Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays and a Happy and Healthy New Year

http://www.podiatrycarespecialists.com/

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/

Howard Stern and His Broken Toe

Howard Stern broke his toe recently and was seen wearing a Camboot. He stubbed his 5th toe on the corner of a desk. This is a common injury that people suffer from. Whether its on the corner of the desk or in the middle of the night on the edge of the bed it can be a painful condition. Its important to have it seen right away instead of falling into the trap of "Oh its just a toe there is nothing that can be done for it". This myth is not true. If it were to involve the metatarsal, which is the bone behind the toe the treatment is different. With a broken toe this can lead to arthritis later in life if it involves the joint. The toe may also need to be 'set' back into place. Initially, the best thing for it is to be evaluated by a Podiatrist and have X-Rays taken. Following the principles of RICE (Rice, Ice, Compression, Elevation) also helps. Depending on which toe is broken it needs to be splinted to the adjacent toe. So his 4th and 5th toes are splinted together. One may also need a surgical shoe in case there is a lot of swelling. It may be difficult to get into a closed shoe. If one is trying to it will only make the pain and swelling worse. He was placed in a Camboot for his.

For more information please see our websitehttp://www.podiatrycarespecialists.com/

Miners Saved in Chile and copper socks

What great news to hear that all the Chilean miners are safe and well after their historic rescue! One of the amazing components of their rescue was the supplies sent down to them to enable a safe and healthy return to civilization. One of the items that caught our attention was the importance of the 33 miners getting to wear socks with copper soles. The advantage to this is the active ingredient, Cupron, will remove moisture from the feet which will inhibit bacteria, fungi, and yeasts from attacking the foot. At Podiatry Care Specialists, we have long been supporters of copper sole socks and have had them in stock at our offices for a number of years. If more information is desired, please stop by our offices in West Chester, PA or Newtown Square, PA to see them what makes them so special or visit our web site.

http://www.podiatrycarespecialists.com/


For more information please click on the article about the miners and the copper socks.
http://www.infobae.com/salud/534290-0-0-Chile-mineros-usaran-ropa-cobre-su-calidad-bactericida














http://www.podiatrycarespecialists.com/















For more information please click on the article about the miners and the copper socks.



http://www.infobae.com/salud/534290-0-0-Chile-mineros-usaran-ropa-cobre-su-calidad-bactericida

Toning Shoes...Fad or Bad?

There has been an increase lately in the number of shoe companies that are producing these toning shoes. Some of the common ones that are out are the Skechers Shapeups, Reebok EasyTone, New Balance and the MBT's. There are also making these in sandals now. These shoes are claiming to help solve knee and back problems, tone your legs, relieve tension in the neck and ease joint pain. What are all the thoughts on this? Since some of these products are fairly new, we dont have long term studies on them. Once more long term data is out on these we will get a better idea on how these products work over the long term.

I would not recommend these shoes/sneakers to run in. I am going to post a link to a study that was done on them. A team of exercise scientists from the Exercise and Health Program at the University of Wisconsin had studied the 3 shoes above.  They evaluated muscle activation in the toning shoes vs a New Balance Running shoe as well as exercise responses.

For the exercise response the researchers had 12 patients complete 12, 5-minute exercises on a treadmill that with different speeds and gradients(inclines) with the toning shoes and a running sneaker.  For the muscle activation response, 12 patients rotated shoes at random while having electrodes tied to different muscles on the body while doing similar exercises on the treadmill.

The results showed that none of the toning shoes showed a statistically significant increase in exercise response or muscle activation on the treadmill.

As of now, I think there needs to be even more research on these toning shoes. I like how this study was performed and how it showed that there was no difference in muscle activation or exercise response on a treadmill.

Here is the link for further reading.

http://www.acefitness.org/getfit/studies/toningshoes072010.pdf

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Pregnant Women and Shoe Gear

I recently saw an article published by the NY Daily Times on pregnant women and their shoe gear. I will include the original link at the end of this blog.

The British Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists performed a study on 1,000 pregnant women and found  many women wear fashionable shoes while being pregnant. 7/10 women had swollen ankles, feet, heel, and arch pain during their pregnancy. 66% wore flip-flops regularly,  32% high heels, 30% Uggs, and 53% ballet pumps.

What I didnt see listed in the study is when along their pregnancy they wore the above. When the feet swell it becomes more difficult to find a comfortable pair of sneakers/shoes. Typically the further along pregnancy we may recommend Crocs. It is not a good idea to wear high heels. pumps, and Uggs. These shoes do not have the proper support for the foot as well as the shock absorption. The high heels can also aggravate your back and other joints. Its always a  good idea to wear comfortable and supportive shoes to prevent any foot pain especially while being pregnant.

For more information please visit our website.

http://www.podiatrycarespecialists.com/

Here is a link to the original article:

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2010/06/15/2010-06-15_stilettoclad_momstobe_risk_longterm_foot_problems.html