AF&A Blog

You don’t have to go very far these days to run into an advertisement for toning shoes. On a recent visit to the store, I noticed almost a fifth of the shoe section was devoted to these types of shoes! It’s high time we take a closer look at their design and claims so that you can make an informed decision next time you go shopping.

The first question everyone asks is “Do they work?” A fair question for any device you are shelling out your hard earned money for. Well, let’s say they accomplish what they are designed for. These shoes create an unstable surface to walk on and your muscles have to help you maintain balance in addition to walking forward. Over long periods of time these added tasks can increase fatigue and lead to injury. Many of these shoes claim to shape your legs, tighten your abs, and help you become more fit. While these shoes may help to some extent, there is no getting around good old physical activity.

Each brand of shoe accomplishes their toning regime a little differently. A shoe made by Reebok claims to offer the benefit of a balance ball workout in their shoe. This is a prime example of the instability we discussed previously. Other shoes marketed by Sketcher and Fila have pretty strange shape. While it may appear to be a new design, this sole is actually a type of shoe modification used by orthopedists and podiatrists for decades. We have a very technical name for this type of modification, a heel to toe rocker sole. The times when these modifications are required are no laughing matter. Rarely prescribed for health individuals, these shoes are most often used in people who have lost motion at the ankle and middle of the foot. This type of sole is thickest in the middle causing a decrease in the forces of the heel striking the ground and increasing propulsion as the toes leave the ground. Pain, such as it associated with arthritis, is another place to allow the shoe to perform the motion that the ankle and foot should do. Eliminating or limiting the natural motion of the foot and ankle in a healthy individual can emphasize some muscle groups but cause problems in others.

We hope to have given you enough information for you to make an informed choice your next visit to the shoe store. You should always remember to ‘ease’ your way into any new footwear or orthoses. Start with limited wear, increasing slowly as time progresses. Until next time keep those feet healthy and happy Austin!

With ‘deep sadness’, tennis pro Serena Williams has decided to listen to her doctor and not play in the US Open. This is obviously a difficult decision for her as friends have noted this is one of her favorite tournaments to play in.

This is also a big headline as she is the number one ranked player in the world. Her absence also prevents her sister Venus and her from defending their doubles title. Though not a happy decision, we here at AFAS feel she is making the best decision. Returning to any activity before allowing proper time for healing will only increase the risk or re-injuring, cause more extensive damage, or leave one with permanent deficits.

The injury that will prevent Serena from competing occurred in early July. While dining at a restaurant, her foot was injured by a broken glass. This type of injury involves a sharp, foreign body. Any foreign body carries inherent risk of infection and your Podiatric physician will clean the wound clean promptly. Depending on factors such as the type of object and the depth of the wound, you may be prescribed antibiotics. A sharp object, like broken glass, can cut tendons, blood vessels, or nerves. The recoveries for injuries such as these are varied. Tendon injuries typically require 6 weeks to heal, with additional time to be toned back to their original strength. It is important to follow your doctor’s instruction when you are recovering from any type of surgery. If Serena Williams can sit out the US Open, you can surely keep yourself off you feet long enough to heal properly. Until next time, keep those feet happy and healthy Austin!

You have decided enough is enough. That nail has become so painful; you are going take care of it right now! Grabbing a pair of nail clippers buried in your bathroom drawer you prop your foot on the tub and test the limits of your pain tolerance. That ingrown nail of yours has come back time and time again even with your attempts to trim it back. Unfortunately, you there is a pretty good chance you didn’t use proper technique to avoid infection and you probably don’t have a good understanding of the anatomy you are digging into.

A better idea would be to visit a foot specialist like Dr. Thomajan. Four years of medical education beyond college as well as several years of residency training at a hospital allows podiatrists to diagnose and treat a variety of pathologies of the foot. The particular issue of an ingrown toenail too often is complicated by infected or inflamed before making an appointment at AFAS. Don’t wait for this to happen! Remember that pain is never normal and an easy in office procedure, under toe anesthesia, can be done to eliminate the offending nail. One of the most important parts of this procedure is the cleanliness needed to avoid infection, something that bathroom surgery doesn’t afford. Next time you find that ingrown nail causing you pain, opt for a visit to AFAS and put those old nail clippers away! Until next time, stay happy and healthy Austin!

