The term hallux limitus is Latin with Hallux referring to the big toe and Limitus meaning decreased or limited motion of the joint. So together meaning there is limited motion in the big toe joint.

Symptoms:

• Limitation of motion of the big toe joint
• Swelling
• Stiffness in big toe
• Bone mass or Bump on top of the big toe
• Bone spurs
• Skin irritation from the top of the shoe
• Cannot bend or push off from the big toe so  you have a tendancy to put more pressure on the outside part of your foot causing pain on the outside of the foot

Common Causes: 

• repetitive trauma causing small bone spurs
• injury
• inherited foot structure

Treatment:

• Custom orthotics to equalize pressure
• NSAIDS: anti-inflammatory (such as acetaminophen)
• Surgery to clean the joint and remove spurs

Recommendation:
 
The best non surgical treatment for Hallux Limitus, in addition to anti-inflammatory medication, is Custom Foot Orthotics. There are 2 main reasons for this:

1. They help increase available range of motion within the first metatarsal phalangeal joint by altering and improving mal-alignment and improper biomechanics.
2. Prevents compensation which can lead to additional foot trauma and cause other injuries.

At Foot and Ankle Specialists of Utah we do several orders for custom orthotics every week. What's so great about custom orthotics?  We have them made for your feet specifically! We can do any orthotic  modification needed to  ensure the orthotics fit your feet perfectly!  

The top three questions runners ask about custom foot orthotics are:

1. Should they use orthotics in their shoes while running if they don’t have an injury?

2. If they have fatigue in their legs while running they often wonder if orthotics will help?

3. Should they wear orthotics forever even after  healing from an injury?

The answers are yes, yes and yes!! A new study showed that orthotics have a significant benefit in reducing running injuries as prophylaxis. It makes common sense, that if you have an underlying biomechanical deficit, orthotics give you better alignment so therefore should reduce overall abnormal stressors and subsequently injuries. Now there is a new study that shows just that! Piggy-back that on years of biomechanics research and the answers get much more clear.

This study demonstrated that the subjects who wore orthotics had "a significantly reduced rate of exercise-related lower limb injury across the training period". The authors emphasized that participants were not treated for an injury with orthotics, but were prescribed orthotics to prospectively reduce the risk of injury. In addition, they believe that these "preventative results can be cautiously extrapolated to a recreational running setting and should be considered by sports and exercise medicine professionals."

We generally prescribe foot orthotics to treat specific injuries. This study indicates that orthotics can be a valuable prophylactic tool for injury prevention, supporting orthotic use in at-risk populations (e.g. runners). Considering the results of this study and the results of a previous study on the use of orthotics in runners by Mundermann, it is recommended to use at least a pre-fabricated Powerstep orthotic which incorporate a medial heel skive and rearfoot post, as a cost-effective means of providing prophylaxis with corrections proven effective in runners. Runners with a previous history of these injuries and/or those that develop symptoms would be good candidates for custom orthotics based on the results of these two studies.

We offer only the most cutting edge treatment in Custom foot orthotics. Come see us to get scanned for your pair! 
    

Franklyn-Miller A, Wilson C, Bilzon J, et al. Foot orthoses in the prevention of injury in initial military training: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Sports Med 39(1):30-37, 2011

Mundermann A, Nigg BM, Humble RN, et al. Foot orthotics affect lower extremity kinematics and kinetics during running. Clin Biomech 18(3):254-262, 2003 

Do you have plans yet for the 4th of July? Come run the Centerville Freedom Run! We are so proud to be one of the sponsors this year! All proceeds go to charity!

We are so excited to be one of the first in Utah to offer the Q- Clear laser treatment for toenail fungus! This is the newest treatment method available for toenail fungus and studies are showing impressive results. These studies are showing that the laser treatment is about 80% effective whereas topical and oral treatment methods cap at 50% effective for treating toenail fungus. There are many types of lasers available, but our office uses the Q-Clear laser. We also offer many over-the-counter products like Dr.'s Remedy nail polish to help prevent toenail fungus from recurring.

We've designed a website specifically dedicated to toenail fungus and treatment methods. To check this out, visit www.saltlakenailfungus.com. To schedule an appointment, call us at (801) 292-4425 or (801) 566-7297.

Click here to contact us.

Cccliclick cc  t n     n nnnnn  aappointmne 

A survey done by the American Podiatric Medical Association revealed that 64 % of people suffering from Heel Pain have never sought treatment from a podiatrist. The survey also revealed that nearly 40 percent of the American population suffers from heel pain!  What if your feet hurt? How long can you stand at work before your feet need a break? If you are avoiding the doctor because you are scared, you are being foolish! Let us help you!

 

The most common cause of heel pain is plantar fasciitis. This is a soft tissue injury that is commonly healed with conservative treatment, meaning no surgery! Though there are many reasons for heel pain, plantar fasciitis is by far the most common and is one of the most debilitating. It is often characterized as first step pain when stepping out of bed in the morning. Many patients describe the pain as an achy bruise on their heel times ten!

To understand the treatment of plantar fasciitis, it is essential to understand why and how this chronic pain occurs. The plantar fascia is a thick band of tissue that attaches to you calcaneus, the heel bone, and bones in your forefoot. The fascia supports the arch of your foot. When standing or walking, feet tend to pronate. This means the foot is tilting inward and elongating. This biomechanical positioning causes stretching and tearing of the plantar fascia which leads to inflammation. It is the inflammation process that causes the pain in the heel of the foot where the fascia attaches. The human body is masterpiece; thus, not everyone experiences plantar fascia damage. Our body will often adjust to compensate for abnormal stresses, but sometimes it just cannot take the stress we put it through. One may experience plantar fasciitis during pregnancy or after gaining weight. It is also associated with an increase in activity. So, if you are taking on more shifts at work or began a new work out plan, you may start to feel some foot discomfort.

Since the pain is due to inflammation, many treatment plans fight this problem first. Corticosteroid injections is an anti- inflammatory that will give many people great relief. There are side effects associated with steroid injections, thus the number of injections that one can receive is limited and not everyone is eligible for an injection. Another primary treatment is orthotics. Orthotics help control the pronation that leads to the stretching and tearing of the fascia. The orthotics will also help the fascia support the arch. For stubborn plantar fasciitis that does not respond to standard therapy there is a promising, fast, minimally invasive new treatment available to you in our clinic. It is called is .         .. "Percutaneous Ultrasound Guided Approach to Plantar Fasciitis" or "dry needling" , it was developed by researchers at the Department of Experimental Medicine at the University of Genoa, Italy. In a preliminary study that included 44 patients, researchers achieved a 95 percent success rate in completely resolving plantar fasciitis symptoms, relief that has so far lasted for more than ten months since the procedure.  
 
No foot pain is normal and no one should have to suffer from foot pain. It can be debilitating to your everyday life and many people cannot afford to slow down or stop for foot pain. The good news is that heel pain is often treatable without surgery. With the pain so excruciating and the treatment options so obtainable, it unacceptable that 64% of heel pain suffers are living with pain because they fail to seek help.