Browse our articles and pages tagged with Articles. My FootDr brings the very best in Podiatry care to everyone in Australia.
Aside from managing injuries, improving running performance is one of the reasons patients come to us for orthotics. We understand the many goals that runners have – from maintaining their comfort over long distances when their feet start to tire and technique may drop off, to overcoming the vulnerabilities created by their gait or foot type to keep running pain-free – to gaining a competitive edge and beating their personal bests.
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Recently retired or counting down the days? While the thought of retirement and being able to spend our days enjoying activities like golf, long walks and ample time with the grandkids is very exciting, there’s an unspoken catch: to maximise your involvement in all the physical activities you enjoy, you’ve got to stay mobile and comfortable on your feet.
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Does the ground feel firmer and less forgiving than it used to?
Do you struggle to find comfortable shoes – or ones that are wide enough for your feet?
Do your feet often swell and you’re not sure why?
While we may never truly know the extent of how our mothers care for us, we do know how much time they spend on their feet – all day! So for mum, it’s important to be able to walk comfortably and stay pain-free on her feet – and that’s where we can help. With Mother’s Day fast approaching next month on May 9th, we’ve shared five ways that you can help your mum feel great and look great on her feet.
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Frustrated by patches of dry, thick skin on your feet? Whether they’re causing you pain, making it difficult for you to wear shoes comfortably, or you simply don’t like the way they look, removing dead skin from the feet can give immense relief while being painless – when done safely and correctly.
Today, the Podiatrists at My FootDr are sharing everything you need to know about dead skin on the feet, including preventing it before it starts, and how to remove it safely.
We call this dead skin callus, and it develops as part of a natural process where your body responds to excess pressure or friction to an area of the foot by adding new skin in these specific spots. This creates a protective barrier which prevents the friction from damaging the skin over your feet, which may otherwise cause a skin tear, leaving you vulnerable to infection, pain and other problems.
If your dead skin appears flakier than thickened, then you may have skin dryness, an Athlete’s foot fungal infection, or other skin condition like psoriasis.
Having patches of dead skin on the feet is not a reason to sound alarm bells, especially when present in small amounts without discomfort. However, it is important to understand the warning signs and what to look out for, particularly when the callus becomes quite thick. You should consider having the callus safely removed when:
Often, when we remove callus in our clinic, we find that there are also one or multiple corns present beneath the callus that adds to the painful problem. See the difference between corns and calluses here.
When callus is removed correctly, it is not painful, as it is dead skin with no nerve endings or blood supply. Unfortunately, we see many people after they have attempted to reduce their calluses at home but have created a set of new problems as a result. Some remove too much callus, painfully cutting into the healthy skin beneath. Remember – the callus developed as a natural body response to unnatural or excessive pressure or friction, so it’s important to leave a layer intact to continue to protect the foot, and never remove too much so that you cause skin damage.
Others use pharmacy medications, often acid-based, to ‘eat away’ at the callus. Unfortunately, these often come in size-specific coverings, and will get to work on whichever area of the skin they come into contact with – whether it is callused or not. This means the acid can move onto the healthy skin and cause significant pain and damage.
The safest way we recommend to remove the dead skin is to have it professionally removed by your podiatrist. This is particularly important if your feet are already at risk from conditions like diabetes, problems with blood flow or healing, and the like. Here at My FootDr, we carefully debride the right amount of callus to give you relief and comfort while keeping your feet protected and minimising your risk of infection. If any corns are present beneath the callus or on other areas of your feet, we’ll remove these too.
While callus is easily treated by our experienced podiatrists, its development can also be prevented or slowed. Our top tips are for prevention are:
If you do have callused dead skin and want it gone in one appointment, we’re here to help. We’re proud to be your trusted local podiatry providers, committed to delivering exceptional service, every time.
Book your appointment with us online here or call us on 1800 FOOT DR.
Do you have swollen feet or ankles after you’ve been sitting, standing or walking in a hot environment? You’re not alone. Medically known as heat oedema, this uncomfortable swelling generally occurs because the heat from your environment causes your blood vessels to naturally expand (dilate). As they do, fluid can leak into the surrounding tissues. Pair this with gravity encouraging the passage of larger volumes of fluid down into the legs, and you’ve got swollen feet, ankles and even legs.
