Don't let cracked heels crack you up! Zimmermann Podiatry Blog

Cracked heels bringing you down?

Don't worry, there are things you can do!

First of all, lets talk about why people get cracked heels. Some people simply have drier skin than others, and dry skin, especially on the heels-likes to get thick and then crack open. More often than not, people that like to live the flip-flop lifestyle or go barefoot (probably half the population of Florida) are the ones most afflicted with cracked heel syndrome. And for the people that like to go barefoot or stay in flip-flops, the chance of improvement is greatly limited unless they modify their activity and finally begin to wear shoes and socks. Without shoes and socks, the skin around the heels gets extremely dry and turns so hard that it may even seem rock-like.
As far as treatment (besides wearing shoes and socks and limiting time barefoot or in flip-flops), hydration and removal of the thick skin is the primary course of action. Forget lotions, by the way. Dried up heel skin laughs at over the counter lotions. For dried up heel skin, you usually need prescription level medication for hydration and treatment to help remove some of the thick skin. In our office, we stock Kera-42, a highly concentrated and thick cream that actually works to help soften and remove the thick skin. A podiatrist will also use instruments to painlessly cut off the thick skin. Usually patients have to come back for a few visits until the thick skin is greatly reduced in size and thickness. After that, as long a patients continue to use the proper creams and can use a pumice stone, the heel problems are a thing of the past! But for those who refuse to give up going barefoot and slumming it in flip-flops, the cracked heel problems will linger no matter what is done.
Rarely, an underlying fungal skin infection can make the problem worse, and for that we usually prescribe some topical antifungal medication that is used for about two weeks.

So, don't let cracked skin crack you up!
Go see a podiatrist instead-

Zimmermann Podiatry
923 W. Dixie Ave, Suite B
Leesburg, FL 34748
(352)435-7849
www.drzpodiatry.com

Zimmermann Podiatry: Minimalist shoes may equal maximum pain! Zimmerman...

Zimmermann Podiatry: Minimalist shoes may equal maximum pain! Zimmerman...: The not so long ago trend of minimalist shoes seems to have for the most part puttered out. For pure aesthetic complaints alone, I could not...

Minimalist shoes may equal maximum pain! Zimmermann Podiatry Blog

The not so long ago trend of minimalist shoes seems to have for the most part puttered out. For pure aesthetic complaints alone, I could not be happier. Gloves are made for hands, not feet, if you ask me. Sure, if you are planning on going on a canoe expedition that might require that you get out and pull the canoe over a log or an alligator, I can totally see when you would not want to do that while wearing a sweet pair of running shoes or doing it barefooted. But to wear those horrid looking things when you intend to go running? Bad idea.
Some people and finger-shoe salespeople like to mention that people were intended to walk barefoot. I agree, however, people were also not intended to be walking or running on pavement back then either. People also tend to live longer and weigh more than they used to, all of which causes more stress and causes for foot pain. In many studies, the minimalist shoe craze has proven to show an increase in many foot problems, most notably, stress fractures. Stress fractures are painful and can progress into very painful and debilitating foot problems.
The podiatrist's opinion here?
Keep the minimalist shoes to a minimum.

Zimmermann Podiatry
923 W. Dixie Ave, Suite B
Leesburg, FL 34748
(352) 435-7849
www.drzpodiatry.com

It's all about the shoes / Zimmermann Podiatry

"My feet hurt!"

I hear this all the time. Often times I will look at the shoes the patient is wearing and find that the shoes are very cheap, flimsy, too small, or they are also worn out and warped from years of wear.

"You need new shoes," I say.

When I get greeted with arms crossed across the chest and a stink eye in response, I know what I'm up against. Some people don't get it. Your shoes affect your feet the same way your tires affect your car or your glasses affect your eyes. If your feet hurt in any way, first, look at your shoes. Chances are that the shoes you are spending most of your time in are the culprit. And it doesn't matter if they are expensive or made by a certain brand. There are specific types of shoes for specific types of feet, just like there are certain types of vehicles for certain types of getting around. If you buy a Toyota Prius and you plan to pull a horse trailer, the Prius is not at fault. You bought the wrong car.
And the same goes for shoes.

So, where do you go to find great shoes? I recommend you go to a place that caters to runners, athletes, and medical patients. The best place in the lake county area is www.clermonttristore.com, a place called Gear for Multisport, in Clermont, Florida. They have trained professionals that can point you in the direction of the right shoe. Going to any big shoe retailer is usually (but not always) a  guarantee that you will be pointed in the direction of the newest and most expensive Air Jordan or Nike shoe, which will likely not meet your needs.

As far as price goes for these great shoes, $100-150.00 for a pair being quite the norm. But if your feet hurt it is money well spent. Frequently I have patients tell me that they refuse to spend so much money on shoes. I ask them how much their glasses cost. Sometimes they get it and sometimes they don't. But here is a simple guarantee: if your feet hurt and you are wearing the wrong shoes, and you refuse to get better shoes: your feet are just going to hurt.

Hopefully the money they didn't spend on the shoes that could have helped you went to a good cause.

Go get some great shoes and feel better today!

Zimmermann Podiatry
923 W. Dixie Ave, Suite B
Leesburg, FL 34748
352 435 7849
www.drzpodiatry.com

Marine Corps boot camp + sprained ankle = Zimmermann Podiatry

"Why on earth did you chose to become a podiatrist?"

For every person that ever became a podiatrist, this question comes as no stranger. On a near-daily basis, I have been asked the same question for 18 years. The question usually comes as I am diagnosing a toenail ripe with fungus. It's a fair question at that point.

