hard concrete floors, which puts a lot of impact on the foot causes inflammation. And also the collapse of the arch that happens over time puts lot of strain on the plant of fascia causing inflammation, wearing an appropriate shoe gear, puts a lot of strain on the plant of fascia mm-hmm<affirmative> causing inflammation.
Speaker 1:Yeah. What about, uh, are the overweight people like you're adding more weight onto your feet?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we have these two<laugh> little feet at the bottom that help to support our entire body. And unfortunately with weight gain, it changes our center of balance. And that puts additional strain on the foot because it's not bearing weight the way it usually does. Cuz your center of balance is adjusted so that you don't topple over mm-hmm<affirmative>, but that also puts additional strain on other muscles and ligaments in the foot, which then makes you more prone to injury.
Speaker 1:So is rest the only cure for plantar fasciitis?
Speaker 2:Well, it's one of the initial remedies cuz if it's the first time that it's ever happened, um, you go out running one day and at the end of the day or the next morning you wake up and you have pain mm-hmm<affirmative> then yes. Rest is definitely beneficial to help to decrease the inflammation, decrease the pain that you're having. Um, it's a first line therapy to do at home to try to get it better. Yes, definitely. Rest ice wearing the appropriate shoes, not going barefoot. Um, not the
Speaker 1:Beach. Yeah.<laugh>
Speaker 2:Is not ideal either that incline is not, not fun for our backs, hips, knees, and feet.
Speaker 1:Right. So what happens next? What if it, if it does, does it go away?
Speaker 2:So it cans, plantar fasciitis can be self limiting, um, where you do remedies at home and all of a sudden you just realize like, Hey, my feet haven't hurt for a long time. Wonder what happened? That is a possibility. Um, if it does not go away, treatment options include strapping orthotics, injections, um, shockwave therapies, beneficial for, um, Plano fasciitis, basically trying to get that area, the inflammation to calm down and getting the Plano I should heal itself.
Speaker 1:Okay. So you mentioned orthotics. So who are orthotics for, is it just for the, the high arch people? The low arch people? The, the people with plantar fasciitis orthotics seem to be, uh, something you can walk into target and buy and you know
Speaker 2:Yeah. So they are, um, not all orthotics are created equal,
Speaker 1:Right?
Speaker 2:Um, they're over the counter devices and they're custom devices. So, and over the, I usually recommend everybody get an orthotic. It, it doesn't hurt provide additional cushioning, additional support to the foot. Does it hurt, especially,
Speaker 1:Do you take out the insult that's in the original shoe? Yes.
Speaker 2:Remove the original insert. And I always wondered that with that way, that foot isn't crowded in there from that extra height. So remove the original insert and then replace it with the orthotic.
Speaker 1:So that way you can get an orthotic and use it in multiple shoes, multiple shoes, correct?
Speaker 2:Correct. Um, with the over the counter orthotics, I always recommend, um, when you're purchasing the orthotic, put your hand on the arch of the ortho and press down real hard. The goal of an orthotic is to be able to provide support. Now, if you put your hand and the arch completely collapses with just the weight of your hand, when you put your full body weight on it, that thing is gonna be just flat, which will be equivalent to what was in the shoe originally. Mm-hmm<affirmative> that not beneficial to you at all. So making sure that when you do push down on the arch of that orthotic, it maintains its shape maintains its shape. And that means that it will then support your foot when you do put it into your shoe.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Um, I find orthotics really interesting. Will they help with the, like a, an older, like a, a senior someone 65 and over, will it help with Mo and balance?
