Warts have certainly wormed their way into becoming a part of our language and culture – likely because they’re something almost everyone has had some experience with at one point in their lives!

You might be a worry wart about the potential of plantar warts showing up on your feet. Just in case you’re interested, the term “worry wart” appears to have started in the newspaper comics of the late 1920s and early 1930s, where a character named “Worry Wart” appeared. However, he didn’t worry much himself, as we now attribute the term to mean. He mainly made others worry, instead!

And of course, warts show up in other literature. Among the most famous being in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, where Tom and Huck discuss various “cures” for the bothersome bumps. Their suggestions include dead cats and rainwater in rotting tree stumps, so we do not recommend them.

That said, there are still myths regarding plantar wart causes and treatments that still linger on – and even new ones that arise, largely thanks to the internet. Here are a few worth knowing the truth on.

Myth: You Can Get Warts by Touching Frogs or Toads

This is another one that comes from Tom Sawyer, but still gets whispered around from time to time. 

Many people who tell you frogs and toads cause warts are likely joking, but just to dispel any confusion: no, they won’t give you warts. The bumps they have are not warts, and they have nothing magic about them to cause any. Warts are caused by an infection from certain strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV. 

Your fellow humans are more often the cause of any breakouts you might have, which brings us to another note.

Myth: Warts Are Not Contagious

Once you know that warts are caused by a virus, the idea that they can pass from person to person is the next logical leap.

Some of the strains of HPV that cause warts are more contagious than others. Many that cause plantar warts do not tend to be highly contagious, but that doesn’t mean they still can’t be transmitted from person to person.

If you have plantar warts or live with someone who does, it’s always a good idea to reduce transmission risk. Never share shoes, socks, nail clippers, or other foot-touching items with others. Also, avoid touching any plantar warts (others’ or your own) unless you really have to, and wash your hands as soon as possible whenever you do.

Myth: This [Insert Home Remedy] is Guaranteed to Work!

There are still plenty of potential “cures” for warts that make the rounds. Thanks to Facebook and other forms of social media, they spread easier than ever.

Home remedies come with plenty of uncertainty. We will not say that they are always doomed to fail. There is always a tiny possibility that a treatment such as apple cider vinegar, duct tape, or whatever comes along next might actually work. However, these remedies often don’t have much in the way of research to back them up. 

Many folks might swear that a certain remedy got rid of their warts, but the warts might have also died off on their own, as they can eventually do after a long time. It might just be that they were trying a certain remedy at that time, even if the remedy itself had no effect of its own.

If you really want to try a home remedy for your plantar warts, there is little to stop you from doing so. We only ask that you please do not try anything that may involve cutting into the skin or causing you pain or discomfort in any other way. 

The longer you go without effective results, however, the more likely that your plantar warts can spread over your feet – and even to others. If you want faster, more guaranteed results, we recommend professional treatment instead.

Myth: Professional Wart Treatment Has to Hurt a Lot

This used to be largely true for most professional wart treatments. We would have to freeze, burn or cut out warts in order to get rid of them. We completely understand that few people were enthused by the thought of that.

But that was then. Now we have a newer and much more comfortable way to get rid of plantar warts: the Swift Microwave system!

Swift uses quick doses of microwave energy to attack plantar warts within the skin and alert your body’s natural immune response to take out the virus responsible. Not only can Swift get rid of warts, but it can also help train your immune system to better remove future attempts at infection.

Swift involves no breaking or burning of the skin whatsoever. Each dose of microwave energy lasts 2-3 seconds and can feel like a fast, hot sensation to some patients. However, any discomfort pales in comparison to that of other treatments, and will immediately subside once the dose is over.

Swift is a treatment we would happily recommend for children for its ability to cause less and shorter-lasting discomfort. If you have reservations about getting rid of your plantar warts at a podiatrist, Swift is absolutely worth considering.

Get Rid of Plantar Warts for Good

We will always provide you the truth when it comes to plantar warts and their treatment. If you or a loved one is currently dealing with those pesky, stubborn growths on their feet, we will always be happy to help you clear them up effectively.

Schedule an appointment by calling our Medford office or by filling out our online contact form.

Plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain in our day and age, but that does not mean every case of heel pain can be traced to this condition. In other words, you can’t call every instance of heel pain “plantar fasciitis.”

