All posts by : Synchro

Flat Feet

Flat feet is a term used to describe a specific foot type. Flat foot is exactly what you might think it mean, when your medial arch collapses when you are standing up; allowing the complete sole of your foot touch the ground.

Problems Associated with Flat Feet

Often people with flat feet have ankle and knee pains or injury because this foot type is not the ideal alignment of your legs. This leads to unstableness and increase stress on the joints and soft tissue surrounding it, including ligaments and tendons. People with flat feet can often have aches and pains in the heel and the arch of their feet, along with swelling on the inside of their ankles.

Surgery to fix Flat Feet

There are many way to surgically correct flat feet. First you need to address all three planes that are affected; frontal, saggital and transverse. To correct the frontal plane you can cut into the heel bone and slide the posterior slice of bone medially to help change the pull of the Achilles tendon to help bring up that medial part of the arch. To fix the saggital plane deformity, you can take out a wedge of the top side of the medial cuneiform bone, in the midtarsal. To correct the transverse plane deformity you can take portion of the navicular tuberosity off and reattach the posterior tibial tendon plantar and distal to the anatomical insertion. Here are just a few options that would be considered to surgically correct a flat foot.

If you or someone you know might be interested in discussing more about flat feet, come on into our office Frederick Foot & Ankle. We would be more than happy to schedule an appointment, at either of our 3 locations in Frederick, MD or Urbana, MD. We can set you up the proper evaluation and treatment plan to help you relieve your foot and ankle concerns; don’t hesitate visiting your local podiatrists!

By Brenna Steinberg

New Years Resolutions

As we celebrate the end of a year we also have time to reflect on what we can improve on for the next year to come. Whether, we focus on new career milestones, reaching new fitness goals or just being a healthier person overall. Each new year, we encourage all of our patients to reach a high fitness level and we also want you to do it in a healthy way.

New Exercise Routine

A lot of New Year goals focus on weight loss; however, these can be achieved through eating healthier and living a more active lifestyle. In order to lose weight and keep it off, dieting is not enough; it truly is a lifestyle change. Try to avoid snacking between meals, especially junk food i.e. candy and fried foods. New workout routines, should be started slowly as you get more accustomed to the routine gradually increase the intensity and duration. By starting new exercise routines too quickly at an intensity or duration that your body isn’t used to, may increase your chances of injury. Especially, foot and ankle injuries such as ankle sprains, stress fractures, and muscle strains. Sometimes weight loss and weight gain can the direct source of foot and ankle pain.

Annual Doctors Appointments

Also keeping annual doctors’ appointments will keep injuries at bay. At your annual checkup we can evaluate anything that might be bothering you, each achy and sore that you might be experiencing after starting your new workout routine might turn into a sidelining injury. We encourage all of our patients on visiting us sooner rather than later for any ailment as opposed assuming it’ll heal through time on its own.

If you or someone you know might be interested in discussing more about your foot or ankle health, to prepare you for your new year’s resolutions, don’t hesitate, come into our office Frederick Foot & Ankle. We would be more than happy to schedule an appointment, at any of our 3 offices in Frederick, MD or Urbana, MD.

By Alvin Bannerjee

Tired Feet and Legs holding you back from Last Minute Shopping?

The holidays are here, but there is still time for those last minute shoppers to get in a few more deals! Unless you are shopping from the luxury of your computer, your feet and legs must endure those long lines waiting to buy those special gifts. Hours and hours walking in search of the perfect gift and then standing in line to buy it can be painful.

“Shop until you drop”

That phrase is taking a whole new meaning this time of year! Depending on where you are shopping inside or outside at the outlets standing in long lines in the cold can be mentally exhausting and physically draining on your feet; which might cause you feet and legs to get really cold and start to feel numb. After a long day of holiday shopping your muscles in your arch can become fatigued and tired. This feeling is caused by the flattening of your arch when walking or standing for long periods of time. Thus, much of your foot aches and pains can be generally avoided with the use of arch supports and wearing good supportive shoes.

