If you find yourself struggling with a foot or ankle condition that causes discomfort, a specialized foot and ankle clinic like Beyond Podiatry can offer lots of therapy options for relief.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapists at these clinics use various hands-on techniques to improve joint mobility, strengthen tissues, enhance balance, and decrease pain. Gentle tissue massage helps to loosen tight muscles and scar tissue while ultrasound relaxes inflamed structures. Electrical stimulation blocks nerve pain signals providing temporary pain relief. Targeted stretching opens stiff joints while special foot and ankle exercises improve control and stability, reversing dysfunction long term without drugs or surgery.
Bracing
Custom, removable foot and ankle braces offer support, stabilize joints, restrict unhealthy motion, and offload pressure points. Simple fracture walking boots allow bones to heal by keeping them from bearing weight through injured areas. More rigid braces help realign joint mechanics in conditions like arthritis and tendonitis, reducing friction and grinding. Braces help with natural healing or they may be used short-term while considering surgery.
Orthotics and Inserts
Custom-molded orthotic shoe inserts improve comfort, support arches correcting overpronation problems, cushion painful spots like heels and balls of feet, and facilitate proper foot motion when walking. Prefabricated drugstore inserts also help align feet, although custom devices best fit individual foot issues. Padding and taping techniques further protect and offload sore spots like corns, calluses, and bunions until healing progresses.
Medications
Anti-inflammatory drugs can lessen swelling and discomfort – such as ibuprofen – along with rest, ice, and adjustments to activity levels. Injectable steroids decrease inflammation while numbing irritated nerves when joints and tendons get inflamed. Topical medications like capsaicin creams calm nerve pain on the skin surface. Oral nerve pain drugs treat symptoms, but addressing the cause is essential. Medications should be used cautiously and monitored by your podiatrist.
Surgery
Various outpatient foot surgeries realign joint structure and repair damaged tissues when conservative treatments fail to ease significant, chronic pain. Bunion removal smooths big toe joints while hammertoe straightening allows toes to rest flat again. Ankle arthroscopy smoothes arthritic bone spurs and removes loose cartilage fragments, reducing grinding and inflammation. Tendon lengthening resolves muscle imbalances and overuse. Though the last resort, surgery often provides permanent relief when indicated.
Shockwave Therapy
Also called ESWT, this innovative, noninvasive therapy focuses sound waves on irritated tendons, small bones and joint surfaces promoting accelerated natural healing. Gentle pressure waves increase blood flow and tissue regeneration, reducing chronic inflammation and pain. Although ESWT equipment seems complex, treatment feels like a woodpecker tapping lightly on your feet. Sessions are done quickly right in the clinic exam room without anesthesia. Significant, lasting pain relief is often attained with minimal discomfort and no surgery.
Platelet Rich Plasma
Another modern treatment utilizing the body’s natural healing factors is PRP. Blood is drawn, then spun rapidly in a centrifuge device to concentrate growth factors and healing cells from your own blood into platelet rich plasma. This PRP fluid is precisely injected under ultrasound guide into injured foot and ankle tendons, joints or nerve tissue sites. Relief comes about one to two months later as inflammation calms. PRP triggers accelerated tissue and nerve regeneration for stubborn cases resisting other conservative care attempts.
Conclusion
These represent just a sample of the many therapeutic options foot and ankle specialty treatment clinics offer to return patients to comfortable daily function. Working as a team with your podiatrist allows the development of an integrated treatment plan using the most appropriate options for your case. Researching options beforehand facilitates informed decision making about your care. Ask questions as these arise so you feel fully confident progressing. The right path to foot pain relief is out there through accessing specialty resources.