Speaker 2:Yes. So NoHo, it can significantly help with balance by correcting the position of the heel, supporting the arch, maintaining a stable base is what it will do. And that can also affect the positioning of the knees and also the hips, which can help with balance and stability. And it also decrease pain that patients oftentimes will have in the hips and the knees from getting the correct orthotic
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm<affirmative> yeah, that totally makes sense. We are talking with Dr. Noche Robinson podiatrist to specializing in keeping our feet, uh, dry, warm, no covered.<laugh> happy, stable. Um, and when we come back, we're gonna continue the conversation. We're gonna talk a little bit about, um, our Achilles tend to, um, and some other like bony problems that we can have with our feet. And then we're gonna talk about how we can make, uh, our feet feel better with stretching and activities. So we're gonna keep the conversation going. So stick around inspiration health radio sponsored by millennium physician group will be right back. Welcome back inspiration health radio, sponsored by millennium physician group. I'm Michelle McCormick. Each week. We talk about the healthcare issues that are important to you by inviting providers and experts to inspire you, to take control of your healthcare decisions. Well, as we get older, we know we need to take better care of our bodies. And that definitely includes our feet. In addition to keeping them clean and dry, we, them to not hurt so much as we age our guest today is Dr. Noche Robinson, a podiatrist who specializes in helping to keep our feet happy. And, and Dr. Robinson, we finished the, the last, uh, segment talking about, uh, orthotics. Um, we spent some time talking about plantar fasciitis, but there are other foot related injuries, if you will. Uh, that we haven't talked about. My husband's a runner, well, a pseudo runner and he always comes home. Oh, my calf hurts. Oh, this hurts. Oh, it's my Achilles tendon. And he thinks he can self-diagnose but let's talk about the Achilles tendon because I had another friend whose husband like tour the Achilles tendon playing like basketball with his buddies,
Speaker 2:The biggest one. Oh
Speaker 1:My goodness. Let's talk. And I've heard it excruciating. Yes. So let's talk a little bit about, um, keeping our Achilles tendon healthy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. So the Achilles tendon is the huge tendon on the starts with the gas drug muscle, which is a calf muscle. And then once it tapers down, it becomes a tendon and that tendon attaches to the heel bone. So the Achilles tendon is basically responsible for normal GA helping you to walk normally. Um, it's very prone to injury because it does so much
Speaker 1:<laugh> it sounds like an active tendon, right?
Speaker 2:You're going up the stairs. You're going to use your Achilles tendon gate up, sit and down, walking on the beach, normal walking, running and more so playing sports. Basketball is a big one for having injuries to the Achilles tendon. So yeah, very important.
Speaker 1:And I mean, does it snap? Does it tear? So
Speaker 2:Usually there's micro injury that happens to the Achilles tendon. Um, and that's just wear and tear over time and then you go and do something big, like trying to jump in, uh, dunk a basketball. And that puts additional significant strain on the Achilles tendon. And it just completely tears gives completely out. And it's literally like a huge rubber band that snaps. So it's really painful when that tendon basically breaks mm-hmm
Speaker 1:<affirmative> and, and then walking becomes
Speaker 2:Impossible. Yeah.
Speaker 1:<laugh> oh my goodness. So what kind of recovery are you looking at?
Speaker 2:Well, it depends on how the injury is treated. So if it's treated with just casting it and allowing it to heal, um, itself, that's probably about eight weeks to get that to heal. Um, if it requires surgery, uh, to debris, the tendon and sew it back together essentially is what's done. Um, this about the same mm-hmm<affirmative> four to six weeks, um, usually, and then getting back into activities usually about the six to eight week mark.
Speaker 1:And do you do those, uh, type of surgeries too? Yeah. Do you see a lot of'em?
Speaker 2:No, we don't see a lot of'em good.
Speaker 1:So people are taking care of, well, I personally don't,
Speaker 2:Don't see, don't see a lot of them, most of those people end up going into, to the hospital and whoever is there that they treat
Speaker 1:Them because it's that urgent.
Speaker 2:Yes. It's significantly painful.
Speaker 1:Oh goodness. It sounds awful. So, um, alright, so that's one, but what is age related pad atrophy?
Speaker 2:So the bottom of the foot, there's fat on the foot to help, to support and cushion the forces that go through the foot with normal walking, running. And as we age, unfortunately, that fat wears away. What that does is it makes the bones in the foot more prominent. And so that puts additional, uh, pressure and strain on that area, which causes pain because the padding that's supposed to be there is no longer there cuz that the fat wears away, uh, as we
Speaker 1:Age, but that's one place we would like to keep our fat.
