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What to Do When You Have Foot Pain

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Ontario Foot & Orthotics can help you with all of your orthotic needs including orthotics in Milton.

Your feet are one of the worst parts of your body to experience pain. You can’t walk, run, do housework, go shopping or do anything else without being in a great deal of pain. If your foot pain is chronic, it can be debilitating. Here are some tips to help you minimize or eliminate your foot pain so that you can get back to enjoying your life:

  • Identify the Source. When trying to identify what is causing your foot pain, you can usually find the answer in the details. Foot pain can be caused by injuries, infections, toe nail issues, callouses, bunions, plantar fasciitis, and numerous other sources. To determine where your pain is coming from, write down all of the information you can. Where are you experiencing the pain? What type of pain is it? What were you doing when you experienced the pain? How long did it last? Is your foot swollen? What shoes were you wearing? All of this information will help to identify the source and solve the problem.
  • Stay off it! Pain is your body’s way of telling you to cut it out. At the very least, your feet need a rest from whatever you are doing. Often pushing through pain will lead to more pain or even injuries.
  • Pamper your feet. We expect a lot from our feet, and most of us do very little to take care of them. Set aside some time to give your feet a little tender loving care. Soak your feet and remove any callouses. Always keep your feet clean and dry. Pay special attention to the socks and shoes that you wear, and take any foot pain very seriously.
  • See a professional. If your foot pain is intense or chronic, then you should see a professional. Ontario Foot & Orthotics, which is a foot clinic in Milton is a good place to start. Our staff is comprised of two registered Chiropodists experienced in all aspects of foot care. Call us to book an appointment.

How to Find the Best Shoes for Your Feet

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Ontario Foot & Orthotics are here to help you take care of your feet. We provide orthopaedic shoes in Milton, orthotics in Milton, and we also have a chiropodist in Milton.

How do you feel about shoe shopping? For some it’s a minor addiction. For others, especially those with foot pain, it can be an agonizing task. Since your feet are with you for life, it makes sense to choose shoes that provide them with adequate support. Here are some tips that will help you find shoes that your feet will love:

Have a salesperson measure your feet. Did you know that the size of your feet changes with age? Did you also know that your feet are bigger later in the day due to swelling? It is important that you have a salesperson measure your feet each time you buy new shoes and that you go shoe shopping in the afternoon or evening. If one of your feet is slightly bigger than the other, go with the bigger size.

Walk around in the shoes before you buy them. Before selecting a pair of shoes, wear them around the store. Wiggle your toes and make sure that there is enough space for them. Are they too narrow? Do they pinch at all? Does either foot feel compressed? The idea of ‘breaking in’ your shoes is a myth; if they don’t fit you in the store, don’t buy them.

Pay attention to the soles of your shoes. The soles of your shoes are also very important. Are the soles thick enough to protect your feet if you step on a sharp object? Do they provide enough cushioning? How do the shoes feel on different surfaces? The level support that you get from your shoes will make a huge difference in how your feet feel at the end of the day.

Save the fancy shoes for special occasions. The problem with all of this is that practical shoes simply don’t go with some of your gorgeous outfits! Don’t despair! You can still wear those knock-out heels when you go out or your flip flops to the beach; they just shouldn’t be your everyday shoes.

We should all make an effort to take care of our feet and buying the right shoes is a great place to start. If you experience pain in your feet or you want to learn how to take care of them better, call us! We can help!

Custom Orthopaedic Footwear

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Some of the most annoying pain is when you have a blister or an ingrown toe nail and it’s rubbing against the inside of your shoes. You might try to bandage the wound or the sore, maybe wrap it with gauze, but eventually it’s going to start rubbing and hurting again. This might be a great time to visit Ontario Foot and Orthotics. They are a family friendly clinic in Milton that can help you with all of your orthotic needs. One of the main reasons to visit them is for your custom orthopaedic shoes. These shoes will help to make your feet feel better regardless of the pain or ailment they may be experiencing.

There are many ailments and sores that can affect your feet such as:

  • Painful calluses
  • Corns
  • Pressure sores/ulcers due to diabetes
  • Plantar fasciitis
  • High arches
  • Posture problems due to leg length differences

These can all become nuisances if you have regular shoes. If you go to the chiropodists in Milton, you can change the circumstances for your feet.

A great misconception is that you have to be a senior to get orthopaedic shoes. This is entirely false as you can get orthopaedic footwear no matter how old you are. The Orthopaedic shoes available at our Milton clinic can help your feet at any age and for all problems with your feet. They have many great benefits such as:

  • Offer additional customized protection for your feet, especially when there is a sore, callus or pain.
  • Help to alleviate pain from your feet the more that you wear them.
  • Great for anyone that suffers from pain in their feet from standing for too long.
  • Improve the blood flow and provide support to the arches and the heels of your feet.