Determining the best treatment for heel pain requires a full evaluation and understanding of the problems at the source. Not all causes of heel pain – and not even all causes of plantar fasciitis – will benefit best from the same treatments, so it is well worth it to be specific!

The best course of action for any form of persistent heel pain is to give us a call for a professional examination and treatment plan. But it still can help to know what kinds of symptoms to be looking for when plantar fasciitis is a suspect. The more alert you are and the more you can tell us about your symptoms, the more clues we will have for making a direct diagnosis.

What Does Plantar Fasciitis Feel Like?

Different patients may describe the symptoms of their plantar fasciitis a bit differently, but there are still some commonalities that run through most cases.

The pain from plantar fasciitis is typically felt along the bottom of the heel or the arch of the foot. This pain can be described in different ways, from a sharp, stabbing sensation to a duller ache. There is no real need to get hung up on how exactly the pain feels, though – any type of pain is a pain that should not be there!

Pain and discomfort from plantar fasciitis are typically not constant but are consistent. You may come to depend on your feet hurting at various times of the day or after certain activities. Most frequent situations in which pain becomes notably worse include:

• Getting out of bed in the morning. Pain tends to hit as soon as you put weight on your feet, and recedes after you spend a few minutes moving about.
• Starting to move again after any long period of standing or sitting still.
• After exercise, but typically not during it.

In the earlier stages of plantar fasciitis, your discomfort may diminish relatively quickly once you stop placing weight on your feet and give them a bit of a rest. However, the longer plantar fasciitis persists, the longer you may have to endure these periods of pain.

What Causes Plantar Fasciitis Symptoms?

So what may be responsible for the pain when you start moving in the morning, or the ache you feel after being active?

If the condition is indeed plantar fasciitis, then the area of focus (unsurprisingly) is the plantar fascia. This is a strong band of tissue that connects the heel bone (calcaneus) to the base of your toes, passing through the arch as it does so.

The plantar fascia is built to flex, absorbing and releasing force to help us as we walk. It’s designed for the task, but there are certain situations where it can become overwhelmed. When strain is too great on the plantar fascia, tiny tears can develop in the tissue, which leads to pain and irritation. This strain can come from overuse (such as the repetitive impacts of distance running), having to stand and move on hard surfaces often, or abnormalities in foot structure that shift more weight onto the plantar fascia, among other reasons.

But then why the pain in the morning and after starting to move after inactivity? That is believed to occur due to the body attempting to heal the plantar fascia while at rest. When the tissue starts to stretch and flex again, it takes on sudden stress and tension that can serve as a shock to it.

What to Do About Plantar Fasciitis

The good news about plantar fasciitis – and any other persistent cause of heel pain, for that matter – is that you don’t need to have all the answers and solutions yourself. We can help you determine not only what condition is responsible for your heel pain, but also what underlying factors are contributing to that condition.

The latter part is especially important. If we address only the symptoms of your heel pain but not what is at the root of it, you are likely to experience the same problems in the future. Addressing both symptoms and causes gives us the best route toward comprehensive, long-lasting relief.

Since there can be so many factors in play, a treatment plan for one patient with plantar fasciitis may look different than the plan for another patient with the same condition. Parts of a treatment plan might include one or more of the methods below (and even some that aren’t listed here):

• Rest, reducing weight and impact on the plantar fascia
• Over-the-counter medications or cortisone injections for pain relief
• Changes to more accommodating footwear
• The use of custom orthotics to provide better distribution of weight across the plantar fascia
• The use of night splints or other aids to keep the plantar fascia in an extended position overnight, reducing morning pain
• Stretches and exercises designed to strengthen and condition the plantar fascia, Achilles tendons, calves, and other interconnected elements
• Changes to the environment, such as the use of anti-fatigue mats during work, or incorporating more time off one’s feet, if able
• Changing workout routines and intensities to reduce overuse risk
• Advanced therapies such as MLS laser to increase pain relief and accelerate recovery of the plantar fascia

In the vast majority of plantar fasciitis cases, conservative treatments such as those above can drastically improve or outright eliminate discomfort within a few months. Surgery is rarely ever necessary.

Know Your Heel Pain. Treat Your Heel Pain.

Do not be disappointed if you have already tried one or two home remedies for a suspected case of plantar fasciitis, only to see little or no results.The odds are likely that you just haven’t tried a treatment that directly addresses the specific causes and needs of your situation.