….says the title of a recent online article from Live Science. A recent July publication of research in the Journal of Experimental Biology took a closer look at the long term use of high heels. The article is a quick read, but since you are reading our blog, we will give you the short of it. After following 11 women who wore high heels 5 days a week for 2 years, they found the calve muscles of these women shortened and the associated tendons to be stiff and thickened. This led to pain while walking without heels; the pain and muscle/tendon changes in these women were a direct contrast to the women they followed who did not wear heels.

We here at AFAS have tried to make you aware of some dangers of unstable shoes in past blogs. We wanted to put a little more emphasis on the dangers associated with high heels and some things you can do to avoid them. While we probably would not recommend heels for a healthy foot, we do understand the cultural and fashion ties to this footwear. We do not propose you eliminate heels, but rather take the time to stretch out your leg muscles after a long day wearing a pair. Shortened muscles and stiff tendons are more likely to be injured so do not discount this information lightly. A visit with Dr. Thomajan can educate you on ways to correct associated problems and keep your legs healthy. Until next time, keep those feet happy and healthy Austin!

If you’re a frequent visitor to our website, you may have noticed a free book offer link in the left had margins. We here at AF&A are always trying to improve the health and well being of our patients. Keeping the old adage ‘an ounce of prevent is worth a pound of cure’, we do our very best to educate you about proper foot care and ways to avoid injury. We hope that information provided in the books by Dr. Thomajan will help you to be pro-active in your own health.

Running is a fun and easy activity that requires little equipment. Whether enjoying the occasional jog or are thinking about starting exercise program, you should always take care to avoid injury. Dr. Thomajan’s book talks about some common injuries and precautions you can take to Keep Running.

Diabetes affects your whole body. Your feet, unfortunately, take the brunt of increased weight and vascular problems that often occur during the course of this chronic disease. Anyone who is living with diabetes needs to be extremely diligent and pro-active in their foot health. A good place to start is requesting Dr. Thomajan’s book.

Visit the AFAS homepage and click on the icon. You will be directed to a form to fill out after clicking the link. After choosing one of the two books and entering the remainder of the information sit back and wait for your book to arrive by mail. Until next time, keep those feet happy and healthy Austin!

As a youth, I spent some time around the family auto body shop. The smells of thinners, paints, and various chemicals were overpowering and I was required to keep my distance. These memories were triggered recently by similar scents coming from a nail salon. Walking past such an establishment recently, the door swung open and the strong chemical scent caused me to become a little light headed. I thought this an excellent topic for this week’s blog as nail polish is used so frequently.

The strong chemicals contained in polish (formaldehyde), removers (acetone), and the like may help complete your style, but may also be damaging your nails. Repeated and frequent use can weaken your nails and make them more prone to infection. But, you are just covering up that unsightly fungal nail? You may only be making the problems worse. Fungus tends to grow in warm, dark places and by covering your nail with polish you have just helped it become darker. Additionally, the removal and reapplication may have weakened enough to allow the fungus to spread.

If you have concerns that you may have a fungal nail, make a visit to AFAS. Many over the counter treatments are ineffective and seeking out a professional will be better to rid you of this problem. There are multiple treatment options that you can discuss with Dr. Thomajan and he will be able to plan which will be most effective for you. If fungus is not an issue, you should still consider using a more ‘nail friendly’ polish than the ones commonly found at your local salon. Products such as Nova Nail Rx actually help to strengthen your nails and as well as avoid fungal infections. Nova Nail Rx is available in a variety of colors and can be found in the office as well as our online store. Other ‘nail friendly’ polishes and removers can be found at our online store.  Healthy nails mean happy feet. Until next time, stay happy and health Austin!

With summer vacation just a few weeks away, we at AFAS wanted to give you a few thoughts to keep in mind when outfitting your little ones’ feet.

First off, kids grow fast, so making sure that they have the right sized footwear is most important. Many times, in adults as well as children, putting on the right sized shoe can solve a lot of problems. Checking that there is extra room in front of the shoe will stop the toes from becoming compressed while walking and it is an easy way to make sure they haven’t out grown that pair. Just be sure the shoe fits….before you wear it.

Secondly, the type of shoe is important. We know it gets hot out there and it is easy enough to slip on a pair of flip flops before heading outside. Depending on the day’s activity, this could be a bad choice, especially for your little ones. Children rarely sit still for long and tennis shoes or sandals that Velcro on would be a better choice than the thin soles and loose fit of flip flops. Additionally, a full day on their feet definitely calls the proper support, offered by tennis shoes, to avoid fatigue and possibility of injury.