These are some of the many benefits to owning and wearing custom made orthopaedic shoes. Your feet are two of the most important parts of your body and deserve the best care possible. Take the time to go to your nearest orthotic clinic in Milton and get a pair for yourself. The staff there will help you get the best orthoapedic custom shoes to not only help with whatever ailment your feet may be having, but with the support that your feet need on a daily basis. Remember that it doesn’t matter what age you are, it matters how comfortable and healthy your feet are.

The Negative effects of Diabetes to your feet and how to fix them

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Everyone has foot pain at one point or another in their life. You use your feet everyday so it only makes sense that you might accrue a pain or ailment at some point. What most people don’t know is that if you have Diabetes or have any symptoms of diabetes, it can cause many complications with your feet. The good news is that you can go to the local foot clinic in Milton for help with any pain or complications that you may be feeling due to diabetes.

There are various levels of effects that diabetes can have on your feet like:

Neuropathy – This is a type of nerve damage that can lessen the ability to feel pain, heat and cold. The loss of feeling could mean that you might not feel a foot injury. A great way to take care of this is to contact your local Chiropodist in Milton for special therapeutic shoes.

Skin Changes – The skin of your feet may become dry or may peel and crack. The problem is that the nerves that control the oil and moisture in your feet will no longer work. After you’re done bathing, you can dry your feet and keep the remaining moisture in with a light coat of petroleum jelly, unscented hand cream or other like products.

Calluses – Because of the high pressure areas under your feet, calluses build up faster on the feet of people with Diabetes. If they are not trimmed, they can get thick, break down and turn into ulcers. Do not try to cut calluses or corns off yourself. It can lead to ulcers and infection. Let your health care provider cut them off. A great way to keep them under control is to use a pumice stone on the wet skin of your feet every day. Remember to apply lotion right after using.

Diabetes is a serious condition that you should not take lightly and has many negative effects on your feet. You can counteract them by going to the local foot clinic in Milton. They have a great staff that can help you with any pain or discomfort you may have as well as getting your feet into custom orthopaedic shoes to help the healing process. Treat your feet right and make an appointment today.

All of your foot and Orthotics needs under one roof!

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Whether for an annual checkup or for a random pain, visiting the local foot doctor is almost like visiting the dentist. It’s not something patients like doing yet know they need to in order to keep their feet strong and healthy.

This is why the Ontario Foot and Orthotics is perfect for all foot needs. It’s a local foot clinic in Milton that has all of your foot needs in one place. The Milton Orthotic clinic serves every part of the foot, whether for something as generic as foot pain or for something much more severe like symptoms of diabetes. It’s staffed with great chiropodists so that patients don’t have to run around to numerous different businesses to get all of their foot questions answered.

Ontario Foot and Orthotics also makes custom orthopaedic shoes to fit around any foot ailment patients may have. There are many different types of painful foot ailments like ingrown toe nails, sports injuries and shin splints. Sometimes it can get bad when it comes to diabetic foot care and pain. This is why the custom orthopaedic shoes are perfect for any foot pain or ailment.

The chiropodists in Milton will help to treat any kind of foot pain that you may have. They have specialists local to you that can help in any situation concerning your feet. They also offer services like laser and compression therapy that can help in crucial foot situations. Their orthotics department helps patients with situations like ingrown toenails, fungal nails, plantar warts, bunions, corns and calluses, athlete’s foot, arthritis, Achilles tendonitis and plantar fasciitis.

They are a local foot clinic that has been serving the community for over 15 years. Their staff has two registered Chiropodists with experience in advanced biomechanics, advanced surgical techniques, diabetic and foot care. Their mission is to provide the highest quality and cost effective foot care in a comfortable environment.

If any patients need a checkup or need help with a pain or ailment they may be having, then please call and book your appointment today.

Get to your local Chiropodist for a checkup today!

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Two of the most important parts of our body are our feet. We need them to stand on, walk with and hold up the rest of our body. So shouldn’t we be taking extra good care of them?

This is why visiting the local chiropodist for a checkup is a great idea. There are many different types of sores, bruises and breaks that could develop into something much more serious if not treated. There is everything from painful calluses, pressure sores, and ulcers as a result of diabetes, corns and other problems like plantar fasciitis, high arches and leg length differences. These are all painful conditions that can affect your posture and the way that you walk.

Look no further than the Chiropodists in Cambridge. They are here to help with all of your foot needs. One of their main services is Custom made orthopaedic shoes. There are many painful foot conditions out there and they are different for each person. This is why the Orthotics clinic and its chiropodists want to help by creating shoes specifically to fit the pain or condition that each foot might have.