Save time and find the relief you need by scheduling an appointment with Burlington County Foot and Ankle Associates. Call us at (609) 714-0052 or fill out our online contact form.

There are plenty of things we all want to leave behind from last year. If you or one of your loved ones has plantar warts, that would certainly be on the list, too!

Fortunately, leaving warts behind has never been safer, easier, more comfortable, or less disruptive than ever before. We’re proud to provide Swift Treatment, a newer way to get rid of plantar warts that greatly dials down the pain and hassle that more traditional forms of plantar wart treatment are infamous for.

If you’re looking to put plantar warts behind you, we couldn’t recommend a better way to do it!

What Makes Swift Different from Other Plantar Wart Treatments?

Traditional treatments for plantar wart have often required attacking the warts and the virus that causes them from the outside. The layers of a wart are destroyed bit by bit via cutting, freezing, or burning with chemicals.

If you’ve had any of these treatments in the past, you likely remember they were not a fun time. We don’t entirely blame anyone for not wanting to go through it again, or subjecting their child to it.

Unfortunately, in most medical practices those forms of treatment are still the only “good” options for getting rid of plantar warts – other than simply waiting a very long time for the virus to disappear on its own. That’s because the virus sets up its “home base” in the upper layers of the skin, where the body’s immune system tends not to notice its presence.

But here is where Swift Treatment changes the game!

Instead of attacking a wart from the outside, Swift uses microwave energy to aid the body’s own immune response from the inside. By applying this energy to a wart, it heats up and excites cells in that area. They respond by releasing signals that alert the immune system to that area – as if the cells were calling the police. When the immune response arrives, it recognizes the virus as an invader and starts to destroy it.

Most patients will see great results after up to 3 sessions, but how does this mode compare to the traditional treatments?

• It’s much less painful. Application of the microwave energy does sting a small amount, similar to getting an injection. But as soon as the 2-3 seconds of application are over, the pain disappears. No more having to hobble uncomfortably through the rest of the day!

• It’s much less messy. There is no bandaging to deal with, nor does anything need to be applied to the foot. We only lightly debride the warts before a session, which does not cause pain or break the skin.

• There is no collateral damage. Perfectly normal skin does not have to be sacrificed to cut or burn into the wart.

• It’s quick. Each session lasts about 15 minutes, and will be spaced out over a few weeks.

We truly believe this is the best option for plantar wart treatment currently out there, and we hope you can see why we do!

Keeping Plantar Warts from Coming Back

Making plantar warts a thing of the past is something to celebrate, but how do you keep them from coming back in the future?

Well, if you used Swift Treatment, you’ve already given yourself a boost toward wart prevention! Since this form of treatment focuses on using your immune system to eliminate the wart-causing virus, it also serves to train your system to better identify and eradicate future attempts at infection. Just an added benefit!

But a boosted immune system will not always guarantee that plantar warts will never return. It still pays to take simple precautions to lower your risk of infection in the future.

• Avoid coming into direct contact with warts. This includes both others’ warts and any warts you might find elsewhere on your body. If you must touch any warts, thoroughly wash your hands as soon as possible.
• Avoid walking barefoot in high-traffic areas. This especially pertinent in areas that tend to be damp and warm, such as gyms, locker rooms, and pool areas. The virus that causes warts can thrive in these locations.
• Keep your feet clean and dry. This includes both drying your feet completely after bathing, as well as doing your best to keep sweat away from your feet during the day. If you sweat excessively, consider switching into a clean, dry pair of socks halfway through the day, if able.

Following the above tips can also help you avoid other skin and nail infections such as athlete’s foot and toenail fungus as well, so they’re worth making a habit of.

Treat Plantar Warts Sooner than Later!

While plantar warts do tend to go away on their own after a year or longer, letting them continue to exist on your feet gives them more opportunity to spread and become more of a nuisance. Taking care of them now can save you from plenty of irritation.

Call us at (609) 714-0052 to schedule an appointment at our Medford office. You may also reach out to us electronically by filling out our online contact form.

We’ll be honest: it always feels great to kick your shoes off at the end of a long day and let your feet be free.

And in fact, there are a few real benefits to enjoying some barefoot time here and there, especially if you’re prone to things like athlete’s foot or ingrown toenails. We certainly don’t want to deny you any simple pleasures—or worse, keep you from airing your feet out when you really need to.

