Shaquille O'Neal has Achilles Tendinitis

Looks like Boston Celtics Center, Shaquille O'Neal has another injury. Years ago he had surgery on his big toe joint to clean up a lot of his cartilage. Now Doctors are saying he has tendinitis or even tendinosis of his Achilles tendon. Ok so whats the difference? Tendinitis is inflammation of a tendon. Tendinosis is an abnormal condition of a tendon. It can also be caused from an overuse syndrome and there are different types of healing cells that occur with tendinosis. Anti-inflammatories may not work with tendinosis conditions. With both conditions, if he is too active, he may rupture the tendon. Currently, he is wearing a Cam Boot to help offload the area. Stay tuned for updates on his progress.

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Can Toenails Indicate If You Have Lung Cancer?

A recent study has shown that men with high levels of nicotine in their toenails are 3.5 times more likely to develop lung cancer than those with lower levels of nicotine, regardless of their smoking history.

Toenail clippings were used because they grow slowly and are relatively stable compared to other things such as salivia and urine. With the toenail clippings, there is less chance for error.

In 1986 a health questionnaire was filled out by men and followed up every 2 years. 33,737 men provided toenail clippings.  210 men developed lung cancer between 1988-2000. Clippings were used to to assess men's tobacco exposure over a year. Whats also interesting is that 10% of men who had the most levels of nicotine in their toenail clippings had never smoked. With this group it was possibly from second hand smoke.

This may provide a valuable tool for us in the future. We may not only be checking toenail clippings for fungus and other nail diseases, but also for nicotine levels.

 
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Original article can be found here
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/03/07/toenails-risk-lung-cancer/

Jennifer Grey Undergoes Neuroma Surgery

Jennifer Grey, famous actress from Dirty Dancing and recently on Dancing With the Stars Winner, had undergone neuroma surgery this past week. She was tweeting that she was even having pain and discomfort during the show.

Neuromas are not a tumor. It is a thickening of a nerve as it courses between the metatarsals of your foot. The metatarsals are the bones behind the toe. Certain factors such as tight shoes, trauma, abnormal biomechanics of the foot can cause these neuromas to form. The neuroma is basically a pinched nerve. As it gets pinched the nerve tends to scar and fibrose within itself which can cause a lot of pain and discomfort. People may say that their toes may feel numb or they are walking on a pebble or stone. The most common location for the pinched nerve is between the 3rd and 4th toes most commonly called a Morton's Neuroma. They can occur in any of the toe web spaces.

Treatment options vary for this condition. Ranging from wider toe box shoes, cortisone injections, sclerosing injections, and orthotics with special padding to help offload the neuroma area.

If you are experiencing any discomfort or  pain please see a Podiatrist right away for this.

Please visit our site for more educational information of neuromas. We have videos on this as well

http://www.podiatrycarespecialists.com/

Lis Franc Injury

Chris Ivory, running back for the New Orleans Saints had just undergone Lis Franc's surgery of his foot. The Lis Francs ligament is an important structure of the mid foot. With this type of surgery, there is a long recovery time. This could take up to 8-12 months to fully heal. This type of injury can be misdiagnosed. One common mechanism of injury is a direct trauma or stepping your foot in a hole. Its always a good idea to have your feet checked if it is not getting better. A simple sprain may turn out to be something more important.


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Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays and a Happy and Healthy New Year

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Top Doctors in Mainline Today

We wanted to congratulate Dr Chad J Friedman for being listed in the December 2010 issue of Mainline Today as one of the areas Top Doctors in Podiatry.




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Chester County Diabetes Day

Dr's Brad Jacobs and Chad Friedman from Podiatry Care Specialists, PC (with offices in West Chester, PA and Newtown Square, PA) were excited to attend Diabetes Day. It was the 16th Annual Diabetes Day, which was sponsored by The Chester County Hospital. This years location was at the Universal Technical Institute in Exton, PA. It was great for people with and without Diabetes to learn more about the condition and to help manage it.

We got a lot of interesting questions at our booth ranging from diabetic foot care to diabetic shoes. We talked about the differences of Diabetic shoes and regular shoes and the benefits of them. We also discussed what we have to offer to help with Diabetic Neuropathy. We got to meet other vendors while we were there which is a great team way to help and manage people with their Diabetes.

We were thankful to be there and hope to be there again next year. For more information on Diabetes and your feet please visit our web page.

http://www.podiatrycarespecialists.com/