Podiatrists are like the Sherlock Holmes of feet. They check the appearance and condition of your feet to find important clues about your overall health. They can pinpoint serious issues like impaired circulation, lung disease, and dehydration with their podiatry detective tools.

Your feet can show signs of serious health issues

There are some overall health issues that could change the appearance or feel of your feet during a foot exam. This is because circulatory system issues often appear in the extremity that is furthest from your heart: your feet! Here are some issues that could point to serious health problems:

• Cold feet – hypothyroidism causes your thyroid to underproduce important hormones, which could cause your feet to chill. This might also cause depression, hair loss, and fatigue.
• Dry, flaky skin – dry skin on the feet could be caused by nerve damage or an allergic reaction.
• Swelling in the feet and ankles – fluid retention is a common sign of kidney disease.
• Constant foot or leg cramps – frequent cramps could be from a lack of vital minerals like calcium or potassium, or from dehydration. Try eating a banana daily and make sure you’re getting plenty of fluids.
• Hairless toes – impaired blood circulation could cause you to lose the hair on your toes.
• Numbness – needles and pins or numbness in the feet and toes could be neuropathy, which is often linked to diabetes.
• Red, painful, swollen big toe – Gout is a form of arthritis that results from uric acid buildup. It often causes a painful reaction in your big toe.
• Clubbed toenails – rounded toenails could be a sign of pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, or lung cancer.
• Sores that won’t heal – abrasions or ulcers that don’t heal quickly are a common side effect of diabetes.

Are you experiencing any of the above issues? Here at Feet First Foot Care Specialists, LLC, Dr. Adam Mucinskas can open up his detective’s bag of tools and get to the bottom of what you’re experiencing with your feet. Please give us a call today to schedule an appointment at our conveniently-located office in the Cromwell, Connecticut area: (860) 632-5499.

According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, 48% of Americans over age 18 suffer from some pain in the musculoskeletal system. That’s nearly half of the adults in this country walking around with pain in bones or muscles!

Pain management is something we talk to patients about here often at Feet First Foot Care Specialists, LLC. It’s no surprise when you look at the foot too! In each of your feet, there are 28 bones, 30 joints, and over 100 muscles. It’s might seem like a tall order to keep all those moving parts healthy, but it just takes a few steps.

We’ve put together the following simple tips to keep your bones and joints healthy and pain-free:

• Try weight-bearing exercises like lifting weights, jogging, kickboxing, or power walking. Low-impact exercises like swimming can also keep your muscles and joints active.
• Wear the right gear. Getting the right shoes and protective gear for whatever activity you’re taking on is necessary to keep your body safe.
• Don’t overdo it. Pain is your body’s way of telling you: “Cut it out!” Pushing past pain, or trying to “walk it off” could result in further injury.
• Get the proper minerals. Vitamin D and calcium work in tandem to keep your bones healthy. Calcium can be easily attained from dark leafy greens, dairy, and some nuts. Vitamin D helps your bones absorb that necessary calcium, and can be obtained by soaking up the sun or through a vitamin supplement.

Not taking care of your body can have painful recourses. Here are some of the medical conditions that can arise in your foot’s musculoskeletal system.

• Arthritis – chronic pain in the joints is usually because of arthritis. Common forms of this are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Maintaining healthy joints can help slow the onset of arthritis in some cases.
• Osteoporosis – osteoporosis makes your bones brittle and weak, which can easily cause fractures. Calcium and vitamin D in the right amounts can help prevent this disease.
• Gout – if you have high levels of uric acid in your body, it could cause a sudden painful inflammation of the joints in your big toe. This condition is often caused by eating too many foods high in a substance called purines.

If you are suffering from pain in your joints, muscles, or any other part of your feet or ankles, it’s time to make an appointment with us. Dr. Adam Mucinskas offers state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment at his office here in Cromwell, CT. Request an appointment online or call us at (860) 632-5499.

Gout is a form of arthritis that can cause severe pain in the foot over time. Our podiatrist, Adam Mucinskas, D.P.M., can help to diagnose this condition and determine the extent to which it has developed in your feet, at Feet First Foot Care Specialists, LLC, located in Cromwell, CT. Call our offices at (860) 632-5499 and take the time to review our Patient Education library to discover more about what you can do to keep your feet in top shape and prevent other complications from occurring.  

Gout can cause severe pain, inflammation and rigidity, generally in the joint of the big toe. This condition slowly causes damage to tissues in the area of swelling. As noted above, this condition is a form of arthritis, and it’s caused by a surplus of uric acid present in the blood.

Usually uric acid dissolves in the blood and is thereafter removed via urine. When too much uric acid is produced, it can pool and form crystals, which causes swelling and pain in the joints because the body views them as foreign cells. The pain caused by this condition is therefore the result of the creation of uric acid crystals in the joints. Generally, the pain happens in the middle of the night, occurs suddenly and can be very painful. When this condition is not treated timely, it can result in kidney stones (the crystals build up in the urinary tract).

Treatment for this condition involves the use of medications to prevent reoccurrence of the pain and to decrease the risk of complications like kidney stones. Medications are in the form of anti-inflammatories or corticosteroids to reduce swelling and discomfort in the areas affected by gout. They can also be used to reduce the creation of uric acid or to help with the kidney's capability to eliminate uric acid from the body.

Due to the extreme pain that this condition can cause over time, it is imperative that you  contact us as soon as possible to help get your gout under control with the correct medications for your particular condition.

Our podiatrist, Adam Mucinskas, D.P.M., treats many different types of foot and ankle conditions, including gout. Gout happens when the feet joints become swollen due to a buildup of urate crystals in those particular joints. This condition can be extremely painful and should be treated with care. Please call our offices at (860) 632-5499 at the Feet First Foot Care Specialists, LLC located in Cromwell, CT so that we can ensure that your condition is treated correctly.

Gout occurs from crystal buildup due to excessive amounts of uric acid in the blood, which is produced during the digestion of certain foods and beverages such as meats, seafood, alcohol or those high in sugar. It affects the large joint of the big toe and other areas of the feet and ankles. Generally uric acid disperses in the blood and travels through the kidneys and eventually into the urine. However, if your body makes too large an amount of uric acid or if your kidneys don’t get rid of fast enough, it builds up and forms sharp urate crystals in the joints. This buildup is what causes severe pain and inflammation. The pain and any associated symptoms occur quickly and within 12 hours after the buildup begins. Please utilize our Patient Education resources to help manage this and other conditions and learn more about the symptoms of this condition.

Symptoms include a nagging pain at first, then sudden and severe pain, including swelling at the joint. Decreased mobility also occurs as this condition gets worse. To prevent the condition from evolving into a serious problem, treatment involves the use of appropriate medications to prevent current and future pain emanating from the excess buildup of crystals. Since complications may occur from this condition, it’s important to remember to follow some general guidelines to assist with mitigating its effects, such as avoiding alcohol or drinks like soda that contain high sugar, as well as meats. It shouldn’t be surprising that water is best to help with this condition. Exercising is also very helpful since losing weight can help with the processing of uric acids in your body.

This condition can cause severe pain and complications very soon after its onset. Please contact us today so that gout won’t ever agonize your feet again!