Symptoms to Conditions of the foot and ankle should never be taken lightly. Your mobility is the key to independence. With painful or debilitating conditions you could find your quality of life significantly reduced. Failing to treat suspected injuries or conditions could compromise your ability to walk and stand comfortably, or engage in the sports and other physical activities that you enjoy.
Severe pain is usually a sign that it’s time to visit your foot doctor Boca Raton, but there are also more subtle indicators that you need to watch out for.
The Foot, Ankle & Leg Vein Center is your local Boca Raton podiatrist with the facilities and talented doctors to treat conditions affecting the feet and lower legs.
Learn about some common symptoms that people often overlook, and get treatment and peace of mind today.
Fat Pad Atrophy Treatment with a Podiatrist Boca Raton
The average person who engages in moderate activity can take up to 7,500 steps per day. If you’re highly active, this number could be twice as much. Over time, the fat pads that protect bones in the heel and ball of the foot start to degrade and disappear. The condition is known as fat pad atrophy.
Even in the early stages, you can spot some of the warning signs. This condition mostly affects people over the age of 50, but athletes and heavier people could develop it earlier.
Call your foot doctor Boca Raton if you experience any of the following symptoms:
- Pain under the heels or balls of the feet when walking barefoot or in thin shoes.
- A sensation like you are walking on pebbles, or that you have a ruffled sock in your shoe.
- Noticeable fat pad loss when touching the feet. The bottom of your foot will start to become thinner.
- Lingering pain at the heels or balls of the feet when resting after activity.
These symptoms can come on slowly. If you ignore them, they will become more severe and could reduce your mobility. If you are over the age of 50, or if you engage in high-intensity running or sports, it’s especially important that you report these symptoms to a podiatrist Boca Raton.
Ankle Instability: How Your Doctor Can Help
If you’ve ever suffered from an ankle sprain, you could develop an ongoing condition known as ankle instability. This occurs when a sprain doesn’t heal properly, compromising the ligaments that support the ankle structure. It can also occur after suffering multiple sprains over your lifetime.
Ankle instability usually causes swelling, which some people attribute to overuse. However, it’s very important that you visit a foot doctor Boca Raton if this condition develops.
Indications of ankle instability are:
- Feeling like your ankle will give way on uneven ground.
- A general feeling of instability when standing or moving on your feet.
- The development of swelling, bruising, or stiffness in the joint.
- Pain, ranging from mild to severe, which may subside at times.
Treatment can involve orthopedics like special boots and straps. Physiotherapy may also help to strengthen and condition the ankle. If ligaments are severely damaged, surgical procedures can be used to reinforce and restore strength.
Stress Fracture Diagnosis and Treatment with Boca Raton Foot Doctors
Fractures can come in all shapes and sizes. Not all occur dramatically. In fact, some, like stress fractures, can develop over time, and you may not even realize the problem when it first develops.
Stress fractures occur from fatigue after repetitive impact on a bone. Athletes, highly active people, and professional sportspeople are at higher risk of developing stress fractures. This condition may also develop in moderately active people who are compromised by bone conditions like osteoporosis.
Laboratory imaging such as an x-ray, MRI, or bone scan is required to diagnose a stress fracture, but you can look out for common symptoms so that you know when to visit your foot doctor Boca Raton.
The condition will usually present symptoms like:
- Pain in the front region of the foot, after long exercise sessions.
- Intermittent pain that comes during and after exercise. It may subside with rest.
- Localized tenderness or swelling in the foot or ankle.
- Increased pain over time that becomes frequent, even with minimal activity.
Stress foot and ankle fractures Boca Raton are typically treated with conservative methods, including icing, resting, elevation, and compression. Crutches may be required to keep weight off the affected foot, and sometimes a cast or boot will be used to prevent movement.
Recovery usually takes up to six weeks before moderate activity can be resumed. A full recovery plan will be developed by your foot doctor Boca Raton.
Relate to the Symptoms Above? Call You Foot Doctor Boca Raton
A podiatrist Boca Raton can diagnose symptoms to get to the underlying cause and recommend an effective treatment. If you believe you are suffering from a stress fracture, ankle instability, fat pad atrophy, or any other condition of the lower legs, it’s time to talk to us.
Schedule an appointment at The Foot, Ankle and Leg Vein Center and enjoy the peace of mind that comes from seeing the best foot doctor Boca Raton.