There are plenty of ailments that can affect the way your foot may fit into a shoe. They range from general foot pain, sports injuries and shin splints to ingrown toe nails and diabetic foot care. These are all reasons to come in and have your feet checked by the local chiropodists. This way you’ll know what you’re dealing with and how best to heal the ailment and get into a custom pair of orthopaedic shoes.

It’s very easy to ignore a pain in the foot area. Most assume that if you don’t see it then eventually it will go away. The truth is that it will only get worse. You don’t want to let something go and have it turn into something like arthritis or a sore that gets infected. Take the time and come see the local Chiropodist in Cambridge today and give your feet the custom shoes they need. Your feet will thank you.

MedX laser therapy and how it can help with plantar fasciitis, metatarsalgia, arthritis and wounds

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For the longest time there was a new foot treatment coming out every decade or so and it only improved the previous treatment a bit more. Finally though, we can now say there is a foot treatment that has improved exponentially in MedX laser therapy. It is now possible to relieve pain and inflammation in the foot related to plantar fasciitis, metatarsalgia, arthritis, heel pain, arch pain and other foot pain without taking anti-inflammatory medication.

The MedX laser therapy treatment has a transformative effect on improving the care of the patient. Through recent studies by NASA researchers it has been found that human tissues repair themselves up to 40% faster with laser phototherapy. The light energy from the laser is absorbed by the various tissues in the body and transferred into biochemical energy. This causes a decrease in swelling, acceleration in healing time and an increase in the overall pain threshold due to the body’s release of endorphins. The laser treatment is extremely safe and has been proven to be very effective in treating muscle strains, plantar fasciitis, metatarsalgia, and arthritis to name a few.

The benefits of MedX laser therapy are:

  • Fast, safe and very effective
  • Low-intensity light energy
  • Decreases healing time and inflammation
  • Improves circulation
  • Excellent results when it comes to Osteoarthritis, Tendonitis, Muscle strains, Ligament Sprains and Repetitive strain injuries

Laser therapy has come a long way and it is now much easier to get treatment and help your pain go away. It’s less painful and a much easier healing process.

MedX Laser Therapy is a featured treatment option at Ontario Foot & Orthotics. For more information, or to book an assessment, contact us at one of our two locations: 519-623-3000 (Cambridge), 905-878-6479 (Milton). Or visit us at www.ontariofoot.ca.

Why wearing Flip-Flops are bad for your feet

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Flip-flops go hand in hand with summer time and warm weather. You can slip them on and keep your feet cooler for the whole summer. One might find though that after consistently wearing them they experience pain in their feet and lower limbs. This is because flip-flops are not very good for your feet.

Recent studies claim that continuous use of flip-flops can cause permanent damage to your feet later on in life. Wearing flip-flops changes the biomechanics of your feet. When you wear them, it forces you to scrunch your toes together and rock in an awkward side to side motion, starting with your heel and moving to the outside of your foot to your toes. Due to your feet being the base of the weight of your body, this can cause much more severe damage than you think. The first signs of damage come from pain in the shin or heel area.

Flip-flops affect all areas of your feet starting with:

  • Toes – When there is only one strap to hold your feet in place, they tend to use the muscles more and could cause cases of tendinitis.
  • Bones – Wearing flip-flops too often can lead to stress fractures in the bones of your feet which develop from continuous trauma without shock absorption or cushioning.
  • Bacteria – One pair of flip-flops can have as much as 18,000 different kinds of bacteria.
  • Ankles – While wearing them you take shorter steps and touch your heels to the ground with less vertical force, which can throw off your natural gait and can trigger pain throughout the body. Changes to your natural gait can lead to issues including your ankles, hips, knees and back.

If you’re a fan of wearing flip-flops and are starting to experience foot pain or think you will, then it is time for the proper Foot Care. Your feet are the base of your body and should be taken care of with the utmost importance.

For more information, or to book an assessment, please contact Ontario Foot and Orthotics at one of our two locations: 519-623-3000 (Cambridge), 905-878-6479 (Milton). Or visit us online at www.ontariofoot.ca.

What can I do about fungus on my toenails?

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One of the most common concerns amongst people when it comes to their feet are the changes that occur on their toenails. One might get concerned when they notice discoloration, thickening, or crumbling of their toenails. Sometimes one can experience all three events occurring at the same time. What causes these changes and why?

One of the main causes of change of the toenails is a fungal infection, also known as onchomycosis. This is an infection of the nails caused by a fungus. Fungi can live on nails, dead tissues of the hair, and outer skin layers. Fungal nails are more common in adults and in most cases follow fungal infections of the skin. How does one contract fungus in the nails? There are a number of ways this can occur. The fungi that cause infection thrive in moist, dark environments. These include public showers, swimming pools, gyms, and other areas where people sweat a lot. Those who use these facilities regularly are at a higher risk of contracting the fungi. Other things that can increase the risk of a fungal infection include getting manicures and pedicures where the tools used are not sterilized correctly, having moist skin for a long time, wearing closed-toe footwear, compromised immune system, and having a nail deformity or nail disease.