Speaker 2:It would be nice. It doesn't go where<laugh>, where you need it. Unfortunate.
Speaker 1:Just saying to say, couldn't resist, couldn't resist
Speaker 2:It. Doesn't but um, with that, there, there are things we can do to help to augment that fat that's there. We can do fat pad grafting to replace the fat in that area. DRAL fillers work great to the fat pad, cushioning that area help to decrease the pain, especially if you're dealing with metatarsalgia, which is pain directly under the metatarsals, um, with walking normal activity that can significantly help to reduce that pain if not eliminate it because it recreates the cushioning in that area and prevents those bones from pressing directly on the skin. Huh.
Speaker 1:Okay. Well, that's interesting. Which brings us to the minimal minimally invasive surgery for bony prominences.
Speaker 2:Yes. So, um, As we age, We're not as healthy as we used to be in surgery to fix deformities can be quite debilitating for our older population. So one of the options that's available is minimally invasive surgery and some of the procedures we can actually do right in our office and what we would, what we're mostly focused on is not so much correcting the deformity, but removing the problem. So if there's a bony prominence, that's rubbing in your shoe, could eating irritation, always red, always inflamed. We can remove that bony prominence so that it's no longer rubbing. We're not treating the cause of the bony prominence. Cuz like I said, most of those patients that would require you to be under anesthesia. All of that, mm-hmm,<affirmative> a lot longer recovery time, not weightbearing, which is detrimental to the aging population, make kingdom them non-weight bearing. Yeah. So minimally invasive surgery allows you to walk right away. Um, there's no big boot or anything that would affect the hip when the knees, um, and it can remove areas that can become very problematic for older patients.
Speaker 1:Wow. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Bun hammertoes we can just get that. Yeah. See,
Speaker 1:That is awesome because you definitely see people with that, that toes just looks so pain. Like, like they're bent in weird ways and, and just arthritis in their feet. Yes. So
Speaker 2:Yeah. And that makes it difficult. Um, finding a shoe that's not painful because unfortunately shoes weren't designed to accommodate that type of deformity. So you'll get significant rubbing on the toes. Like I said, the irritation that occurs, but you can also get wounds in those areas. And those wounds on the toes are very difficult to treat. And so one of the things that we can do to help, to prevent that is doing a small surgery on the toe, oftentimes that can be done in the office. There's no general anesthesia just done under lo anesthesia just to correct that deformity in the toe to prevent the irritation and the possibility of an ulcer in the future.
Speaker 1:Hmm. All right. Well, Dr. Robinson, that is, that is good to know. Um, you know, I've noticed as, as I age that when I walk, I feel like my feet are starting to turn in a little more and I don't know if it's the shoes that I'm wearing or if it's just, you know, are my knees getting tired? Are my, you know, does it move up to my, I mean, is there, do feet, does your step change as you age? Yes.
Speaker 2:Yes. Um, this kind of goes back to the plan of fascia. Um, its job is to support the arch as well as the posterioral tendon. And over time there's weakness that occurs in that area that causes the arch to collapse over time, which is the turning in of the foot that are referring to. But when that happens, it changes the position that your knee sits in, which now causes pinching, um, an arthritis, um, can accelerate your arthritis because you're now in an abnormal position for the knee. Similarly with the hip mm-hmm<affirmative>. So an orthotic is actually beneficial for that because it will put the foot back in the correct position that it's supposed to be in, but it will also provide support for the plant of fascia and the posterior Tobo tendon. So they're not under as much strain as they were trying to hold that arch up throughout the day.
