With the rising cost of healthcare, we understand the importance of taking care of our own health by being more active in our lifestyle and maybe eating better. However, being active often involves using our feet. In fact, almost everything we do in our daily lives involves our feet. Yet, many people when experiencing foot pains try to treat conditions on their own or just wait it out to see if the pain would just go away. However, this is not recommended in most cases. Podiatrists are there for a reason.
Your feet are your most valuable commodity. Your feet allow you to be mobile whether you are walking, running, bicycling and/or driving a car, you need your feet to be healthy, well maintained and balanced. When it comes to common foot problems, it usually gets worse instead of better. A Podiatrist can pinpoint the pain and help you avoid or prevent further damage to the affected area.
Some Common Foot Problems
The following are some common foot problems that you may be tempted to treat yourself, but expert treatment will save you from recurring problems and costs.
Fungal and bacterial conditions
Corns and calluses
Warts
Bunions
Ingrown toenails
There are a number of over-the-counter treatments for all of these conditions. Unfortunately, those treatment options are simply not effective. In fact, treating some of these conditions on your own can actually make them worse, causing you to finally visit a doctor where treatment may have to be even more aggressive. In the worst cases surgery is required.
Why Expert Medical Foot Treatment?
With fungal and bacterial foot conditions, you do not want to mess around. Once the infections are in full swing they can be difficult to get under control. Worse, they can spread! If you try to treat the condition on your own it may not work, and then the infection will be that much worse when you finally do go to the podiatrist. Warts are another foot problem that should be brought to the doctor because they can spread if not treated properly, and many over the counter treatments only cause the wart to go away temporarily.
With corns and calluses it is important to see a podiatrist to ensure that the underlying cause of the condition is treated. Over the counter treatments only destroy the tissue of the corn or callus, and can sometimes cause more problems. Treating corns and calluses on your own could be extremely harmful if you are diabetic or have poor circulation.
Finally, bunions can be extremely painful and should be brought to your doctor’s attention. While milder cases may be treated with wide cut shoes, wearing pads that help you cushion the bunion, or taping the foot more severe cases could require physical therapy, orthotic devices or shoe inserts. Surgery may be a possibility for the most severe cases.