We advise to all of our patients to take preventative measures to avoid foot and ankle woes from ruining your holiday shopping. First, pick out proper footwear for the day’s events. If you are coming straight from work make sure you switch into a pair of comfortable shoes with good arch supports i.e. custom made orthoses or orthotics; in some cases, regular over the counter inserts can do the job. If you are wearing flats or heels make sure you have an insole in these shoes to lower the impact when walking or standing. These types of shoes tend to provide less support.

If you or someone you know might be interested in discussing more about your foot or ankle health during the last minute holiday shopping rush don’t hesitate, come into our office Frederick Foot & Ankle. We would be more than happy to schedule an appointment, at any of our 3 offices in Frederick, MD or Urbana, MD.

By Coralia Terol

Giving back this Holiday Season

What are you doing to help fight the bulge, this Thanksgiving? With each approaching holiday season there is a sense of urgency to keep off all those extra lbs. from all the seasonal parties! Well this year how about your give back to the community, when you are fighting those excess pounds!

Turkey Trot

Every year Frederick County, MD hosts a Turkey Trot, 1k and a 5k races that help those in need. Thanksgiving morning people gather in the streets of historic downtown Frederick and race around Baker’s Park, in efforts to burn off some extra calories, in anticipation for Thanksgiving dinner. With each year this race becomes bigger and bigger, no thousands are expected to turn out. The events are not limited to adults only; many of your younger patients participate in the 1k, fun run!

The Friends of Way Station

The Way Station is a non- profit dedicated to helping adults with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and substance addictions; children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral challenges; and veterans with service needs. For the past 30 years, the Way Stations have been aiding others through the principles of recovery and perseverance and are committed to providing evidence-based, consumer-driven, and family-focused services; such as to assist then with their daily living, housing and employment goals.

If you or someone you know might be interested in discussing more about your foot or ankle health, in order to participate in the Turkey Trot, don’t hesitate! Come into the offices of Frederick Foot & Ankle. We would be more than happy to schedule an appointment, at any of our 3 offices in Frederick, MD or Urbana, MD.

By Yenisey Yanes

Acute Ankle Fractures

When you are diagnosed with an acute ankle fracture, do you know exactly what that means? When you are diagnosed with something “acute” it simply means that it happened recently and suddenly. Acute injuries are usually associated with traumatic events i.e. from a motor vehicle accident, to a traumatic fall, or even a crash into another player in the field.

Changes your Body Undergoes Post Acute Ankle Fracture

Your body may undergo many changes after your injury. For instance, there may be immediate bruising that you may notice; this might form around torn muscles, ligaments and tendons. You can experience some sharp pain that is often severe and knife-like. Instability in that affected ankle will prevent you from putting your full weight on the affected side.

Bone Healing- Inflammatory Phase

This is the phase where there is hematoma formation that sends fibrin, blood cells and clotting factors, to the area to help stop initial bleeding and to activate the healing process. This usually last only 3-5 days.

Bone Healing- Induction Phase

The next phase is the induction phase where a “soft callus” is formed and it is slowly replaced by new bone formation. New cartilage, fibrocartilage and collaged are deposited at the fracture site. This can last for weeks to months.

Bone Healing- Remodeling Phase

The remodeling phase is the major phase that most of the bone healing occurs. At this point all the callus formation has been replaced by new bony formation. New blood supply is developing in the new bone. This can take weeks to years to complete.

If you or someone you know might be interested in discussing more about your foot or ankle health, don’t hesitate, come into our office Frederick Foot & Ankle. We would be more than happy to schedule an appointment, at any of our 3 offices in Frederick, MD or Urbana, MD.

As the temperature is dropping and the weather is changing, you needed to prepare for the wintery weather! Wintertime is exciting time of the year and brings a whole new set of outdoor activities and sports to enjoy. For instance, there is ice skating, hockey, sledding, skiing, snowboarding and other cold wintery activities. Each and every one are to keep you active during the colder months of the year. On the other hand, winter actives can be the culprit to many injuries as well.

Common Winter Injuries

Broken bones are amongst the most common injuries in the wintertime. In winter sports, there are a lot of slips and falls that can particularly target your foot and ankle.