But at the same time, when it comes to barefoot walking you can definitely have “too much of a good thing.” That’s something more and more of our patients are discovering this year—especially those who have, for one reason or another, been spending a lot more time at home than they once did.

Why Walking Barefoot Can Be a Big Problem

You might wonder why walking without shoes can be such a painful issue for so many people. After all, we weren’t born with shoes on our feet. Shouldn’t we be able to handle the load? What gives?

What you have to remember is that, for most of human history, we weren’t spending all our days walking on extremely hard, flat surfaces like wood or tile. Those are relatively modern creations, and are much less forgiving than dirt, grass, or clay.

To manage these threats to our comfort and mobility, we spend most of our days in shoes, which not only provide physical protection from rocks and other obstacles, but actually support our feet with a substantial amount of cushioning and arch support. This extra assistance allows your feet to withstand modern pressures, hopefully without too much issue. And more than that, your feet have come to expect it.

So you can imagine that, if you suddenly take away that source of cushioning and support, and start spending the majority of your day barefoot, your feet (and especially your heels) can start hurting in a hurry. Now, instead of getting a ton of shock absorption from your shoes, your arches and heels have to take the full brunt of the force on their own. They’re not used to it, they’re really not designed for it (especially if you have a structural abnormality such as flat feet), and it’s not really all that surprising that they don’t handle it all that well.

The Foot Pain Pandemic

As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically altered the daily routines of many in our community. One common result, among others, is that some people who used to spend most of their day working outside the home are now spending it at home.

If you’re like most people, your pre-COVID routine probably involved putting your shoes on in the morning, going about your day (work, errands, etc.), and then pulling them off in the evening after you get home. And that probably worked just fine for you!

But now, if you’re spending all day at home, you might not be wearing shoes at all, or only rarely. If you’re not used to donning your shoes unless you leave the house, you might not even think to put them on. Unfortunately, this could be the very reason your foot pain seems to be getting worse!

What to Do If You Suspect Lack of Shoes Is Causing Your Foot Pain

The most obvious solution here is simply to start wearing your shoes and socks indoors for at least part of the day, especially if you have hard floors. Try wearing shoes during work hours (or the hours you would normally have been working) for a few weeks and see if your symptoms improve. You might be surprised!

(Just be sure you clean off the soles first, of course!)

There are some other good strategies you may consider:

• While we can’t recommend flip flops, you can definitely find sandals that have good built-in arch support. In fact, you can even find slippers with arch support!
• Take regular breaks to stretch and exercise your feet, arches, and calves. You could even try rolling a golf ball or frozen water bottle under your feet while you sit on the couch or at your desk.
• Get a few anti-fatigue mats and strategically position them in spots where you might be doing a lot of standing, such as in the kitchen.

You may find simple tips and tricks like these will significantly reduce your heel pain and improve your comfort.

However, if pain persists, please call our office. Heel pain should never be ignored, and we are the experts when it comes to diagnosing the precise causes of your discomfort and eliminating them. If necessary, we can provide advanced treatments like MLS laser therapy or custom orthotics to help get control of your pain quickly—and then keep it away for good.

There’s never a good time to suffer a tendon injury. That’s a given. Right now, however, may be one of the worst. Sure, you’re probably not in the middle of an athletic season or training for a marathon, since COVID-19 has shut down just about every kind of organized athletic event. But an injury in the middle of a pandemic just means you’re even more stuck at home. Worse, you might hesitate over whether it’s really the right time to venture out and seek help from a foot and ankle specialist. That can lead to delays or mistakes in treatment, and potentially even long-term consequences. In this blog, we’ll talk about some of the things you may be able to do at home to help you deal with a tendon injury. But first, we need to make an important point: Pain is always an emergency. If you’ve been injured, please call us right away. We can help you, and it’s possible you may not even have to leave your home.