Speaker 1:Okay. Yeah, it sounds like I, I need to make an appointment<laugh> um, so let's, let's switch gears. Can, um, stretching, help our feet
Speaker 2:Stretching is beneficial for your entire body. True with over time, the tendon shorten the muscle contracts and you're not as flexible and as limb as you used to be. And unfortunately that makes you more prone to injury. Uh, part of the compensation that happens in your body in is balancing. So if you're about to fall muscles fire to help to prevent that fall. Now, if you're not as flexible and those muscles haven't been used or stretched in a long time, you're more likely to incur significant injury. So yes, being active, stretching, maintaining muscle tone. So a little bit of weight training is beneficial. Um, especially for older a population maintaining that muscle tone helps to protect the joints and helps to decrease, um, injury. Mm-hmm
Speaker 1:<affirmative>. Now what about like, um, like a foot massage or something? I know it sounds so lovely. Let feel great. Every night, every night before I go to bed, I rub like magnesium butter. Okay. On my feet. Okay. And I swear it helps me sleep.
Speaker 2:Huh. Okay. I, I'm not gonna knock it.
Speaker 1:You I'm like if it works, but I think part of it is just the, the feeling of rubbing your feet. Yes. You know, they they're softer after you put some lotion on it. It, it, how important is that? It feels great.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It feels great. Um, there, there are several nerve endings in the feet, um, just helping to massage take some of that tension there's muscles, relaxing the tension and similar to a regular massage, um, relaxing the tension in that area. And there's often, uh, reflexology mm-hmm<affirmative> that I'm not really<laugh> well
Speaker 1:Versed
Speaker 2:To speak on. Yeah. But there are different organ systems that have pressure points in the feet that if, when rubbed can help to alleviate issues, those areas as well. So yeah. I mean, it feels good too. So if it gives you additional benefit outside of feeling good, I say, why not? I,
Speaker 1:I totally agree with you. All right, Dr. Noche Robinson, when we come back for our last segment, we're gonna keep talking about keeping our feet in balance. We're gonna like come back to the compression conversation, cuz I think it's important to, to know about the compression and socks. And we're gonna kind of just summarize a little bit of what we've talked about today. So stick around inspiration health radio sponsored by millennium physician group will be right back. Welcome back to inspiration health radio, sponsored by millennium physician group. I'm Michelle McCormick every week. We're talking about the healthcare issues that are important to you by info providers and experts to inspire you, to take control of your healthcare decisions. Well, today we've been talking about getting older and we know we need to take better care of our bodies, but we also need to take really better care of our feet because they keep us upright. In the most part, in addition, in addition to keeping them clean dry, um, we talked a lot about, uh, massaging our feet and we talked a lot about injuries to our feet and we're gonna kind of go over a little bit of that to our guests today as Dr. Nae Robinson, a podiatrist who specializes in keeping our feet happy and you know, Dr. Robinson and our, at the end of our last one, I wanted to bring up, um, uh, pedicures. All right. So, so you go to the pedicure place and you put your feet in the water and they soak'em in the hot water and stuff and it just feels so nice and they clean our toenails and stuff. Um, do you recommend pedicures?
Speaker 2:So
Speaker 1:I mean yes or no, I don't.
Speaker 2:I don't, it, it depends. Okay. They're not for everyone.
Speaker 1:Right? I agree.
Speaker 2:So it depends. I usually recommend picking a good establishment that has clean instruments, cleaning the reservoir you put your foot into. Um, that's very, very important cuz you don't wanna get any that's the most where you get bacteria and fungus. Um, making sure that they're not using sharp instruments on your, on the bottoms of the feet, cuz you can get small cuts and scrap so that you can't even see with your naked eye, but it's big enough for bacteria to get in and cause an infection. Um, similarly with the cuticles, not trimming them back too far cuz they serve a purpose. They're there to protect the nail bed from getting bacteria and fungus into the nail bed. So it, it, it depends. It
Speaker 1:Depends. It does, it does depend and, and you know, it feels so nice and you feel like you're treating yourself and um, but, but I understand cuz you do, you can get a really bad pedicure. Yes. And, and it can be very painful. Correct. All right. So we talked a little bit also earlier about compression socks, whether it's a sleeve or a full sock, what's the difference?