Foot and ankle Fractures

The most commonly broken bone is the tibia, aka your shin bone. IN your ankle there are 3 main bones that are working together, the tibia, fibula, and talus. Most of the time your tibia is the bone that take most of the impact when there is trauma or fall.

Physically active children and adults are used to getting bumps, bruises, and other minor injuries. But there are common signs that you can check for if you a suspicions of a fracture. First, the inability to play or weight-bear following an acute or sudden injury. Secondly, decreased ability to play due to a chronic or long-term complications following a] previous injury. Thirdly, physical deformity of the athlete’s limb or joint ie bumps and lumps. Catching these injuries the earlier the better for you or your child, especially to prevent a minor injury from turning into serious.

There are many different mechanism of actions for ankle fractures however, most fractures can be treated with a cast and crutches, but more serious fractures may require surgery.

If you or someone you know might be interested in discussing more about your foot or ankle health, in the wintery weather and safety precautions don’t hesitate, come into our office Frederick Foot & Ankle. We would be more than happy to schedule an appointment, at any of our 3 offices in Frederick, MD or Urbana, MD.

As many of you have noticed, there has been a drastic drop in temperature lately. We have all pulled out our winter coats, scarves and mittens; and that goes the same about our boots and shoes too! We cannot neglect our feet, and the weather determines what we walk around in.

Keeping your feet nice and toasty!

Layers, layers, layers! That’s what you need to keep in mind when dressing for this chilly weather! You can start by avoiding open-toed shoes such as sandals, wedges or even those peep toe booties. Wearing thicker socks with your shoes will help keep out the winter weather, and leg warmers are a great idea for your lower legs! ‘Tis the season when the emergency room fills up with all sorts of winter related injuries, such as frostbite on fingers and toes! The extreme cold or exposure to this cold weather for a long period of time can cause you to get frost bite. This occurs when there isn’t enough blood and oxygen pulsing through an organ due to the severe temperatures. This is a serious emergency, if your affected body part isn’t re-vascularized properly, amputation might occur.

Giving you stability through the cooler seasons!

Now is the time to pull out your fashion-friendly and foot-friendly boots. Both men and women, young and old can wear nice boots- autumn through winter! Boots are nice because they usually are made of sturdy materials which keep out the elements such as rain, sleet and snow! The height of the boot can also give you a nice added ankle support. And, if you still feel unbalanced in your shoes when walking around, we can perform a risk fall assessment and recommend a special type of brace for your foot type and gait. If you have any uneasiness about your stability when walking, now is the time to get assessed and fitted for a bracing device, to avoid strains, sprains and fractures, which can be very inconvenient, especially during the holidays!

If you or someone you know might be interested in discussing more about weather changes and the effect on our feet, come into our office Frederick Foot & Ankle. We would be more than happy to schedule an appointment, at any of our 3 offices in Frederick, MD and Urbana, MD.

Party Time!

We are proud to announce that we have successfully opened our 3rd location of Frederick Foot & Ankle! I am sure if you have taken a stroll down Thomas Johnson Drive you have seen the new office. But you can’t see much from just a drive by… So we thought we would host a Grand Opening Party, at the new location to invite all of our current and possible new patient to visit and take a tour of our new diggs! The Grand Opening this Saturday, November 15, 2014, from 11 am – 4 pm at 141 Thomas Johnson Drive Suite 170 Frederick Md 21702! Key 103 will be on site providing music. There will be games and prizes and one lucky attendee with win a new ipad!

If you are new to our podiatric practice don’t worry we don’t bite, come on out to meet our fantastic doctors and learn about what we treat, from warts, plantar fasciitis to ankle sprains.

Plantar Warts

Plantar Warts are very common in the summer time and in children. Plantar warts are caused by a virus and can spread easily from person to person; or even one area of the body to another area. For example, if you had a plantar wart on your foot and you touch it with your finger, your finger might show some signs and symptoms of an early stage wart, sooner than later! Gross huh?! We have plenty of treatment options to take away your plantar wart woes!

