Golf and pain in foot

The barrier to a perfect golf swing could lie in your big toe. Or your heel. Or on the ball of your foot. Experts with the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS) say these are the three areas of your feet most likely to cause pain that can ruin your golf swing.

Behind these pain-prone spots can lie stiff joints, stretched-out tissues and even nerve damage. But pain relief is possible and frequently does not require surgery.

The three most common painful foot conditions that can ruin your golf swing are heel pain, arthritis and pinched nerves.

-- Arthritis can cause pain in the joint of your big toe that makes it difficult to follow-through on your golf swing.

-- Heel pain typically results from an inflammation of the band of tissue that extends from your heel to the ball of your foot. People with this condition compare the pain to someone jabbing a knife in their heel. Heel pain can make it uncomfortable for golfers to maintain a solid stance during crucial portions of their golf swing.

-- Neuromas, according to FootPhysicians.com, are nerves that become thickened, enlarged and painful because they've been compressed or irritated. A neuroma in the ball of your foot can cause significant pain as your body transfers its weight from one foot to the other in a golf swing.

Several other painful conditions can also make the perfect swing difficult. Ankle arthritis or ankle instability can affect the proper weight shift during the golf swing. Some athletes and former athletes develop chronic ankle instability from previous ankle sprains that failed to heal properly. Achilles tendonitis can also contribute to balance-threatening instability during your golf swing. Ill-fitting golf shoes may cause corns and calluses that make standing uncomfortable.

For the majority of golfers and other patients, treatments are simple and involve custom orthotic devices (shoe inserts), stretching exercises, changes to your shoes, medications, braces or steroid injections and physical therapy, depending on the condition and its severity. However, if these conservative measures fail to provide adequate relief, surgery may be required.

"Foot pain is not normal. With the treatment options available to your foot and ankle surgeon, a pain-free golf swing is clearly in view," says Daniel J. Hatch, DPM, FACFAS, president-elect of the ACFAS. "When your feet aren't in top condition, your golf swing won't be either."

The American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS) is a professional society of more than 6,000 foot and ankle surgeons. Founded in 1942, the College's mission is to promote research and provide continuing education for the foot and ankle surgical specialty, and to educate the general public on foot health and conditions of the foot and ankle through its consumer website, http://www.footphysicians.com/.

American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons
http://www.footphysicians.com/

Cold Feet

It might sometimes seem that your feet are the hardest part of your body to keep warm. The rest of your body might feel all warm and cosy, but your feet remain solid little blocks of ice attached to your ankles, making you completely uncomfortable and causing a pain in foot / feet.. Fortunately, cold feet can usually be blamed on cold weather (or doing something stupid, like walking out barefoot in the snow—which, by the way, is probably a bad idea), but you need to be careful. It can also be a symptom of an underlying disease or condition, ones which are often associated with poor circulation.
Some conditions that may cause poor circulation (and thus chilly feet) include diabetes, peripheral vascular disease (which is when your arteries become hardened or blocked), heart disease, and Reynaud's phenomenon or disease (which is when blood vessels spasm because of cold sensitivity). Your cold feet might also be a result of other diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy (degeneration of the nerves), fibromyalgia, hormonal or glandular problems like hypothyroidism or adrenal insufficiency, or some diseases like lupus or scleroderma (both are problems with the immune system.) In short, there's a veritable plethora of possible causes.

You should also be aware that some things you might be taking in to your body could be causing your feet to feel the chill. Smoking, for instance, can make your blood vessels constrict and harden, which turns down the temperature on your feet. Some medications may also have this side effect, including beta blockers (typically used to treat hypertension or migraines), ergotamine (used in migraine drugs, or pseudoephedrine (used in cold medications). Now, smoking is definitely something worth giving up (and cold feet is hardly the worst side effect), but don't just stop taking the rest of these meds simply because you don't like having chilly toes. You can talk with your doctor if you'd like to explore other options, but stopping medication cold turkey (or, cold turkey feet if you will) on your own is not a good idea.
Having cold feet is really a symptom in itself, but there may be other symptoms that appear with it. For instance, if your cold feet are caused by blockage of blood vessels that run to your foot, you may start seeing other problems such as toe discoloration (they start to look red or purple), muscle cramping after brief periods of exercise, and later issues might include ulcers, pain in your limbs while you rest, or gangrene. If your cold feet are caused by extensive exposure to cold weather, you may notice that your toes or other prominent areas of your foot develop chilblains, or red and itchy spots that can become infected. Definitely see your podiatrist/F.H.P. if you get these.

