You probably don’t even think about them unless you lose one in the wash.  They are left balled up in a drawer.  Half asleep, you reach in blindly and grab the first pair you make contact with.  You give more consideration to them when you use them for dusting rather than when you wear them.

Socks!  What other particle of clothing has so many uses?  They help to keep your feet clean, warm, and dry, fight dry skin, cushion and protect your soles.  Some people use them as a form of expression and others just an accessory.  Even when they are worn out and no longer suitable for your feet you can use them to polish furniture, shine shoes, wash your car, cover your golf clubs, or make a puppet.

At Desert Foot Surgeons, our talk about socks is not limited to just patients with diabetes.  Socks can make a difference and help in your treatment.  Dr. Geller talks about the fibers used to make the sock, thickness of the material and padding.

The fibers used to make socks are either natural fibers or man-made (acrylic).  Natural fibers are cotton and wool.  You didn’t have to grow up in New Jersey, like Dr. Geller, to know that wool is itchy.  Socks made of cotton and wool are criticized for being too tight and the seams too rough, in other words uncomfortable.  When it comes to keeping your feet dry, natural fibers are not as good as man-made materials.

Acrylic materials are combinations of polyester, nylon, and elastic fibers.  When these types of socks are made with increased cushioning, they are better at keeping moisture away from your skin compared to natural fibers.  The material is softer and the seams easily hidden.  Padded socks made of man-made materials have been shown to lower the pressure on your feet.  Elastic can be increased so that the socks can be used to help prevent swelling.

No matter what material they are made from socks cannot replace shoes.  Walking in socks does not provide the support or protection that a shoe does.  Especially for those of you who have diabetes with loss of feeling in your feet, you cannot walk inside or outside in socks alone.

At Desert Foot Surgeons, Dr. Geller does the shopping for you.  We carry special diabetic socks.  These are high quality, padded acrylic socks especially good for our patients with diabetes.  Even if you don’t have diabetes, these socks are good for people who are athletic or work in areas where your feet are exposed to moisture.  Please give your socks the consideration they deserve and dress your feet.

“I take longer to heal because I have Diabetes”.

This is a statement many patients coming to see Dr. Geller at Desert Foot Surgeons say their first visit. Unfortunately this is a rumor that makes a convenient excuse. When diabetes is controlled you not only reduce your risk of complications such as heart disease, blindness, and kidney failure, but you heal like anyone else.

One out of ten people you meet in the United States has diabetes. Out of the people you know with diabetes, at least one has developed a hole in their skin known as a foot ulcer. The feet are most affected by loss of feeling and circulation. Diabetic foot ulcers are caused by one or both of these complications. What prolongs healing is poor circulation to your legs and feet or walking on an open sore because there is no pain.

Dr. Geller has a special interest in wound healing. At Desert Foot Surgeons we don’t wait for wounds to heal. Wounds are made to heal by fixing poor circulation, getting your weight off of the wound using total contact casting, and even surgery to correct buckled toes, lumps on feet, or skin grafts to cover the defect. Control of your diabetes and compliance with the plan of care is the patient’s role. Healing diabetic foot ulcerations takes a team and the patient is the major player.

If you have a diabetic foot ulcer and have been told you can’t heal because you have diabetes, come and see Dr. Geller at Desert Foot Surgeons.

Before And After Pictures,

(After)

Before Pictures :
WARNING – Click Here for Graphic Images – WARNING

Eli Manning Gets Good Advice For Heel Pain

On October 5th Eli Manning, the quarterback for the New york Giants, was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis after limping off the field in the 4th quarter the day before.  In the NFL pregame show October 18th the treatment for Eli’s condition was discussed.  On the advice of an old football coach he is wearing cowboy boots during the day, using plantar fascia night splints, and wearing custom foot orthotics in his cleats.

Think about this, Eli Manning, a world champion quarterback, franchise quarterback for the New York Giants, brother of Peyton Manning and son of Archie Manning, has possibly the best medical care available second only to the president of the United States, but he is taking the advice of a former coach. Why? One simple reason, the advice is good!

Plantar fasciitis is an overuse injury resulting in heel and arch pain. Wearing cowboy boots takes the strain off of the plantar fascia. Dr. Geller always says, “You can’t begin to heal until the inflammation has gone away”. Taking the stress off the Achilles tendon by wearing cowboy boots plus the physical therapy the Giants training staff is providing for Eli is doing just that.

At Desert Foot Surgeons we often use splints at night. The plantar fascia night splint keeps the Achilles tendon and plantar fascia stretched while you sleep. If you get the severe sharp pains when you get out of bed in the morning this is what night splints are used for. If you can get rid of that morning “zinger” your day will be better.

The overuse part of Eli’s injury and anyone’s plantar fasciitis involves pronation or lowering of the arch. To review pronation is the normal shock absorbing motion of the foot. The foot rolls to the inside, the arch lowers and the heel turns out. This is good, we want to be able to absorb shock when we walk and run. Of course too much of a good thing is bad. When your arch is still lowering at a time when it should be stable is bad and leads to injury. Custom molded foot orthotics prevent abnormal flattening of the arch and heal the plantar fasciitis. Dr. Geller uses video gait analysis and a detailed examination to make the perfect custom molded foot orthotic that will keep your foot stable when walking.

Below are stretching and icing instructions Desert Foot Surgeons has available for patients with plantar fasciitis. Hopefully Eli won’t find this website before the Giants play the Cardinals.

When I was in college I ran 12 miles a day. This was Boulder, Colorado so summer days always had about an hour of rain at 4pm and then everything would cool off. I enjoy running in the rain so scheduled my runs during this little drizzle. After a month of wonderful, calming runs I developed itching between my toes and a red rash with cracking skin in the crease under my little toes. The burning from the cracked skin was intense at times and the itching nearly drove me insane. Have you ever seen this before?

Athlete’s foot is an infection of the skin caused by fungus. Besides redness, itching, burning, and cracking skin, as I experienced, there can be blisters and oozing. If left untreated the infection worsens. The toenails can become infected causing thick and discolored toenails, but that’s a topic for another day. The fungus can decrease your skin’s defenses leading to infection with bacteria noticed by swelling, redness, and more severe pain.

Treatment of fungus begins by removing the source of the infection. Fungus grows in dark, moist places. Can you figure out what I was doing wrong? In my case I was wearing wet shoes everyday to run. Shoes take 24 hours to dry so alternate your shoes everyday. That means don’t wear the same pair of shoes two days in a row. Always wear clean and dry socks, wash your feet thoroughly and make sure you dry between your toes.

Other treatments for fungus are readily available at your store. Medications are usually creams, powders, sprays, gels, or solutions. The antifungal medicine needs to be applied twice each day for about one week. Beware of using creams. If the infection is mostly between your toes creams might keep the area too moist and fail to kill the fungus. Try powders, sprays, or solution between the toes. If you don’t improve after a week you need to see a physician.

Do you have young boys with stinky feet? Look more closely at their feet. Many times a parent brings in a young teen with redness, blisters, scaling and cracking skin, and the overall complaint of “stinky feet”. Dr. Geller has treated many children with pills to kill the fungus infection besides using creams or powders, clean dry socks, and changing shoes. Some people think treating fungus with oral medicine causes liver damage. They are referring to older medicines not used today. The newer pills to treat fungus are safe if prescribed by an experienced physician. Dr. Geller used pills to treat a fungus infection in his son.

Do not delay treatment of athlete’s foot. Bacterial infections are much more painful and challenging to treat. The earlier you are seen the easier the treatment.

Dr. Stephen Geller, AZ Podiatrist