What is a plantar plate tear?
The plantar plate is a strong ligament under the joints at the base of the toe in the ball of the foot. It is reasonably common to strain that ligament or have a small partial tear in it.
Typically, this starts as a slight ache under the ball of the foot that can be quite painful on palpation. The toe of the affected joint also tends to lift up off the ground.
Many questions get asked in forums and message boards on how to treat this, especially if it can heal on its own. It can’t. Treatment is almost always needed. Most the best way to treat it, is with strapping:
If that conservative approach is not helpful, there surgery is often needed.
Do bunion correctors work?
Bunion correctors are splints that are supposed to hold the big toe in a correct position and fix bunions. Lots of questions get asked online if they work (see here and here for examples). There does seem to be a moderate consensus that they may help a small amount.
Bunion correctors probably do not fix bunions, but will improve the angle of the big toe a small amount. Only surgery will make it go away.
There is a lot of marketing hype around the selling of these. See this: Bunion corrector gullibility. Don’t fall for it. At best, they will improve the ankle of teh big toe by a small amount and may be helpful with the pain in the joint. That may be a good thing.
Gowers Sign
Gower’s sign is a neurological symptom that was first described in how a child with the sign gets up from the floor:
(i) the child initially adopts a prone position on all fours before they attempt to stand
(ii) the child uses their hand to ‘walk up their legs’
Gower’s sign occurs when there is a weakness of the core or pelvic muscles. The most common reason for the sign is Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy.
A Podiatry Friend in Croydon, Australia
A huge shout out to my friends downunder at Croydon Total Footcare. They are a well established podiatry clinic that have been very supportive of what I do, hence the shout out.
You can read more about then at Yelp, on Podiatrists Online, a map at Whereis, a listing on Bing local, at the Podiatry Tradeshow, at True Local where they support the community, and at Podiatry TV. They also have a good write up at PodiaPaedia and Rate MD and indexed at dLook.
Circulation Booster
This is a product that seems to be coming up more often and I was not familiar with it so did some digging around. The Circulation Booster uses a subtle electric current to stimulate the muscles on the bottom of the foot to activate them to increase the circulation around the body.
Does the Circulation Booster work? There are plenty of testimonials but very little research I could find. There was this discussion, with lots of different opinions and there have been some issues with the claims being made and advertising regulations bodies in a couple of countries. I have not actually seen one to try, so I assume we just have to wait for more research.
Restless Legs Syndrome
Restless Legs Syndrome is a particularity unpleasant problem that can drive people crazy. When at rest, especially at bed at night, they have an uncontrollable urge to move the legs.
There is very little that can be done for the problem, except getting up and walking or taking drugs to help the sleep. Drugs can often deal with a lot of the symptoms, but it can take a while and some trial and error to get the exact drug or comobination in the right does right for the individual. There are a number of natural approaches that have been advocated, but very little evidence supports these approaches, though the testimonials do suggest that they help some people. Support groups, in person and online, are often helpful.
Reflexology
Reflexology is the alternative medicine approach to health in which there is a belief that every organ system in the body can be mapped to a zone on the foot. It is believed that massaging the area or zone on the foot can affect the health of that organ system.
There is no evidence that reflexology actually works and all the good research has shown that it does not work. A good foot massage will probably help anyone feel better and this is probably why there are so many testimonials from people who have had reflexology when the claim it improved. Anyone who is stressed or has a chronic illness will probably feel better after a good foot rub!
The Foot Detox
I can’t believe that people are so gullible that they fall for this. A detox to remove toxins from the body via the foot. Its physiologically impossible. Its ludicrous.
The foot detox is a scam (see this) and does not work and will never work. See these videos for more.
Forensic Podiatry
Forensic podiatry is an interesting and fascinating discipline. It uses the expertise and skills that from podiatry in criminal investigations.
Some of these skills include footwear investigations, wear patterns in shoes and insoles and gait analysis. See these links here for more.
Foot Reading
This is nutty. The whole purpose of “foot reading” is to determine people personality characteristics by looking at their feet. I have look at a lot of feet and I can not tell their personality form them!
Its can even be dangerous. There was a case highlighted here in which a Foot Reader was asking advice on a foot reading forum about how to interpret a black mark in the nail that sounded suspiciously like a malignant melanoma! Foot reading may be fine for entertainment and that is all! Others think that it could be an April Fools joke.