If you're concerned about your cold feet, your podiatrist/FHP should be able to offer some insight into what's going on. He or she will likely ask you about any medications you may be taking, whether or not you're a smoker, and may inquire about your medical history. Your foot or feet will likely be examined for changes in skin coloration or condition, and if circulation problems are suspected, your podiatrist will probably check the pulse in your feet. Some tests can be done to check your circulation, including arterial Doppler testing (which uses sound waves to see how well blood is flowing—pretty nifty, right?), and an arteriogram (which uses dye to make arteries visible on X-rays).
The treatment of your cold feet will really depend on what is causing them. If your cold feet are due to nothing more than the fact that the exterior temperature is hovering around '15 degrees Fahrenheit, then wearing socks will probably make you a bit more comfortable. The acrylic kind wick moisture away from your skin, which is nice if you're wearing shoes and moving around a bit, although natural fibres such as wool may also work well for you (unless, of course, wool makes your skin itch like mad). When you're outdoors in cold weather, wear insulated waterproof shoes, since feet that are wet as well as cold can develop significant problems, such as frostbite. If your feet do get wet, get back inside quickly and dry them off to avoid these problems. (And get some hot chocolate while you're at it.)

If poor circulation is the problem, your doctor may recommend exercises to increase blood flow, medications, or both. If the
Wearing socks can also help warm the feet of those suffering from poor circulation. If you are having circulation problems, then trying things like sticking your foot into a basin of hot water, or using heating creams, might not be a good idea, since the same things that cause poor circulation sometimes also cause nerve damage. You may be scorching your foot and not even notice. Talk to your podiatrist/FHP if you'd like other ideas of how to keep your toes nice and toasty.. There are also foot warming creams on the market such as Podiacare Foot warming cream, found on the fabulous shopping pages of doctor  is able to locate a blockage, then surgery might be an effective way to remove it and increase blood flow to your feet.http://www.fabulousfeetbylisa.co.uk.

Turf toe or football toe

Sportsmen deal with tremendous physical and mental strain and pain that the sportspersons undergo all of their lives, even after strenuous sports activities are long over. The pain endured by them can border on the phenomenal. Every move and play on the field is fraught with risk and danger, sprained muscles, twisted tendons, torn ligaments etc. are very common in sports. However, the legs bear the maximum brunt of the injury risks. Since the entire body is balanced on the legs, the strain on the legs is also huge. The feet also suffer with digits and metatarsals suffering from tears, breaks and sprains in muscles and bones in these areas.

The toes are the most affected in most sports activities. Toe pain, toe injuries, turf toe, and football toe are very familiar to all sportspersons. Putting ice on the feet, taping the legs and feet, injection of painkillers, steroids etc. are the normal remedies offered by the trainers and physiotherapists in case of toe injuries. Still, these are only temporary measures. They neither provide a long-term solution nor give complete relief from the pain for continuing the sports activity immediately or on an ongoing basis.

Turf toe or football toe occurs when the phalanges and the metatarsals in the legs become injured during the sports activity. When the joint between them is strained or sprained, the toes are forced to face unbearable pain. If bones crack or break, the ordeal could be very intolerable and might require immediate medical attention and complete rest for several days. However, in case of mild injuries, the normal remedy offered is ice packing. The cold ice numbs the toes, particular the big toe, thus making the ball joint stiff. This leads to further aggravation of the injury if the sportsperson continues. On the other hand, if the toes were kept warm, then the blood circulation to the big toe would keep it properly lubricated. This would not only reduce the pain but also prevent more risk.

As such, any treatment of the turf toe or football toe should address all the problems that could occur to the toes. It is important to note which of the following symptoms are present.

