Our new address is:

329, High Street, Rochester, ME1 1DA.

Our signage is being created now but here is a photo of the outside of the shop.

Parking is available on street or in Doust Way Car Park (both are pay at meter)

Today the High Street is closed at Hospital Lane so access is only from the Rochester end.

The post Our Rochester Practice Has Moved appeared first on FeetPlus Horley and Rochester.

Fungal infection of the toenails

A common and cosmetically displeasing condition affecting the toenails. Also known as Dermatophytic Onychomycosis. The infecting organisms are usually from the family of dermatophytes but can also include yeasts and moulds.

What are the signs and symptoms?

Well, these are not always present in the early stages but may include….

• Discolouration starting at the free edge of the nail moving down the side towards the cuticle
• White, yellow, crumbly appearance of the nail
• The whole of the nail may be involved
• Thickening of the nail
• Separation of the nail from the nail bed
• Pain under the nail
• Inflammation around the nail

Signs and symptoms of nail discolouration or deformity may not always be clear and should never be ignored. If you are concerned it is best to consult a Podiatrist or Doctor for a proper diagnosis.

How did this happen?

The most common cause of toenail fungus is cross infection with Tinea Pedis better known as Athlete’s Foot! A common fungal infection of the skin. Other causes include:

• Keeping feet in a closed, warm, moist environment
• Ill fitting footwear or hosiery
• Wearing synthetic fibres or nylons in footwear and hosiery
• Occluding nails with nail polish for long periods of time
• Cross infection in communal areas

Fungal organisms are opportunistic, which means they often affect people whose immune defences are running low.

Treatments

The type of treatment advised very much depends on the organism, the area of nail affected and how severe the infection is. If there are mild to no symptoms and the cosmetic appearance is not causing concern, treatment may not be necessary.

For mild to moderate fungal infections or if you are unable to take systemic medication, the recommendation may be to start treatment with an anti-fungal nail lacquer as a home treatment. This works well in conjunction with regular reduction and filing of the affected nails by your Podiatrist throughout the treatment period.

If the infection is more severe, the recommended treatment may involve a combination of oral medication, anti-fungal nail lacquer application and nail reduction and filing by your Podiatrist. Fungal infections of the toenails can be a real challenge to treat but not impossible!  Working as a team with your Podiatrist will give you a better chance of cure.  

Prevention is better than cure!

Prevention is definitely better than cure when it comes to fungal infection of the nails.

The following tips will help you keep your nails fungus free:

• Look after your nails keep them short and filed. Use your own nail care equipment
• Treat any fungal infections of your feet as soon as possible to prevent cross infection to your nails
• Let your feet and nails breathe! Wear cotton hosiery and well fitting shoes. Dispose of old contaminated footwear
• Take nail polish off, avoid leaving on your nails for long periods
• Wear protective footwear in communal areas such as swimming pool sides and changing areas
• Keeping your immune system healthy!
• Visit your Podiatrist regularly for a foot health check

Sources:

British Association of Dermatologists – www.bad.org.uk

CKS – Nice. Fungal nail infection – cks.nice.org.uk

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You may have heard of or experienced this debilitating heel condition. Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the Plantar fascia and is the commonest cause of heel pain.

The plantar fascia is a fibrous band of tissue that supports many structures in the foot. Inflammation results from acute micro-tears commonly occurring at its point of origin on the heel bone. With constant use of the feet during daily activities, the micro-tears have little chance of healing and so the condition becomes increasingly painful particularly first thing in the morning and after long periods of inactivity.

Common signs and symptoms to watch out for are:

• Bruise like pain or ache around the inner region of your heel.
• Pain on weight bearing, usually worse in the morning or after any period of inactivity.
• There may be redness and swelling of the affected area
• Limping due to pain. Aches and pains on the supporting limb and foot.

What has caused this? Well, It could be a number of things which we will discuss, but often patients recall a particular activity or moment since it all started. You may recall your heel landing heavily on the ground perhaps.

Causes of injury to the plantar fascia include:

• A Tightness of the plantar fascia
• Excessive Pronation
• A tight Achilles tendon
• Being overweight
• Wearing shoes that lack cushioning/ support/ stiffness
• Occupational overuse

These may produce excessive tension and stress on the plantar fascia leading to micro-tears.

Plantar fasciitis is self-limiting however, it is likely to be a real killjoy in the meantime! Perhaps you are a dancer, a runner, a teacher or a chef standing on your feet all day, if you are suffering from Plantar fasciitis you will want to manage this problem fast.