A Closer Look at Tendon Injuries of the Feet and Ankles

Tendons are tough yet soft connective tissues that attach muscles to bones, so that when those muscles extend and contract they move the appropriate part of your body. They tend to be weakest right near the point where they attach or insert into the bone, so that’s where injuries usually happen. The most common tendon-related issue our patients experience is Achilles tendinitis. This refers to inflammation, or sometimes degeneration or even partial tearing, of the tendon fibers in the “heel cord” at the back end of your foot and ankle. Most of the time, the condition presents itself as a dull ache at the back of the leg, just above the heel—at least at first. The longer your live with Achilles tendinitis, the more likely that ache will get worse and worse, often spiking after a period of activity (running or climbing stairs, for example). Other common symptoms include mild swelling, tenderness, and stiffness and pain when moving the foot up or down. A more serious tendon injury would be an Achilles rupture. Here, the tendon tears completely, usually in a single traumatic incident. It’s intensely painful, and may even be accompanied by a “popping” sound. Although not as common, many other tendons in the foot and ankle become injured. This includes extensor tendinitis (top of the foot), posterior tibial tendinitis (inner side of the foot), peroneal tendonitis (outer side of the foot), and others. In each case, the basic symptoms (aching pain, tenderness, swelling) are broadly the same, just in a different area. Tendon injuries are especially common in active adults, from around age 30 to age 50 or so. That’s the “sweet spot” where many people remain highly physically active, but their tendons may have lost some flexibility and durability with age. Too much stress and strain, either all at once or spread out over time, can lead to problems.

Treating Tendon Problems at Home

Fortunately, many mild-to-moderate cases of tendinitis can be resolved with home care. We’re sure that’s something you’re happy to hear, especially at a time like this! The best thing you can do when you first feel a dull ache and you suspect a mild case of tendinitis is to follow the RICE protocol:

• Rest. Discontinue any vigorous or high-impact exercises or activities for several days. Try to stay off your feet as much as you can.
• Ice. Apply an ice pack to the painful area 3-4 times per day, up to 15-20 minutes at a time. Always put a protective layer like a thin towel around the ice pack to protect your skin.
• Compression. If you have anything like an ACE wrap or other compression bandages or braces, use them.
• Elevation. Put your foot up as often as you can when you sit or lie down. Raising it above heart level is especially effective to help control swelling.

Stepping in with RICE therapy right away often takes care of the problem if it’s a mild case. You can also use over-the-counter anti-inflammatories as directed, if it’s safe for you to do so. (Check with us or your primary care doctor if you aren’t sure.)

What If Home Care Isn’t Enough?

If you suffer a tendon injury that is more painful than a mild ache, not improving after a few days of RICE therapy, or keeps coming back again and again, please give our office a call. Depending on the causes and symptoms of your tendon problem, you may require treatments such as more extensive physical therapy, laser therapy, or in severe cases (such as with a tendon rupture) immobilization and/or surgery. We understand that, with COVID-19 still on everyone’s mind, you might not love the idea of seeking care right now. We get it. But there’s a few things you should know that might help soothe your anxiety. One is that, in many cases, you may not need to come to our office at all! After you call us and describe your symptoms, we may suggest a telemedicine appointment in lieu of an in-office visit. One of our doctors can meet with you over video, examine your feet, talk with you about your symptoms, and recommend a next step for treatment. It may be the case that we simply provide you with more detailed instructions on stretching and other therapy exercises you can do at home. Two, even if we do determine that an in-person visit is the best choice, you can rest assured knowing we take your health and safety extremely seriously. You won’t have to sit in the waiting room with other patients, or expose yourself to unnecessary risks. We’ll take you straight from your car through a side entrance to your exam room, which has been thoroughly disinfected. We’re also limiting the number of patients who can be in the office at any given time, enforcing social distancing, wearing masks, and much more. You can learn more about our COVID-19 procedures here. Finally, understand that, as with almost any other painful foot and ankle condition, treating your problem early and correctly is the best way to keep that problem from requiring even more doctor visits and treatments in the future. We certainly don’t want your mild or moderate tendon injury to worsen into a severe or chronic one! Taking care of it now is almost always the safest and best solution, even if it does require an in-person treatment. So don’t let a tendon injury keep you from being as active as you want to be, even in these unusual times! Call the Burlington County Foot & Ankle Associates today at (609) 714-0052, and we’ll help you make a wise decision regarding your care options.

Pain in a foot is always cause for at least a certain degree of concern. After all, this is how your body alerts you to the fact something isn’t right.

When that pain is nerve-related (neuropathic), the level of concern can go up drastically.

Some of the key reasons for that include:

• Nerve pain presents in a variety of different forms, like burning, electrical, tingling, and prickling sensations. At best, these are annoying. When the pain is intense, however, it can be downright debilitating.
• The pain may be a precursor to—or experienced in tandem with—motor function issues. Your nervous system is responsible for enabling movement, and damaged nerves can either inhibit or reduce proper functionality in the musculoskeletal system (muscles, bones, connective tissues).
• According to the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA), “approximately 14-24 percent of patients with diabetes who develop a foot ulcer will require an amputation.” Neuropathic pain and disfunction often accompanies diabetes. (We will discuss this at greater length later.)

