Posted on

Rigid Inserts to Treat Turf Toe

Turf toe is a common term used to describe a sprain or injury to the joint at the base of the big toe. It often occurs in athletes who play on artificial turf surfaces, hence the name “turf toe.” However, it can also occur on other playing surfaces or in everyday activities.

Turf toe typically happens when the big toe is hyperextended, or bent too far backward, beyond its normal range of motion. This can happen when a person lands on the foot awkwardly or with too much force, causing damage to the ligaments, tendons, and joint capsule of the big toe.

Symptoms of turf toe may include pain, swelling, and stiffness in the big toe joint, difficulty bending or moving the toe, and tenderness around the base of the toe.

Continue reading “Rigid Inserts to Treat Turf Toe”
Posted on

Sever’s Disease of the Heel in Child Athletes

The commonest reason for pain in the heel in adults is a condition called plantar fasciitis that make up to 90% of the cases. In regards to children, plantar fasciitis is actually very rare and the most frequent reason for pain in the heel in kids being a condition often called Sever’s Disease. This really is bad vocabulary becasue it is not a disease and the use of that phrase can certainly have pretty undesirable consequences. There’s also a trend away from the using terminology of disorders from getting named after individuals, typically the doctor which first described the problem. The better appropriate name for the problem is calcaneal apophysitis. It is a problem of the growing cartilage area at the back of the heel bone or calcaneus.

When we are born, many of the bones continue to be a delicate and flexible cartilage framework which the bone grows on. With the heel bone growth commences in the center and grows to take up the entire area of that cartilage material framework. Nevertheless, there exists still a cartilage growing region in the back of the calcaneus that development and growth continues to occur at. That small growth growth plate at the back of the calcaneus can be at risk from injury if strains on the heel bone tend to be excessive.

The principle risk factors are a higher bodyweight, those that are taller and having an even more lively lifestyle including playing more sporting activity. Many additionally suggest that tighter calf muscles are a factor, but that’s not absolutely a regular observation. The disorder is far more common in the ages of 8 through 12 years. The growing plate of the heel bone combines with the rest of the bone tissue about the middle of the age of puberty, which means that no matter what happens it’s not possible to have got this issue past that age.

The signs and symptoms of Sever’s disease will usually start off as a slight ache in the back of the heel bone which gets even worse as time passes and it is more painful with a lot more exercise. The condition frequently becomes worse with a lot more exercise levels with soreness amounts definitely not exactly the same every day and differs depending on physical activity or sports participation amounts. A characteristic indication of this problem is pain on the sides in the back of the calcaneus when you press it between your fingers. There aren’t any xrays or any other imaging that can be used to help determine this and the diagnosis is dependant on the clinical findings.

The key approach to treating Sever’s disease will be education of the child and parents about the characteristics of the condition and its self-limiting character. Way of life as well as sport activity levels are going to need to be decreased so the stress on the developing area is lessened to bearable amounts. Cold therapy can be used following sporting activity in cases where the discomfort levels are higher. When the calf muscles are tight, then a stretching program are useful to improve the range of flexibility. A shock absorbing heel pad is frequently also very effective. Usually it is a matter of doing these therapies as well as managing the activity amounts and then wait for the condition to take its natural course and finally recover.

Posted on

The Richie Brace for a Progressive Flat Foot

A progressing deteriorating of a flat foot or fallen arch of the foot in an adult is oftentimes known as posterior tibial tendon dysfunction as well as adult acquired flatfoot and may have problematic consequences if not detected early and sorted out. This is often more frequent in older in addition to obese adults. The key issue is that the posterior tibial muscles which are the reason for supporting the arch of the feet are not very good at doing that, and so a gradual flattening of the foot occurs. In addition to a falling with the arch of the foot there is typically increasing pain and discomfort in the arch area of the foot and the rearfoot. As the adult acquired flat foot progresses, further walking gets increasingly tougher and it is extremely tireing.