It is important to remember that children are not ‘little adults’, especially when it comes to growth and development. Many of the ‘bones’ in your child’s feet will not become hardened, or fully ossified, until many years after they have been walking. In those critical years of growth and development, it is important that your child have the right kind of shoes. Keep in mind that pain in your child’s feet is never normal and should be addressed by a Podiatric physician. If there is ever concern over your child’s feet, foot wear, or the way they walk, don’t hesitate to make an appointment at AFAS. Until next time, keep those kids happy and healthy Austin!

Hopefully, everyone had a great, injury free holiday weekend. With the weather being great here in Austin, we are sure everyone is spending more time outdoors and more time on their feet. It is always good to get more physical activity, but this time a year is often more injury prone. Why, you may ask? Well, chances are you were a little less than your active normal self over the winter months and through the holidays. Anytime there is a change in your activity level, your muscles, bones, and tendons are at increased risk for injury. A sedentary week followed a weekend softball game or 5 mile run is a good way to open the door to injury. Try taking a short walk on your lunch break or after dinner. Even a few simple stretching or strengthening exercises before you start your day can go a long way in injury prevention.

This is a great time, while you’re feeling well, to visit Dr. Thomajan at AFAS. A custom running or gait analysis can identify any problem areas in your feet that can easily be addressed with either a custom or over the counter orthotic. This is also a good step to finding the ‘proper’ shoe for your ‘foot type’. Taking the time to find out where those problem areas are now can keep you on your feet and help you avoid having to visit us due to an injury. Just a few sentences ago I mentioned simple exercises, well Dr. Thomajan and all of us here at AFAS can help you find the right exercise program for your foot type and specific concerns for avoiding injury. These are just a few of the things we can do to keep you pain free and active. Click here to schedule an appointment with Dr. Thomajan. Until next time, stay healthy Austin!

Fashion? Podiatry blog? No, you didn’t click on the wrong link. You may be thinking this is a far cry from the sort of topics you find on the 

^{Austin Foot & Ankle Specialists blog} , but think again. We talk about the right kind of foot wear fairly often but very few of us wear the type of shoe that is best for your feet on every day. In fact, more often than not your ‘dress’ shoes are not going to accommodate orthotics and probably are not the best fit for your foot. This may be especially true for many women’s shoes which may often put fashion before function.

We know that you are never going to wear a pair of tennis shoes with your slacks. There may even be a few of you reading this thinking ‘you can have my high heels, when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers’. Well, maybe you are not that extreme, but we want to offer you a little bit of advice when selecting and wearing those stylish shoes. First off you should always make sure they are a good fit. Your toes should not be crammed into the front, but rather have about a finger’s width of space between the tip of your toes and the tip of the shoe. This is important because as you walk, your foot slides forward in your shoe. Your toes need somewhere to go or they will take the brunt of this motion getting smashed to the front with every step. Secondly, since we mentioned high heels earlier, a quick suggestion: use them sparingly. Walking on your toes or the ball of your foot frequently, can be painful and lead to a variety of problems later on. Remember Austin, you should never ignore your feet hurting. Making sure you have a good fit and visiting Dr. Thomajan should help to keep your feet pain free!

…..and the foot bone connected to the ankle bone. Most of us are familiar with this children’s song. Though simplistic, it holds some basic ideas that should help you maintain your health. The topic of your foot health related to your general health has been touched upon in previous blogs, but is so important to your understanding of your health and well being that it is worth repeating.

Back to the idea that each body part is connected to the other part as the children’s song reminds us. Your foot striking the ground sends that stress from your foot to your ankle, up your leg to your knee….and onward. That aching back that has been bothering you for some time now may not be a problem with your back at all. A small discrepancy in the length of your legs or improper foot wear could easily manifest as a lower back ache. The aching knee could be due to over pronation, or the exaggeration of a normal foot movement. By allowing your podiatrist to correct this issue in your foot, he may resolve the ache in your knee.

Your local podiatrist, Dr. Thomajan of Austin Foot & Ankle, is a specialist of the foot & ankle. As with any medical specialist, extensive knowledge of entire body is necessary before focusing on a specialty. This allows your podiatrist to treat you as an individual and not just a body part. We just want to remind you again that ‘putting the right foot forward’, with the help of your podiatrist, can eliminate or avoid problems in other parts of your body. Keeping your feet healthy Austin is a good part of your overall health!