Speaker 2:So the compression sleeve would go from just above the ankle, um, to the a calf covers the calf. So just below the knee, basically between the ankle and the knee would be a sleeve, a compression sock would be a sock that extends all the way up to below the knee.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Who are the, and who are they for?
Speaker 2:So a compression sleeve is usually for athletes. It helps with muscle recovery helps to decrease muscle fatigue. And so our athletes will usually wear a compression sleeve in the calf off cuz that's usually is a big muscle group for, um, moving
Speaker 1:<laugh> mm-hmm<affirmative> right.<laugh>
Speaker 2:Right. So they're usually who wear compression sleeves and that's not to say that, um, anybody can't wear a compression sleeve cuz you'll get the same benefits. Um, but I do recommend everybody wear compression socks, um, to help to, it helps to prevent swelling in the feet, which swelling can cause fatigue can also cause damage to the skin, um, from, uh, recurrent long term swelling. But it also prevents that aching in the ankles, in the calves when you get home, um, and you get home from a long day of work, you sit down in your feet, just ache mm-hmm<affirmative> compression can help with that to prevent that. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I see a lot of people traveling yes. In compression socks and know when they're flying long travel. Yes. Um, really makes a difference. It
Speaker 2:Does. It does. Um, and it does take some time getting used to usually patients will wear it a day. They're like, yeah, no, this is not for me, but
Speaker 1:They can be hot<laugh>
Speaker 4:We do live in Florida. We do live in Florida,
Speaker 2:But I find the benefits far outweigh um, whatever complaints you may have in regards to compression sock. Um, especially if you have a history of high blood pressure, if you have a family history of varicose veins, um, or if you stand long periods, um, in the day mm-hmm<affirmative> wearing a compression sock will help to support your calf muscles, um, and help to prevent that swelling.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. It's uh, I, I agree. I think they're great. Um, I restless leg now. I know it, it probably, I don't know, but my legs get really restless at time. And sometimes when I put on a compression sock, it really seems to help.
Speaker 2:Yes. So venous reflux, which is backflow of blood into, in the veins is one of the things that can contribute to that restless leg syndrome.
Speaker 1:Yes. That's good to know. So
Speaker 2:Wearing a compression<laugh> will, will help with that.
Speaker 1:Well, and you definitely see it. Like I see it a lot at my, at my grandmother's assisted living facility, you know, they, they somehow get'em on in the morning. I, I don't know. And then, and then they walk with their walkers and um, you know, is there something that we can do to help our aging population try, take better care of their feet? You know, they're active. Right. You know? Um, and I just would love to know what we can do to, to help encourage better, better feet as we age.
Speaker 2:Well, so it all starts before that. So taking care of your feet at any age that you should take care of them, not waiting until you get older. Um, but the biggest thing is staying active. It helps to decrease injuries, um, better lifestyle. You feel better, um, less, uh, chronic conditions from being active. It, it benefits everything. Uh, definitely recommend. I know a lot of senior centers have, um, activities and, um, exercise programs that are tailored, uh, towards seniors. And those are beneficial, especially with maintain the muscle tone helps to maintain balance, which is what's significantly affected in our aging population, which makes them more prone to falls and injuries. So yeah, staying active as much as possible getting the right shoe so you can remain active if it means getting a compression sock so you can remain active, being active is the best thing. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Orthotics too,
Speaker 2:For sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Gotta get, gotta get some orthotics Dr. Robinson. That's my next thing to do. Well, Dr. Noche Robinson, what can you leave us with today? Uh, you know, about really just, you said it right there. Just keeping our healthy, our feet healthy at any time from the cute little feet that we take, uh, you know, when the babies are born and we want their little footprints all the way up to, you know, our aging population, just yeah. Taking care of our feet.