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Every year, the average Australian takes over 2.7 million steps. That’s a lot of weight, pressure, heat and kilometres for our feet to cover – and often with little rest or breaks in between. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, we thought we’d swap out the notion of roses and chocolate with a thoughtful gift that will be very welcome by your partner or yourself – caring for your feet.
Here are five ways that your local My FootDr clinic can help care for and pamper your feet this Valentines Day – while doing your feet a world of good medically speaking to keep you going through all those steps.
Cosmetic nail restoration is loved by both men and women, and those that:
It’s also the perfect solution to improve the appearance of toenails in one appointment for those that don’t want to risk substandard safety and hygiene protocols, and hence infection risk, reported to be found in many traditional nail salons due to a lack of sterilising instruments between use on multiple people.
Using the KeryFlex proven nail restoration system, our experienced and board-registered podiatrists create a flexible, non-porous and realistic looking nail over your existing nail. It is durable and is unaffected by acetone, nail polishes or detergents – meaning you can paint it as you please! Aside from the immediate improvement in appearance, your natural nail will continue to grow out beneath the new nail.
Learn more about Keryflex here.
Our skin and nail care appointments, often referred to as ‘general or clinical podiatry’, are comprehensive and all-inclusive appointments that immediately care for your nail and skin concerns, give your feet a fantastic tidy-up, and leave you feeling much more comfortable on your feet than when you first walked in.
With the majority of our patients having these appointments every 6-8 weeks to keep their feet feeling great and in tip-top shape year round, we welcome you to experience this foot care, completed by our experienced podiatrists, as a one-off treat, too. Your podiatrist will take care of any lumps, bumps and even the thickest or curliest of toenails. This includes:
We love these appointments due to the immediate relief patients feel when they put their feet down on the floor after this care – which is often the difference between feeling like they’re constantly walking on a pebble (of hard skin beneath their feet) and feeling like they’re walking on air.
While some people get away with minor cracks that can be cared for in a skin & nail care appointment (above), after a long summer and many months of wearing thongs – which many still wear daily – cracked heels are a big problem around this time, that we see and treat very effectively with these specific appointments.
As cracked heels start with hard, dry skin that thickens and worsens over time, our podiatrists work to remove all the excess dead skin – a process that is usually simple and painless using our sterile instrument range. We ensure that no sharp edges are left that will catch on your carpet or socks, which could otherwise pull the skin, creating significant damage.
Treating cracked heels now, and not at the end of the summer, is a great preventative measure to stop cracks progressing deep down into the healthy, supple skin beneath. We call this the danger zone, as deep cracks in this area can quickly leave you vulnerable to infection by creating portals of entry for bacteria, fungus, viruses – and a great deal of pain – that you often can’t reach on your own.
Our shoes become the ground we walk on and determine what and how our feet feel. That’s why if you choose your ground to be a hard plastic, the chances of your feet feeling tired and achy, or the chance of you developing foot pain, is much higher.
This is exactly why so many of our clinics offer a footwear range so you can try on and get the best shoes for your feet – and not just that feel great, but fit your foot type, too. We have podiatrists and trained staff available to ensure you get the best fit and maximum comfort.
Don’t have a My FootDr near you? That’s okay! We have an online store too.
Finally, the best way we can think of to treat your feet this Valentine’s Day – or help your loved ones treat theirs – is to care for those lingering aches, pains or injuries. You know, the ones you may be hoping will get better on their own, or that you know you need to have seen, but it’s been a crazy last 12 months (which it absolutely has!).
This is done through a biomechanical appointment, where our experienced podiatrists look at:
Alongside your history and a series of other questions, this consultation will determine the how, what and why of what’s going on – followed by an optimal plan to get you pain-free and feeling great!
Our podiatry team are ready when you are! As the largest podiatry provider in Australia, we’re proud to be your trusted local podiatry providers, committed to delivering exceptional service, every time. Book your appointment with us online here or call us on 1800 FOOT DR.
Dark spots on the toes and feet are both a cause of concern for many patients we see and treat here at My FootDr. From wondering if they’re a sign of something serious, to being aesthetically displeasing, patients often ask us how they can get rid of the discolouration, fast.
To help, our podiatry team has shared the common causes of dark marks we see on the feet and toenails, what they mean, and what can be done to remove them.
As having black spots beneath our toenails is far from the norm for most people, it’s not surprising that they can ring alarm bells and cause concern. Especially when we think back to favourites like Bob Marley who passed away at age 36 from a melanoma (which appears like a dark patch under the nail) that started beneath his toenail.
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