To help you better understand when you should seek professional care and possible treatment options we might recommend, we’ll start by looking at symptoms you should recognize and why you are experiencing nerve pain in your feet.

Are nerve problems causing your foot pain?

Between their structural complexities and the myriad ways feet are used, there are many possible sources of foot pain.

So, how do you know if the pain is neuropathic?

As noted, nerve pain can be very distinct. If you have a “pins and needles” sensation or it feels as though your foot is burning, the odds are pretty decent we’re looking at an issue in your peripheral nervous system.

Before moving ahead, what do we mean by peripheral nervous system?

Well, your overall nervous system is actually comprised of two different parts: central and peripheral.

Your central nervous system is essentially your brain and spinal column. This forms your body’s command center and it communicates with your peripheral nerves.

In turn, those peripheral nerves form an extensive network that runs throughout your entire body. They are responsible for collecting information (sensory nerves), enabling movement (motor nerves), and controlling involuntary and semi-voluntary functions (autonomous nerves).

When you have nerve pain in your feet, the affected nerves are of the sensory variety. That said, please keep in mind that it’s possible to have issues with more than one kind of nerve. (For example, you might have difficulty moving your foot along with the pain if motor nerves are damaged.)

Attempting to determine whether neuropathy is to blame for your pain is a great start. At the same time, remember that a professional diagnosis is always best for all foot and ankle conditions (and especially as something as serious as neuropathy).

You can learn more about diagnosis and tests for peripheral neuropathy here. 

Why are you experiencing nerve pain in your feet?

Once it has been established that neuropathy or other nerve damage is responsible for the pain, it’s only natural to wonder what happened.

The fact of the matter is there are a variety of potential root causes, with one being a clear leader:

Diabetes.

Elevated blood sugar levels cause a host of problems throughout the body, including damaging nervous tissue.

Because one of the other (numerous) concerning consequences of this condition is reduced blood flow (peripheral arterial/venous disease), the nerves in feet are especially at risk. Without receiving a steady, fresh supply of nutrients, tissues can weaken. Combine this with lowered effectiveness of the immune system and the whole situation can cause severe problems.

This highlights why it’s so important to stay vigilant with your diabetic foot care routine!

An important note about neuropathy and diabetes is that having painful symptoms may actually be better than the alternative.

When nerve damage has progressed to the point of numbness (and you cannot feel anything), you risk sustaining minor wounds that, left untreated, can continue to break down and become diabetic foot ulcers.

And that is a dangerous situation. Due to the gangrene that can set, there are cases where the best-case scenario is limb amputation. (Recurring ulceration has a higher mortality rate than even some well-known forms of cancer, such as breast, colon, and prostate cancers.)

Now, while diabetes is the leading cause of neuropathy, it isn’t the only one:

This page from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS) contains a list of peripheral neuropathy causes.

To sum it up, the NINDS list includes physical injury, vascular and blood problems, systemic autoimmune diseases, hormonal imbalances, kidney and liver disorders, poor nutrition, alcoholism, certain chemotherapy drugs, and infections. Exposure to toxins is another possible source.

How can we help you overcome neuropathic pain?

If you suffer from any kind of foot or ankle pain, Burlington County Foot & Ankle Associates is here for you.

We can create a treatment plan to address your nerve pain. The specifics of this will depend on your particular situation, as you might expect.

One potential nerve pain treatment option patients are often interested in learning more about is our laser therapy.

Specifically, we offer Multiwave Locked System (MLS) laser therapy.

This kind of therapeutic laser both enhances the body’s natural healing processes and improves blood flow. That means—no matter if diabetes is in the picture or not—your tissues (including nerves) can heal more quickly.

In particular, improved blood flow can slow neuropathic progression, which keeps your nerves healthier for longer periods of time.

Don’t suffer from foot nerve pain any longer! Come see us for treatment!

At our practice, our goal is to keep you walking – something you may find challenging when you have nerve pain. Fortunately, we have the experience, skill, and tools to help you get the relief you need.

For nerve pain, we’ll start by providing you with a proper diagnosis and identify the root cause of the problem. From there, we use the information to determine an appropriate treatment plan.

