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In lower extremity healthcare, as in politics, it hasn’t been easy for women to succeed in traditionally male-dominated roles. The gender demographics have shifted toward parity over time—in some specialties more than others—but challenges still remain.

By Emily Delzell

One need look no further than the current presidential election to know that, even though it’s 2016, being a woman in a traditionally male field still makes a difference. Yet, if the majority of current polls prove right on November 8, Hillary Clinton will shatter one of the last glass ceilings for women in the US, becoming this country’s first female chief executive.

In some lower extremity specia...

By Howard Kashefsky, DPM, FACFAS

Sponsored by an educational grant from Medi USA.

he terms “hallux limitus” and “hallux rigidus” refer to a degenerative process of the great toe joint that was first described by Davies-Colley1 in 1887 and termed hallux flexus. Cotterill later coined the term hallux rigidus.2 The two terms represent a progression in the spectrum of the disorder, which is characterized by gradual loss of joint range of motion (ROM) in conjunction with joint degeneration, with hallux rigidus typically defined as complete loss of motion. Athletes who experience joint loading that is both elevated and repetitive may be at risk for this problem.

Most of the cu...

In a study of collegiate football players, who are at high risk of tinea pedis due to their training environment, copper-impregnated socks were associated with a high rate of tinea pedis symptom resolution and a low rate of new cases—supporting claims of the socks’ antifungal potential.

By Gary M. Rothenberg, DPM, CDE, CWS

Tinea pedis, or athlete’s foot, is one of the most common pedal dermatologic skin complications. Worldwide, 70% of the population will be infected with tinea pedis at some time.1 This dermatophytic invasion of the skin’s stratum corneum usually is transmitted by direct, person-to-person contact. Many populations can be considered at high risk of tinea...

By Joseph M. Mozena

Definitions are important because words can make the difference between understanding and misunderstanding.

I prefer a simple definition of footwear: that which covers the foot. This definition does not say it is a top covering of the foot—just a covering of the foot. In the definition of something as fundamental as footwear, I believe that less is more.

I also believe all footwear has an effect on the foot, such that, when examining a patient’s footwear, a foot-care specialist might ask: Does the footwear contribute to disease, deformity, or injury—or does it alleviate problems? Footwear that is prescribed could therefore be viewed as a medical device.

Cert...

Whether you're an avid marathoner or simply enjoy the occasional jog, it's important to know when to change your shoes. If you keep running on worn-down soles, you risk incurring injuries that warrant an otherwise avoidable trip to the foot doctor. There is no uniform answer to the question of when to replace your sneakers, as it depends on everything from how much you run to the condition of your feet. Use this guide to determine if it's time for a new pair.

A Guide to Replacing Your Sneakers

General Advice

The prevailing wisdom is that you should change shoes about every 350 to 500 miles. For some people, this equates to buying a new pair every six months to a year. Some write down the d...

Feet are a very important part of your body – probably more important than you realise in everyday life. When you have in injury or problem in your feet you realise how difficult it is to function without them. Our feet also go through a lot – dirt, germs, dirty socks and what not.

Some things can lead to trouble in our feet. Infections, bone disorders, muscle problems can become common and difficult to deal with. Here are a few common foot conditions that many people suffer from and their treatments.

Flat Foot

Flat foot is a condition where people do not have the arch in the middle of their foot and the entire sole touches the ground. Flat feet can cause pain in the foot and also ...

Thanks to the nature of our sport, we can suffer some painful foot conditions at times. One of the more common ones: the bunion. A bunion is an (often unsightly) protuberance at the base of your big toe. It forms when the metatarsophalangeal joint (MTP for short) is stressed over a prolonged period of time, causing the first metatarsalto turn outward and the big toe to point inward. The resulting protrusion can be painful—especially when it chafes within shoes. Some people can also form a bunion at the base of the pinky toe, as well, known as a bunionette (and sometimes misdiagnosed as a Tailor’s bunion).

Identifying Symptoms of Bunions

Bunions are fairly easy to identify. If y...

Ingrown toenails hurt, and the sharp pain and pressure they cause can make each stride unbearable, forcing you to skip running for days.

“An ingrown toenail occurs when the corner or border of a toenail—most commonly the big toe—impinges or otherwise irritates the surrounding soft tissue of the toe, resulting in painful inflammation that can puncture the skin and cause acute infection,” says Michael J. Trepal, a podiatrist at the New York College of Podiatric Medicine.

Here’s everything you need to know about why you get ingrown toenails, how to get rid of them, and how to prevent them so you never miss a day of training again.

What Causes Ingrown Toenails?

Alt...

A new approach to preventing gout attacks looks promising for people not already helped by existing treatments. Researchers are looking at an anti-inflammatory drug called canakinumab (Ilaris) to treat this painful form of arthritis.

Instead of targeting excessively high uric acid levels as existing gout drugs do, the new strategy aims to reduce overall inflammation. The drug goes after a specific inflammatory molecule called interleukin-1.

The result was a 50 percent drop in gout attack risk, the researchers found. "This was a very large effect," said study lead author Dr. Daniel Solomon, a rheumatologist with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

He acknowledged it was "very surpri...