For all those that are curious as to my answer, here you go. In honor of the Marine Corps birthday, you get the truth, even if you can't handle the truth!

The time and place: 1988, USMRCD San Diego; Marine Corps boot camp.

I am busy running in my platoon's initial physical evaluation, doing a 3 mile run around a dirt track that sits directly across from San Diego International Airport, separated only by a chain link fence. With less than one hundred yards to go, my left foot lands on a rock and my ankle rolls and makes a loud popping noise. I fall to the dirt like a sniper has taken me out. I grab my ankle and curse and wait for the paramedics to come take me away on a stretcher. Instead, several nice drill instructors run to me and bark in my face and call me horrible names and 'encourage' me to get up and finish the run. I do not bother wiping the spit off my face and limp at a high rate of speed over the finish line, a gaggle of agitated drill instructors in tow, yelling obscenities at me and saying horrible things about my weak ankles.

Later that day.

"What the is that on your ankle, freak!?!" Yells my senior drill instructor as he points at my ankle, seeing it for the first time outside of a boot.
"Sir, this recruit sprained his ankle." I respond.
"No, doubt Sherlock." He replies, wincing in hatred at the mere sight of my weak ankle. "Can you train?"
"Sir, yes sir!" I reply.
"Well stand on one foot and let's see,"
I raise my bad foot and ankle off the ground and stand on my healthy right foot. The drill instructor has a near stroke.
"Not your good foot! Your other foot, brainstorm!" He roars, his face red with fury, his contempt for my ankle weakness unrestrained.
I do as instructed, switch feet, and promptly fall to the deck, all the while still at attention. He screams at the top of his lungs. "GO SEE THE CORPSMAN!"

Naturally, I did as told. The next day I set out with a crew of sickly recruits to the Navy medical clinic. Some of my company for the short march that day were a bed-wetter, an asthmatic, a home-sick boy bent on getting discharged and busy faking heat stroke (it was November), a kid with a neck abscess the size of a golf ball, and a few more fakers.

"Well, that's a dozie!" The Navy podiatrist said as he looked at my ankle and x-ray. Strangely, he did not swear, insult me or my pathetic ankle, and had a calm demeanor as compared to my four drill instructors, all seemingly hopped up on lethal doses of caffeine and contempt. An ace wrap, some crutches, some ibuprofen, and a note saying that I could not march or run for a few days (light-duty) was the treatment plan. Back at the squad bay, the drill instructors swore to get even with me and my limp ankle upon my being removed from light-duty.
"You think your ankle is sore now, boy? Wait 'till you're off light duty," one drill instructor promised. Another drill instructor made down a count-down calendar so they could build up the drama for my imminent release from light duty. Luckily for me, by the time I was off light duty, the bed -wetter, the heat stroke-faker (who decided to drop the heat stroke theme and tried to kill himself by drinking the platoon's supply of Listerine and got drunk and vomited profusely instead), and the usual myriad of sick perpetual screw-ups had so distracted the drill instructors that they forgot to specifically target my weak left ankle. I managed to graduate boot camp without becoming a cripple.

Years later, in 1993, while in college and doing the pre-med program, a podiatry school recruiter came for a seminar. I remembered for the first time in years the Navy podiatrist who fixed up my ankle and did not swear at me while doing so.

"Maybe I'll go check out this podiatry thing," I told my friend.
"Could be worse things in the world, I suppose." he said.

Happy Marine Corps birthday!!!

The curious mystery of the black and blue toenail...Zimmermann Podiatry

"My toenail is black and blue but I don't remember bumping it!"

As a podiatrist, the curious mystery of the black and blue toenail is in nearly daily mystery to solve. Surprisingly, most black and blue toenails do not show up with an obvious history of trauma such as dropping a bowling ball on or smashing them into the bedpost. Usually a black and blue toenail appears suddenly and is not painful and anyway. Primarily the big toe is affected, for just as Seinfeld declared, the big toe is the king of the toes- and therefore gets all of the adulation and abuse.

If you or someone you know may be suffering from a curiously black and blue toenail with no known history of trauma, the first thing to look for is the size and fitting of your shoes. Over 90% of the time shoes that are too small for the culprit for causing the black and blue toenail, which is nothing more than a bruise underneath the toenail. Runners and athletes frequently get black and blue toenails even though their shoes may fit properly because of the repetitive abuse that their toes get from running or sporting activities.

Sometimes a black and blue toenail is not a simple bruise or an unsightly fungal infection of the toenail, instead he can be a dangerous skin lesion such as malignant melanoma. For suspicious skin lesions like this a biopsy must be taken.

So, if you have a black and blue toenail, don't feel blue- go see a podiatrist!

Zimmermann Podiatry
Erik Zimmermann, DPM
923 West Dixie Ave., Suite B
Leesburg, Florida 34748
(352)435-7849
www.drzpodiatry.com

Diabetes? Don't wait to see the podiatrist!

If you have diabetes, you have the unfortunate diagnosis that goes against the old saying: Patience Is A Virtue.

When you have diabetes, waiting around and saying "Let me see how this sore on my foot looks in a few days-" can mean the difference between having a foot in a few days, or being an amputee for the rest of your life. In some instances, diabetics get infections so bad that they die. Diabetes damages every part of your body and impairs both healing and immune response. A simple sore on the foot for a non-diabetic is never the same simple sore on the foot of a diabetic.

Patience may be a virtue, but extreme diligence is a better virtue when it comes to foot care for patients with diabetes.

Zimmermann Podiatry
Erik Zimmermann, DPM
923 W. Dixie Ave. Suite B
Leesburg, FL 34748
(352)435-7849
www.drzpodiatry.com