Treatments you can do at home:

• Rest your foot and reduce any pounding exercises.
• Stretches – In a sitting position, bring your toes towards you and hold for 30 secs and repeat 3 times before getting up to walk. These stretches can work wonders if you do them daily especially first thing in the morning!
• Roll your foot on a cold tennis ball, a drink can or a Pediroller
• If you are overweight start a healthy diet and try increasing your non-weight bearing exercise like swimming.
• Try a gel heel cup and change to cushioning footwear like trainers.

Recovery from Plantar fasciitis can be a lot faster after starting a course of conservative treatment, so come and see us! Your Podiatrist will have vast experience in the treatment of heel conditions. We can work with you not only to treat the Plantar fasciitis but also prevent it happening again!

Sources:

Plantar fasciitis, Medscape January 2019 Craig C. Young

CKS NICE.org.uk Scenario, Management of Plantar Fasciitis

Mayo Clinic website, Plantar fasciitis

The post A common heel problem appeared first on FeetPlus Horley and Rochester.

These smart in-shoe devices play an essential part in helping you get back on your feet and doing the activities you love.

Orthotics are special insoles that aid and correct foot function. orthotics are especially useful to treat leg length discrepancy and any associated biomechanical problems.

We can help you by providing the correct prescription of orthotics modified and adapted to your individual requirements.

We provide different types of orthotics such as:

• Digitally casted orthoses for a bespoke perfect fit
• Bio Insoles which are semi bespoke and heat moldable
• Slimflex orthotics that offer versatility and adaptability

Modifications are then made to suit your individual case.

For example, we may add a  heel lift to the orthotic of the shorter limb,  this provides stabilisation and reduces the difference in leg length. The foot of the longer limb usually excessively pronates (rolls in) so we can correct this by adding a wedge to the rear of the orthotic to stabilise and straighten it. These modifications will help correct body alignment and posture and therefore reduce stresses on the feet, knees, hips and spine.

Help with Larger differences in leg length discrepancy

In some cases, a leg length discrepancy may be too large and orthotics alone will not suffice. Injuries due to road traffic accidents, surgery,  disease and some congenital conditions can lead to large differences in leg length. In these cases we can offer special shoe modifications which incorporate an internal or external  heel raise. An example of this is a split sole shoe modification. This is where heel of the shoe is split open from the top and a heel raise is inserted to give sufficient height and correct the leg length difference discreetly and aesthetically.

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What is Leg length discrepancy?

Having one leg shorter than the other you may be surprised to read, is quite a common feature in many of us!  However, it often goes completely unnoticed and doesn’t cause a problem unless the difference is quite significant usually more than 1 cm.

Differences in length can be structural in origin, for example, your long leg bones may naturally be shorter on one leg or shortened as a consequence of surgery, illness or injury.  Leg length can also be affected by functional or environmental issues. For instance, if you are used to camber running more on one side than the other or if you are used to carrying a heavy load but favour one side of your body more.

Signs and symptoms you may notice if you have a leg length discrepancy include Low back pain – usually more on one side. You may also have pain or discomfort in your hips, knees and feet this is because the body naturally wants to correct itself and so compensates for the difference!

You may notice that your shoes are wearing more on one side of the sole than the other….and it’s not been long since you’ve bought them! Or you may be building callus or a corn keeps forming on one foot but not the other. These are common presentations we see in the clinic from people affected by a difference in leg length.

The foot on the shorter leg is often seen to ‘roll outwards’  causing excessive loading on the outer margins of the foot leading to heavy callus formation and soft tissue strain. The foot on the longer leg is often seen to ‘roll inwards’ in an attempt to shorten causing excessive loads to the inner part of the foot. The result? Aches, pains and tiredness that can limit the activities you love to do.

It’s natural that you’ll want to get back to doing the things you love so this is where we can help you.  As Podiatrists, we can assess and treat leg length difference and its associated problems. We can provide general foot care to keep you comfortable and reduce any hard skin, corns or nail problems, offer long term management solutions with Orthotics and/ or stretches or a referral to Physiotherapy if we feel you would benefit from further evaluation or a full exercise program. Orthotics can provide long term solutions for structural and functional causes of leg length discrepancy.

 

References used: Joseph D’amico, DPMPodiatry today 22/4/14 Vol 27 issue 5

 

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This is when the toenail grows into the skin surrounding the nail.  It is a very common problem which can occur at any age but tends to occur more commonly in children and young adults… As if teenagers don’t have enough to deal with!!  

The cause is very often due to poor nail cutting.  Cutting down the sides, cutting them too short, into an irregular shape…….or picking at them! Whichever it may be, a shard of the nail is likely to be left behind. As the nail gradually grows the shard of nail pierces the skin creating an inflammatory response which causes redness, swelling and plenty of discomfort and pain as well as creating an open door for bacteria to come in and complicate things further!

An injury to the nail, fan-shaped nails, involuted nails, sweaty feet, tight shoes or hosiery and footwear with no support are amongst the many risk factors. 

