• Make sure their shoes fit properly
• Look for any signs of in-toeing or out-toeing
• Check to see if they have Clubfoot (condition that affects your child’s foot and ankle, twisting the heel and toes inward) which is one of the most common nonmajor birth defects.
• Lightly cover your baby’s feet (Tight covers may keep your baby from moving their feet freely, and could prevent normal development)
• Allow your toddler to go shoeless (Shoes can be restricting for a young child’s foot)
• Cut toenails straight across to avoid ingrown toenails
• Keep your child’s foot clean and dry
• Cover cuts and scrapes. Wash any scratches with soap and water and cover them with a bandage until they’ve healed.

Do you exercise or run? Do you find your nails to be thickened, discolored or painful? This could be due to “repetitive trauma.” What does that actually mean? Constant friction from the ground or shoe gear.  What does this actually do to my nails? It can make them thick, lifted, yellow and even black.

Is a black toenail something to be concerned about? The answer is no.  It is not life threatening. It simply means that due to the friction you have bruising or a collection of blood under the nail plate.  If you have continuous pain and suffered a injury then we would want to investigate further to confirm there are no signs of a fracture or active wound.  

Sometimes to alleviate your discomfort the nail needs to be partially or totally removed but all of this would be discussed after a thorough evaluation.  Sometimes the nail falls off and other times the discoloration grows out over time.

We do not recommended sticking a pin or needle through the nail as that makes the patient much more vulnerable to infection or further harm.

During your appointment we will discuss the need for X-rays, evaluate your shoes for further prevention, custom orthotics if necessary to offload the toes and care for the affected toenail.

This patient is ready for heels!

One of the most treasured Thanksgiving traditions has become the Turkey Trot.  An annual tradition of a run on the the morning the holiday.  Families, friends and strangers from all walks of life gather to test their limits.  Unfortunately, many of the participants are out of shape or inexperienced with a run like this.  

Soccer season is in full swing! We recently discussed young children and heel pain while playing soccer. Today we will discuss some of the more common soccer injuries. It is very important to observe and listen to your children about their complaints of foot and ankle pain. Soccer is a very physically demanding sport and the running associated with it places excessive stress on a young foot. Many times, parents and coaches are not aware of just how serious an injury may be. Parents should be vigilant about not letting their children play through foot and ankle pain. I always tell my patients that it is always better to sit out a few games to rest an injury and recover rather than miss out on an entire season!

Here are some common injuries to be on the look-out for:

• Stress fractures
  • Can present as lingering heel pain or foot pain and upon testing can be a stress fracture. These can be very subtle and difficult to pick up. They are often not visible immediately and will show up on later x-rays.
• Overuse injuries such as plantar fasciitis or achilles tendonitis
  • Pain caused by inflammation and overuse.
• Ankle sprains
  • Extremely common! Needs to be evaluated immediately to assess the extent of injury or damage.
• Apophysitis
  • See in skeletally immature individuals in which the growth plates become inflamed. In young children, the growth plates have not closed yet and the bones are still growing and maturing (until ages 13-16). When there is constant and repetitive motions this can aggravate the growth plates and cause pain and inflammation.

In short, don’t just tell your child to “walk it off” or “no pain, no gain”. They may need to be evaluated and treated for a more serious injury.