There are many preventative measures one can take to reduce the risk of contracting a fungal infection. These include:

  • Keeping the feet clean and dry on a daily basis.
  • Avoiding pedicures at places that do not sterilize their tools properly.
  • Wearing water shoes or sandals on a pool deck when not in the pool and when using public facilities such as showers, baths, etc.
  • Changing socks on a daily basis.
  • Airing out shoes using a deodorizer to help kill any fungal spores that may live in the shoe.

If you do have a fungal nail infection there are a variety of treatment options available. These treatment options range from topical and oral antifungal medication to laser treatment that is now available to help remove fungus from the nails. These treatment options to take time so please note you will not see immediate results. You must adhere to your treatment plan and should see an improvement within 3-6 months depending on the treatment option.

For more information, or to book an assessment, please contact Ontario Foot and Orthotics at one of our two locations: 519-623-3000 (Cambridge), 905-878-6479 (Milton). Or visit us online at www.ontariofoot.ca.

Ankle Sprains: How they can occur and the different treatment options

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Ankle sprains are on the most common injuries of the foot. They can happen at any time to anyone from athletes to adults and children. A sprain can occur when you are participating in a sport or physical activity, or even if you step on an uneven surface, or step down on an awkward angle.

An ankle sprain can be very painful and uncomfortable. I have sprained my ankle on numerous occasions from various sports injuries to stepping on an uneven surface. Luckily for me, all my sprains were minor and required conservative treatment that I could do at home along with some physiotherapy.

The ankle has many ligaments that help hold the bones and joints in position. They are in place to help prevent the ankle from any abnormal positions like twisting or rolling of the foot. Ligaments are like an elastic band; they can stretch within their limits then go back to their original shape. Once the ligament is stretched beyond its means, a sprain can occur. The most severe sprain occurs once the ligament(s) has torn. This brings us to the different types of ankle sprains that can occur.

The two main types of ankle sprains are eversion and inversion sprains. An eversion sprain is more rare and occurs when the ankle rolls too far inwards. This can be accompanied by a fracture of the fibula. The deltoid ligament is one of the strongest ligaments of the ankle making it harder to sprain. That’s why this type of sprain is often rare and is usually a result of a break or fracture of the fibula.

The most common type of ankle sprain is an inversion sprain. This occurs when the ankle rolls too far outwards injuring the ligaments on the outside of the ankle. The two main ligaments that can be injured here are the ATFL (anterior talofibular ligament) and the CFL (calcaneal fibular ligament).

Once you get an ankle sprain it is important to get it checked to make sure it’s not too serious. Once you visit your doctor or foot specialist, there are a few tests that can be done to determine the degree of injury. An x-ray is sometimes done to determine if there is a break or fracture of the bone. There are three grades of a sprain. Grade 1 is a mild sprain, grade 2 is a moderate sprain, and grade 3 is a severe sprain that usually involves a break.

For grade 1 and 2 sprains the practitioner will probably notice tenderness and swelling at the site of injury. This is usually accompanied by bruising. You may also have limited range of motion of the ankle and should not try to force it in any one position. With a grade 1 or 2 sprain there will be a microscopic tear to partial tears of the fibers of the ligaments. With a grade 3 sprain you will most likely have a complete tear or rupture of the ligament.

There are a number of treatment options available for each type of sprain. Here are a few for each grade of sprain:

Grade 1 Sprain

  • RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation). Make sure you rest and only weight bear as tolerated. Ice the area daily until the swelling comes down. You can use a tensor band to aid with compression and lastly elevate the ankle to help reduce swelling and inflammation.
  • Full range of motion stretching and strengthening exercises as tolerated.
  • Do not immobilize the foot by casting or splinting, as this won’t allow for any stretching exercises.

Grade 2 Sprains

  • Immobilize foot with an air cast or splint to prevent further injury of the ligaments.
  • Physical therapy with stretching and icing exercises as well as strengthening exercises.

Grade 3 Sprains

  • Immobilization of the foot.
  • Physical therapy similar to a grade 2 sprain but for a longer period of time.
  • Surgical intervention if necessary.

Ankle sprains can happen at any given moment so it is always important to be aware of your surroundings and to wear proper footwear to help stabilize and support the foot. If you do sprain your ankle it is very important to get it checked out to determine the extent of the sprain and the appropriate treatment option necessary.

For more information, or to book an assessment, please contact Ontario Foot and Orthotics at one of our two locations: 519-623-3000 (Cambridge), 905-878-6479 (Milton). Or visit us online at www.ontariofoot.ca.