There are actually commonly 4 stages involving posterior tibial tendon dysfunction that this problem progresses through with one being the initial phase and 4 being the final phase that only surgical treatment can deal with. There is certainly some difference of opinion with the classifications of this as their is variability between health professionals plus some reliability concerns. That being said, stage 1 is typically treated with foot supports along with exercises plus some medication for the pain and discomfort. Stage 2 usually needs a lot more aggressive and supportive foot orthoses, carrying on using the exercise routines as well as increasing levels of pain alleviation medicines may be required. Both stage one and two will benefit with high top supporting shoes. Long-term weight loss plans will also be going to be helpful. If this doesn’t stop the development and the foot is heading in the direction of a stage three, then there’s increasing probability that reconstructive foot surgery is likely to be needed. This is the reason it is so crucial that there be more intense conservative treatment of the foot when it’s still at stage 2 to halt the development.

An increasingly frequent treatment for posterior tibial tendon dysfunction while it progresses to stage two is the Richie Brace. This Richie Brace is now being commonly used and it has been demonstrated to be very effective at stopping the progress with this problem and avoiding the requirement for surgical treatment. Surgical interventions tend to be successful, but there is frequently a left over measure of impairment remaining as the surgery usually will require the fusing of some important joints and also the moving of muscles insertions to other parts of the foot. The Richie brace is a combination of an aggressively supportive bespoke foot orthotic plus an ankle foot orthoses with struts to support both sides of the joints at the ankle. The bespoke foot orthoses is made from a plaster cast or optical scan of the foot with the foot kept in a ideal position. The aim of the foot orthotic portion of the Richie Brace would be to try and support the foot in this corrected position. The struts which get included up the side of the ankle are hinged with the ankle joint to allow motion to happen at this joint. These struts are then held on by Velcro on the leg to help support and enhance the benefit of the foot orthotic. Generally if the progress of the problem can be ended making use of this, then surgery is commonly prevented.

Posted on

Mueller-Weiss disease of the navicular bone

Mueller Weiss disease is a rare source of pain within the midfoot in adults that has been also known as Brailsford disease. It is a sudden onset osteonecrosis of the navicular bone in the foot. You will find there’s a a lot more well-known problem of the same bone in young childen known as Köhler disease, which is also an osteonecrosis in the tarsal navicular bone, but they are completely different conditions due to the nature with the developing bone tissues in youngsters. The condition was first described by Schmidt in1925. It was W Muller who afterwards proposed how the underlying mechanism of the disorder has been due to an excessive compression force upon the midfoot region. About the same period, K Weiss, noted which the appearances on x-ray were similar to those noticed in a condition known as Kienbock disease, and this is an osteonecrosis. The two of these reviews led to the most commonly used name for this problem, Mueller Weiss syndrome.

Mueller Weiss disease usually affects adults in between forty and sixty years of age (Köhler disease has a common starting point around 5 years of age). It is more prevalent in females. It might have an impact on just one foot, or it can affect both feet. The common symptoms include the gradual oncoming of pain in the mid-foot and hindfoot that may often be localized to the most agonizing area being over the navicular. A flat foot is in addition more common in those with this issue. The easiest way to diagnose Mueller Weiss disorder is via the use of radiology. On x-ray there will probably appear to be a failure of areas of the bone and sclerosis along with comma-shaped deformity on the lateral aspect. A CAT scan may also display similar issues and could be helpful to appraise the stage with the problem in far more detail. A magnetic resonance image can be more sensitive to aid in the diagnosis since it is capable of detect changes in the bone marrow.

Mueller Weiss disease is often progressive and may produce severe pain and become fairly disabling, so treatment should be commenced as early as possible to prevent it from becoming impaired too much. Initial treatment methods are to limit activities, perhaps some pain alleviation medicines and use supportive footwear. Usually foot orthotics are used to help further stabilise the area and support the mid-foot (arch) of the feet. This will keep a lot of stress from the navicular. If that is not really helping, then a even more limitation in weight bearing amounts is essential which means that there is much less pressure around the painful navicular. A moon boot or walking splint is the next phase to help protect and also immobilise the area if the signs and symptoms aren’t improving. If most of these conservative approaches do not help, there are also surgical options that can help with the soreness but can frequently result in some minimal disability, which can be a lot better in comparison to the continual pain of an active disease. The particular surgical treatment might be a decompression of the bone tissue using drilling. Another option in case there are regions of bone destruction would be a operative fusion of the important joints around the bone.