We know feet. It’s what we do as a downtown Toronto Podiatrist and Chiropodist. That’s why when our patients come to us complaining about the outside of their feet hurting, we generally look to these places first. After all, pain in that part of your foot is common.
Ligaments
Play sports? Got a job that requires a lot of physical activity? Rolling over on your ankle happens all the time to cause torn ligaments. Symptoms include pain on the outside of the foot as well as instability and bruising.
Twist an ankle and you can tear a ligament. Then you’ve got what’s commonly called an ankle sprain. Damaging a ligament at the side of your foot accounts for over 80% of all the ankle injuries we see.
Fractures
We’ve been in business for years as a downtown Toronto podiatrist and chiropodist. In that time, we’ve seen little fractures that are left untreated become big problems in the long run. It’s one of the reasons we tell our patients to ease into strenuous exercise.
Sports are the number one offender. Sometimes a fracture can be only the width of a human hair. But ask anyone who has one and they’ll tell you how painful that can be.
When we treat stress fractures they heal quickly. Break into a new training level slowly. That will help you avoid this issue. Taking up a new sport is always a good idea but you will need to take the same cautious approach at first.
Bunions
When your big toe starts to rotate inward, painful bunions follow. You can’t leave the situation alone for too long. There’s a lot of pain involved and your toes can even cross over each other. Tight fitting shoes are quite often the culprit.
However, those stylish loafers aren’t the only reason that you can get a bunion. Genetics play a big role. If someone in your family has this issue, your chances go up of getting it yourself.
Research has shown that bunions are rare in cultures where people don’t wear any shoes. We’re not advocating for that given the Toronto winters, but getting the right shoe size is important. Truth be told, both genetics and footwear play a role.
There is another factor. As you get older, the risk for getting bunions increases. Getting them treated by a downtown Toronto podiatrist stops the symptoms from getting worse.