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar Fasciitis is equally as common in males and females in our adult patient population. It might come from change it exercise routine, daily activities or even weight loss or weight gain. This pesky problem of plantar faciitis is that it is a cyclic disease process, if you don’t cure the underlying causes and just treat the symptoms this will be a life long problem! That’s why at FFA we try to nip it in the bud, and treat early with a multitude of treatment options from stretching, icing regiment, physical therapy, temporarily bracing, to orthotics!

Ankle Sprains

Ankle sprains are common all year round, most often occurring in our athlete patient population.Most ankle sprains are from some sort of sporting injury, chronic or acute. If you constantly are spraining your ankles as a child athlete, that could lead to ankle instability, in adulthood. You can either sprain the medial or lateral aspects of your ankle, meaning you can damage the different ligaments that help stabilize your foot and ankle together during stance and gait. We like to treat our ankle sprains in with a multitude of treatment options ranging from taking away the soft tissue swelling with icing and manual modalities, then we would like to add supportive bracing with strengthen exercises. And with this regiment and some other treatment options your ankles can feel as good as new!

From the whole FFA family we hope to see you on Saturday, November 15, from 11- 4pm!

How healthy are your arteries?

Do you ever experience extremely painful muscle cramping in your hips, buttock, thighs or calves when walking or exercising? Does this pain stop after a few minutes after you stop walking or exercising? If you answered yes, to these questions you might be at risk for PAD.

What is PAD?

It’s estimated that Peripheral arterial disease affects approximately 8.5 million Americans. This cramping pain that you feel is called intermittent claudication. This is basically when your muscles are alarming the rest of your body that it needs more blood, in order to keep walking or exercising. Sometimes blockages in your arteries, due to plaques, won’t allow enough blood to get to the muscles that it is demanding. The older you are the more at risk you are for having PAD.

How can you diagnose PAD?

PAD can be diagnosed through a series of non- invasive vascular test, such as ABIs (Ankle Brachial index). This is an exam where you compare the blood pressure of your ankles to the blood pressure to your arms, this determines how well your blood is flowing.

We simple place blood pressure cuffs on your arms, thighs, calves and ankles and take your blood pressure at each level. This is a painless test that is quick and easy to perform in our office. If you think you might need a test please don’t hesitate we will be glad to perform the exam and review your results.

If you or someone you know might be interest in discussing more about PAD signs and symptoms, come into our office Frederick Foot & Ankle. We would be more than happy to schedule an appointment, at any of our 3 offices in Frederick, MD or Urbana, MD.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, so show your pink pride to support Breast Cancer Awareness and wear some pink. This month we aim to raise awareness of this devastating disease. While many people are aware of breast cancer in general, however we strive to educate people about early detection. With all cancers, but especially breast cancer, the treatment options have better prognosis and outcomes with earlier detection and diagnosis.

Social Media: In October the National Breast Cancer Foundation takes the social medial world by storm. They have their own Facebook, Twitter and even their own YouTube channel! With all this promotion over social media they can spread the word about their amazing community reach out programs. From “Early Detection Plan” to “Beyond the Shock” to their generous fundraisers.

The “Early Detection Plan” aims to preemptively fight Breast Cancer, in the best way we know how… by having a plan that help you detect this disease sooner than later. If you go on the National Breast Cancer Foundation you can customize a calendar so that you can receive reminders to do a self-breast exam at home and to have scheduled mammograms. The time period between your mammograms, differs from person to person, because it is based on your age and/or your family’s health history.

The “Beyond the Shock” program aims to help recent diagnosed people or family member better understand the disease; from staging to the different treatment options. If you go to the official website for the National Breast Cancer Foundation there is a Beyond the Shock, link that leads you into a comprehensive online guide to all the ins and outs of breast cancer as a disease. Funding: October is a huge month not only for raising awareness, it is also a big month for fundraising opportunities. The National Breast Cancer Foundation holds fundraisers to help provide mammograms for women in need. Also, the Susan G. Komen walk is held in October. One of our Frederick Foot and Ankle team members has volunteered, at the medical tent for the “Race for the Cure” in Philadelphia for the past 2 years. “It’s amazing to hear their stories and to be able to give back is a wonderful experience. Its touching how each and every one of the race participants is a fighter, whether they are a survivor themselves or a friend or family member.”