So, here are some tips for avoiding an ingrown toenail!

• Cut nails straight across. Simply file any edges with an emery board file.
• Always leave a little of the free edge of the nail showing. Avoid cutting too short.
• Resist the urge to Pick!
• Ensure your hosiery and footwear are allowing free movement of your toes.
• Choose footwear with support and low heel height. Avoid High heels and Slip-ons!
• Treat excessive sweating, wash feet regularly.  Choose cotton hosiery if possible, it is more absorbent.
• Where possible choose footwear made from natural materials like soft Leather.
• Wear protective footwear or silicone protectors for toes during activities likely to cause injuries to the nails such as running, hiking or dancing.
• Resist bathroom surgery!!!  Attempting to remove the ingrowing nail yourself or using unsterilised instruments will increase your risk of infection and complications.

Where do we come in? Podiatrists can certainly help you here. We can offer you a general check-up of your toenails to help you prevent this condition occurring in the first place, or if you suspect you already have an ingrown toenail we can get to work on it straight away to relieve your discomfort so you can get back to your normal day to day as soon as possible. A Podiatrist is very skillful at removing ingrown toenails keeping the risk of infection to a minimum.

The question you may be asking is if you will you need nail surgery? The answer is, not necessarily! Surgery is usually last resort. We encourage the nail to grow normally again by removing the irritating shard of the nail,  treating any infection and packing the sides with cotton wool to help the nail grow properly again. This very often is all that is needed. Good self-care and regular check-ups with your Podiatrist will further reduce your chances of recurrence. However, surgery may be required in some cases where the problem keeps recurring or if  the benefits of surgery are greater. Nail surgery is a simple day case procedure carried out under local anaesthesia. Usually, only the ingrowing part is removed and a chemical called Phenol is applied to stop regrowth.  If you have a condition such as Diabetes or suffer from conditions that affect your immune system you should urgently see a Podiatrist if you suspect you have an ingrown toenail, so that the risk of complications are minimised.

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Our previous base at the Centre for Health in Hookwood has been a fantastic location for us. Laura, Jo and the team have been lovely to work with.

Our new base is in the centre of Horley in Victoria Square, Consort Way. We have two new clinic rooms and a large shoe store area for our new Footwear Solutions Horley concession.

We are taking this opportunity to rebrand Horley Podiatry as FeetPlus Horley getting closer to our goal of re-branding all our locations as FeetPlus by March 2016.

We move in next week, opening for appointments from Saturday the 14th of March.

Photos to follow !!!

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We have extended our working hours because of this and now offer two days of podiatry clinics per week.

Call us on 01634 914 065 to book an appointment or book online.

Click to view the letter from Jayne & Martin

The post Caring for more patients appeared first on FeetPlus Horley and Rochester.

The largest bone in the foot, the heel bone or calcaneus is saddled by the talus that meets with the tibia (or shin bone) to make the ankle joint. Forward of these two bones are a collection of approximately cube shaped bones, one called the cuboid, the navicular and three cuneiforms.

The metatarsals are the shaft like bones that make up the fore foot and join with the phalanges (toe-bones) to make the ball of the foot.

The arch of the foot is supported by the plantar fascia a thick stiff rubber band structure running from under your heel to under your toes. Muscles in your legs pulling on tendons running around your inner and outer ankles do a great deal of the support too!

With such a complex bony structure, the health of your bones is crucial to active, healthy and pain free feet.

Bones need great blood supply to keep them strong, flexible and able to heal quickly. We should eat a well balanced, low fat diet, do plenty of exercise and avoid smoking to ensure maintenance of the best blood supply to your feet, and the bones in your feet and legs. The vessels carrying blood, oxygen and nutrients to your lower limb are the longest in your body and often the first to show signs of restricted flow.

Keeping active helps to strengthen bone too as the minor shocks of weight bearing activity on bone tissues of the foot and whole body stimulate the bone renewal processes. The repetitive stresses of running, walking and cycling are good, but keeping that type of activity mixed in with football, tennis, weights and dance type activities can be better for your bones.

The bones of our feet spend a good length of our lives wrapped up in shoes, so it’s essential that footwear fits well and doesn’t compress the foot. Long term use of poorly fitting footwear is well know to be a contributing factor in bony deformation of the foot including bunion joint and hammer toe formation.

If your feet hurt for prolonged periods, at particular times of the day or after certain activities seek the medical attention of your general practitioner or a podiatrist. Treating foot pain is usually easier and more effective earlier, than after many months of hobbling around.

If you have problems with your feet Charles, Gary, Julian, Mo, Charlie and Saddaf  the podiatrists at FeetPlus Clinics can help…

Martin Jenkins

Clinic Director FeetPlus

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