Dr. Stephen L. Barrett of DPM, FACFAS, Phoenix is considered to be one of the world's experts in the treatment and diagnosis of heel pain. In addition to some other surgical techniques he invented, Dr. Barrett is also the first surgeon to introduce minimally invasive endoscopic surgery on the foot.
Dr. Barrett is an experienced physicist qualified for the foot and ankle surgery of the American Supreme Arthroplasty Committee. He is a US patent holder for the development of two endoscopic surgical procedures: endoscopic plantar fasciotomy (EPF) and endoscopic decompression foreskin incision (EDIN). He trained over 5000 surgeons through his surgical techniques. In addition to serving the board of The Podiatry Today, he is a contributing editor of the journal of The American Podiatric Association and Practical Pain Management.
It took a couple of minutes to ask about Dr. Barrett's diagnosis and treatment of general sports injuries to the feet and ankles.
Dr. Barrett, what are the most common sports injuries you encounter in your practice?
DR. Valley: It easily becomes a sprained ankle.
What is the usual cause and treatment? What are some of the misconceptions people usually have about this type of injury?
DR. Valley: If you do something with their sports, the ankles roll. For example, in basketball, it may fall on the legs and feet of others. We call it a reversing ankle sprain. For runners, sidewalks and small holes of that type cause the same effect.
If it is mild, it is a method of treating with only a break called ice, compression, elevation called RICE. If it is a very mild crime, this regimen usually resolves inflammation and pain within a few days. If you have moderate sprains or strains, it will take time for you to feel better. You can usually tell you bad things by the amount of pain and swelling and the amount of bruise. If it is more than a calm ankle sprain, it is very painful even if there is no change in the pain of a day or more, but it needs to be evaluated. It is important to perform X-ray radiography and confirm that there are no broken bones and other injuries.
Do you know that individuals will spend too much time like crime? In other words, they think that it is small, do you need to deal with reality?
DR. BARRETT: Everyone is different, everyone has different tolerance of pain, and athletes are generally more robust than non-athletes. They try to return to the program earlier than someone who is not an athlete's hardcore. But sometimes what happens is that there are some injuries that do not appear until the sprain itself has healed in an ankle sprain of the inverse.
One such injury is called osteochondral lesion of the talar (ankle) bone. It is a small part on the ankle bone, which means that the cartilage on it bumps or receives shocks, often not displayed until 6 weeks after injury.
By that time the sprain healed, but the area is still changing, why does the patient still hurt after this time? Most sprains and strains cure completely in 6 weeks, so the pain that lasts even after that time is a red flag. This type of problem usually has two injuries. One is called the sinoatrial rash syndrome. There is a little hole between the ankle bone and the heel bone, there is a little little nerve in that part, it will stretch with that type of injury.
These nerves can return pain signals back to the brain. Actually it is not an ankle joint that is actually affected, but actually the joint under the shoulder joint is actually similar, but most anatomically it is impossible for most patients to grasp. They are 1 centimeter or 2 centimeters from the ankle joint itself, so I think they are just "well, my ankle". Therefore, there is another very common injury. Usually it comes in 6 months later, "As you know, my legs have pain just outside that, I had the ankle injuries and ankle pain 6 months ago. .. "
The third state is what we call common fibular nerve injury. Going right under your lap to the outside of your feet may hit a little. It is on the head of the fibula, or on a long thin bone of the leg. There is a nerve that runs around that area called common fibular nerve. It is a very important nerve because people can raise their feet. When that nerve gets injured, sometimes people develop something called "falling feet". They are almost in parallel because they can not raise their legs to speak.
The injury can sometimes be very hidden in the months to years when the patient feels a little sensation or feels a little weak. The patient explains, "I feel that my foot is struck on the floor." Over time, nerve injury, if left untreated, degenerates the nerve and fewer options to help the patient. If you are struggling to bend your feet, look at the person trained in the peripheral nerves.
So, there are some things you have to tackle for that special injury.
Let's talk a bit about shoes for players like doctors and runners. How important are the correct shoes to prevent injuries of those who are active like runners?
DR. BARRETT: That's very important. Just as we have different genetics, there are different biomechanics. Every leg is different. If you put your feet in the wrong shoe and place a sufficient mileage, you will cause somewhat biomechanical breakdown. I think that everyone will agree with it if it is pretty intuitive. Shoe companies are very sophisticated by controlling human biomechanics.
The problem is that the general type of blanket coverage is to speak and the type of shoes may not really take care of users from the viewpoint of stress and cycle number and in fact they may be the wrong shoes Absolutely not. From the biochemical point of view, what kind of foot does this patient have and is it really suitable?
One thing that I always recommend is that if someone is having an abnormal foot condition, it is evaluated by those who know biomechanics. Next, instead of causing the shoes to handle the problem, please have a custom bracelet created by someone who understands your specific biomechanics. Since you can transfer the gear from shoes to shoes, you actually save money in the long run.
There are always a lot of people bringing 8 to 10 pairs of different shoes bags and actually trying to find shoes that solve the problem when the shoes do not solve the problem. They actually need more important treatments.
What is the most important consideration when choosing podiatrist for treatment to encompass this?
DR. Valley: Well, I think there are several things. Since pediatrics is a young professional and highly professional occupation, it is a very interesting occupation, so specialists belonging to pediatric professionals, experts specialized only for biomechanics, people specialized in surgery A very special area such as peripheral nerve surgery of the lower limb was included. If the patient actually knows their problem, you should study a little to see if the doctor is interested or interested in that field.
It has a perfect connotation. Dr. Barrett, thank you for taking the time to talk with us today, thank you.
DR. Barrett: It's a big welcome.
Dr. Stephen Barrett of DPM, FACFAS, Phoenix can contact at Phoenix's clinic at 480-478-0780. His business website is your-feet.com.
By Kevin Nimmo -
Kevin Nimmo is a writer and an online media strategist. He interviews subject matter experts and educates readers based on information provided by experts in related fields. He is also an executive editor of Western Medical Journal.