Speaker 2:A lot of times the feet just get neglected, you know, something's wrong, you know, what's bothering you, but you just neglect to take care of it. And unfortunately, that small thing can become something significantly bigger. Especially with plantar fasciitis. The sooner come to me with plantar fasciitis, the easier it is for me to treat it. However, if you've had long standing plantar fasciitis for several months, worse a year, it's then more difficult to get to resolution of your pain just because it's been there for so long. Mm-hmm<affirmative>,<affirmative> so definitely seeking treatment as soon as possible to get rid of any to<laugh> basically cure any injuries that you have. Yeah. And that will prevent further injuries
Speaker 1:Is a bunion in
Speaker 2:Injury. So a bunion is more of a bony deform. Okay. Um, it is
Speaker 1:The
Speaker 2:<laugh> on the side of foot that bulge that you see right before the big toe, um, that is a bunion and it's a bony deformity. It's usually hereditary. The foot type is what you inherit, which makes you more prone to getting a bunion that can then be aggravated by shoes. Mm-hmm<affirmative> um, that you wear. Okay. But your shoes don't necessarily cause the bunion. Okay,
Speaker 1:Good to know. So I can still wear my super uncomfortable shoes for limited of hours during the day, you know, as my kids age and, and they go to their proms and they do all their stuff, you know, they leave in these really pretty shoes and they come home and bare feet, you know, cuz your feet can only can only handle so much.
Speaker 2:Yes. And there's things you can do extra padding in the shoe, uh Mear pad to help, to provide more cushion to the ball of the foot, wearing a wider blocked heel. If you're wearing a heel shoe that provides additional support a platform in the front of the shoe mm-hmm<affirmative> that provides additional support. And if it's a closed in shoe, just making sure that there's enough room that fits your toes. A lot of times, um, I find patients are wearing the wrong with shoe. You can't put your foot on the shoe in half. Your foot is kind of hanging off the shoe when you measure it on the bottom Uhhuh<affirmative> that foot needs to be able to fit in that shoe. So it may mean that you need to get a wider with shoe to help to accommodate your foot without causing any deform, uh, pain and to the Defor that you may have. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Are shoes getting better? Do you think, because you see now that they're adding extra padding in shoes or there's, you know, a little more ventilation in shoes are shoes getting
Speaker 2:Better? The, the technology, um, has definitely advanced from what it was in the past. Yes. I would agree. Now what was there before is still there. You have to choose<laugh> The appropriate shoe gear for you, but yes, there is significant technology with, um, whether it be, uh, cushioning in the shoe self to help, to decrease the amount of pressure that's placed on the foot. Um, more support in the arch of the shoe. There are several things fabric on the top of the shoe to help, to prevent irritation and rubbing to hammer toes and bunions significant yeah. Change in the technology and the way shoes are made. Yeah.
Speaker 1:We could probably do a whole show just on shoes and laces or laces versus laces and memory foam and, and so on and so forth. Well, Dr. Nache Robinson, tell us how we can get in touch with you. And um, you know, if we have any feet questions cuz I'm writing down orthotics right now.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. So my practice is Meridian podiatry. Um, our address is 41 23 university Boulevard, south suite F as in, in Jacksonville, Florida thirty two, two sixteen. Our phone number is(904) 701-3140. And if you wanna get more information, you can visit our website, Meridian podiatry, clinic.com, right?
Speaker 1:And most in most cases you don't need a referral to
Speaker 2:See you. No. Um, most insurances don't require a referral, but you can always call, request an appointment, um, provide your insurance information. Mm-hmm<affirmative> if you have insurance and we can check to see if a referral is require required. Um, we also take self-pay patients as well. Okay.
Speaker 1:Well thank you so much, uh, for answering and talking all things feet today. Really appreciate it. Well, the conversation will continue next time on inspiration health radio, your healthcare journey. Very important to us and our goal at millennium physician group is to work together to achieve the best health outcome for you. And that includes nice referral partners like Dr. Robinson, but always see your primary care provider first too. See our website for our full list of offices and providers@millenniumphysician.com in good health. I'm Michelle McCormick have a great day.