Swollen big toe
Stiff big toe
Sore big toe
Jammed big toe
Bruised or discoloured toe
Pain on the ball of the foot

The treatment would vary according to one or more of the above conditions. Still, all of them require immediate medical attention. The actual treatment would depend on the severity of the injury or damage to the toes, particularly the big toe. Heat treatment for five minutes, such as placing a hot water bottle on the area or a heat pack, followed by ice treatment such as an ice pack or packet of frozen peas, put on the affected area, for a further five minutes. This alternating heat/cold treatment should be repeated up to ten times a day, whilst symptoms are present. Also with the support/recommendation of a G.P. or Foot health professional N.S.A.I.D’s inflammation reducing drugs could be used to reduce swelling.

Bunions

1. Bunions involve enlargement and repositioning of joints at the ball of the foot, on one or both feet.This could be either hereditry or from wearing innapropriate footwear or a combination of both. 
2. Bunions most commonly affect women, but can also be found in men..
3. Bunions may or may not cause pain and /or other symptons such as redness or swelling symptoms.
4. Treatment of bunions can include rest, alteration of footwear, foot supports, medications, and/or surgery.

Any signs of skin breakdown or infection around the bunion area, will require antibiotics. Also this and any otherchanges should be checked out by a G.P. or Foot health professional. When the measures above are effective in relieving symptoms, patients should avoid agreivating the bunion again by wearing appropriate footwear and foot care.Including the use of 'bunion socks', at night to try and correct the joint 'turn'. For those whose bunions cause persisting pain, a surgical operation could be considered. Surgical procedures can correct deformity and relieve pain leading to improved foot  function. These procedures typically involve removing the bony growth of the bunion while realigning the big toe. Surgery is often, but not always successful, and failure to relieve pain can result from the big toe moving back to its deviated position before theoperation, although this is rare. Proper footwear and activity restrictions can reduce the chances of surgical failure.

A review of Podiacare footwarming ceam

A review of Podiacare footwarming ceam

Neuroma - Pain in foot

  Neuroma by definition is a benign tumour made up of scar tissue pressing on nerve cells, it is most commonly found between the 3rd and 4th Metatarsal heads, but can be found between any of the others.The main cause is from irritation / compression of nerves in this area. This could be due to badly fitted or designed footwear or overpronunciation.

  Symptoms can feel like hot stabbing, shooting pain with tingling or numbness exteding into affected met heads into toes.Pain can be intermittant and is much more commonly found in women. Overpronunciation- rolling in of the foot, causes movement in the shoe. Therefore the metatarsal bones have more movement. This is why the nerves that run between the heads get irritated and become red,inflamed and painful.

  Treatments: if you get shooting or stabbing pain, take off shoes, rub / massage affected area of foot. Ice / heat application - 5 mins cold compression followed by 5 mins heat application, repeated five to ten times through a day. This will help with relieving inflamation.If the affected foot is left untreated the pain in foot / feet could become so unbearable, walking could become difficult or even unbearable.Appropriate shoes should be worn. These would need to control motion - the rear and forefoot of shoes need stability. The toebox should be sufficiantly wide enough so as not to compress the met heads. Drug therapy could include steroid injections. Also orthotics could give the arch support. Surgery could be an answer to remove the tumour which consists of benign scar tissue.
  
  At all costs high pointed toe shoes should be avoided. Get some practical shoes and give your feet a break.!!

 

Pain in foot - Plantar fasciitis

Plantar Fasciitis, a pain in foot, causes and treatments
Plantar fasciitis is a cause of pain in foot or feet. It can be treated with both exercise and drug therapy, although the longer it is left untreated the worse the condition will become. The foot should be rested and drug therapy should be used from a G.P. or Consultant. This usually takes the form of N.S.A.I.D’s or steroids. There are also pain relief creams on the market which can be used to compliment these drugs, although care should be taken not to overdose if there are N.S.A.I.D’s in the creams and these are also taken orally in the form of tablets of capsules.
Following rest an exercise program should be followed in order to stretch and strengthen the tight muscles that are causing the condition. These exercises should be developed with/by a professional physiotherapist. This is because the wrong kind of exercise will just make the problem worse.
The condition is very painful but if caught in time and the correct form of rest, pain relief and muscle stretching/strengthening program is followed, the condition is easily treated and managed.