Care for Foot Conditions

If you have corns or calluses, athlete’s foot, bunions, spurs or other foot problems, you can learn more here

Each of your feet is made up of 26 bones, 19 muscles, 33 joints and more than 100 ligaments. Together, they support the weight of your entire body and usually are trapped inside shoes and socks for most of the day. It's no wonder so many people develop some type of foot problem during their lifetime.

Do any of these common foot problems sound familiar?

• Corns and calluses: These thick, hardened layers of skin may form when your foot rubs against your shoe. Corns and calluses also result from wearing a high heel that slides your foot forward in your shoe or from a too-narrow toe box that creates uncomfortable pressure points on your foot.
• Athlete's foot and other bacterial and fungal conditions: Athlete's foot is one of the most common fungal and bacterial conditions. It causes dry skin, redness, blisters, itching, and peeling. To prevent infections, keep your feet, especially the area between your toes, clean and dry, and change your shoes, socks or stockings often.
• Toenail problems: When your toes and nails are forced against the front of your shoes, especially high heels, the constant pressure can lead to nail fungus and ingrown toenails (when the nail grows into, instead of over, the skin).
• Hammertoe: When your toes are forced against the front of your shoe, an unnatural bending of your toes may result. This can lead to hammertoe, a deformity in which the toe curls at the middle joint. Your toes may press against the top of your shoe, causing pain and pressure.
• Bunions: It is common to develop bunions — bony bumps on the joint at the base of your big toe or your little toe. Pointy-toed, high-heeled or tight-fitting shoes can worsen an already existing problem.
• Plantar fasciitis: This is an inflammation of the tough, fibrous band of tissue (fascia) connecting your heel bone to the base of your toes. If you feel heel pain when you stand up for the first time in the morning, it may be plantar fasciitis.
• Warts: Warts are skin growths caused by viruses. If over-the-counter products do not work, you may need specialized care to have them removed.
• Tight heel cords: The body's biggest tendon, your Achilles tendon, helps you point your foot downward, rise on your toes and push off as you walk. Wearing high heels prevents your heel bones from regularly coming in contact with the ground, keeping your Achilles from fully stretching. Over time, it contracts until you no longer feel comfortable wearing flat shoes.
• Pump bump: The rigid backs or straps of high heels can aggravate the bony enlargement, or "pump bump," on the back of your heel. The result is redness, pain and inflammation of the soft tissues surrounding the pump bump.
• Neuromas: Tight-fitting shoes can cause a growth of nerve tissue — known as Morton's neuroma or plantar neuroma — between your toes (usually your third and fourth toes). A neuroma may cause sharp, burning pain in the ball of your foot accompanied by stinging or numbness in your toes.
• Spurs: Spurs are calcium growths that develop on the bones of your feet due to muscle strain. Standing for long periods of time, wearing poor fitting shoes or being overweight can make spurs worse. Treatments for spurs include using foot supports, heel pads and heel cups. Sometimes surgery is needed.
• Joint pain in the ball of the foot (Metatarsalgia): High heels cause you to shift more weight to the ball of your foot, rather than distributing your weight over the entire foot. This causes increased pressure, strain and pain in the front part of your foot. Shoes with tight-fitting toe boxes can lead to the same kind of discomfort.
• Stress fractures: These are tiny cracks in one of the bones of your foot. They may result from overuse in sports or the pressure high heels place on your forefoot.
• Club foot: This deformity is present at birth. The foot curves in and the toes point down like the end of a golf club. It can involve one or both feet.
• Flat feet: When the feet do not have a normal arch, it is called flat feet or fallen arches. It may affect one foot or both feet. At first, all babies’ feet look flat because an arch hasn’t formed yet. Arches should form by the time your child is 2 or 3 years old.
• Toe walking: If your child walks on his toes and does not let his heel touch the ground, it is called toe walking. While this may be due to a short Achilles tendon, talk to your doctor. In some cases, it may be a sign of mild cerebral palsy or another developmental disorder.

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