As noted, something that helps separate Burlington County Foot & Ankle Associates is our laser therapy. You can’t find that at all podiatrists, but we’re proud to offer it as an option for you.

If you’d like to learn more about us or you’re ready to schedule an appointment, check out this page for our office hours, address, and directions.

For some, an ingrown toenail seems to be one of those things that will just happen now and then—probably during a time when it is highly inconvenient to have one.

And it is true that an ingrown toenail can just “happen” every once in a great while. The nail starts growing into the nearby skin, causing some pain and tenderness, and often it is mild enough to deal with the matter at home.

However, just because an ingrown toenail can seem to come out of the blue does not necessarily mean there isn’t a cause behind its appearance. This is even more true the more frequently you suffer from them.

If you are getting ingrown toenails on the regular, it is a sign of a deeper problem. But in many cases, it is something you can address with some simple changes that will effectively drop the rate that you are afflicted—and maybe even get rid of the problem for good.

Here are a few of the primary considerations when trying to reduce your risk of ingrown toenails.

Your Toes Aren’t Getting Enough Room

Things need space to grow properly. That includes your toenails.

Toes should have enough room within your shoes to lie flat and straight, as well as wiggle freely. When the toe boxes of your footwear are too narrow or cramped, your toes can take a lot of pressure from both the shoes themselves and their neighboring toes. This can lead to nails that grow curved and inward.

Check how much room you have in your shoes. Not only should there be enough width, but also about a half-inch of space between your longest toe and the inside front of each shoe. Your toes should also not be getting crammed into a pointed front.

Your Toenails Are Receiving Abuse

Your toenails are built to be relatively solid and protective, but trauma can still easily affect them for the worse.

There is, of course, the trauma of dropping something heavy on your foot or stubbing your toe really badly on an object. However, the impacts don’t have to be that severe to cause a problem with ingrown toenails. Smaller impacts repeated over time can also have an influence.

How can these repetitive impacts happen? When your feet are sliding around in your footwear.

If your shoes are too loose, your feet can slide within the shoe, often causing the fronts of your toes to collide with the inside front of your shoes. If you are racking up distance every day—such as with running shoes or on the job in work boots—that can easily lead to trauma.

Many runners have seen or been warned about this type of trauma. It can cause “black toenails,” in which blood collects beneath the nail and it may eventually fall off. When the nail grows back, it may do so in an improper way, becoming ingrown.

You don’t need to experience the unpleasantness of black toenails for impacts to cause ingrown toenails, though. Make sure your shoes fit properly, with enough support in the heel and arch to keep your feet from sliding inside. And if you work with heavy-duty materials, making sure you always have toe protection in your footwear is a must.

You Trim Your Toenails Improperly

Trimming your toenails is not a complicated art, but your methods may still leave you more susceptible to ingrowing.

When trimming, try to cut as straight as possible along the edge, leaving a bit of white. There is no need to cut too closely; you risk hurting your nails and yourself if you do.

If you trim straight but have pointy corners, feel free to file them down a little. Also, despite whatever the Internet or your aunt tells you, do not cut a notch in the middle of your toenail to relieve an ingrown toenail. That doesn’t work.

You Wear High Heels

This one is also simple. Not only do many high heels have a torturous pointed front, but elevating your heel forces pressure against the front of your foot. The more pressure, the more likely it will affect your toenails negatively.

If you insist upon wearing heels, try to keep them relatively low: 2 inches or less is ideal.

What If None of This Helps?

If making any of the changes above helps with your ingrown toenail problem, we couldn’t be happier! But for some people, these suggestions might not work.

That is because some folks can have an inherited tendency for their toenails to grow curved and improperly. In other words, they were born with a greater likelihood of ingrown toenails.

If other treatments are not providing any relief from a consistent ingrown toenail problem, the best option might be a permanent removal of the nail, also known as a matrixectomy. This is a simple, in-office procedure where we remove the nail (using local anesthesia) and treat the underlying nail bed to prevent the nail from growing back.

Take on Recurring Ingrown Toenails

An ingrown toenail that just keeps coming back is a sure sign that something is wrong. We can help you get to the root of the problem and find a solution that provides you lasting relief. Whether you are a runner, a worker, or a member of our military, we can help.

Call our Medford office at (609) 714-0052 to schedule an appointment, or fill out our online contact form with any questions or appointment requests.