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Your feet and ankles maintain your body’s balance, posture, and mobility. Foot and ankle conditions like arthritis can cause debilitating pain, impacting your ability to move freely. The effects of foot and ankle pain may even extend to your overall health. Here is how foot and ankle conditions impact your health and how a foot and ankle institute can help:
Back and Joint Health
When your feet or ankles hurt, you are likely to change the way you walk to reduce your discomfort. Adopting a misaligned walking pattern strains your spine and other muscles and ligaments that must overcompensate for the change in posture. The strain may eventually result in chronic back and joint pain in the areas that overcompensate for your movement.
A condition like having flat feet can cause a misalignment in your ankles that will affect other joints involved in movement. Flat feet cannot absorb the shock of everyday movements due to the lack of an arch. This forces your hip and knee joints to absorb this shock, putting them under considerable strain. Over time, this strain manifests as chronic joint pain. When you visit a foot and ankle institute for back and joint pain, your doctor conducts a clinical exam and imaging test to diagnose and treat the actual cause of your pain.
Body Balance and Alignment
Your feet and ankles provide a base that supports your body’s posture and balance, preventing strain on your joints and muscles. Foot and ankle problems that cause misalignment can disrupt your body’s balance, causing compensatory changes in your posture. Your knees and ankles may start to feel weak or wobbly as they strain to balance your body weight, increasing your risk of falls. Foot doctors prescribe foot orthotics to provide your feet with adequate support. The orthotics correct misalignment to your foot structure, which helps redistribute the weight on your foot. For ankle support, doctors prescribe orthotics that realign the position of your ankles.
Mobility and Flexibility
The feet and ankles support the body’s weight. Conditions like arthritis, plantar fasciitis, and Achilles tendonitis cause pain or discomfort that can limit your mobility. With severe foot pain, you may be unable to walk, run, or engage in physical activity. A limited ability to exercise can compromise your physical fitness and increase your risk of weight gain and associated health issues. Limited movement may cause stiffness and muscle weakness, which affects flexibility in your legs.
Skin and Nail Issues
Fungal and bacterial infections of the feet often affect the skin on your feet. Fungal infections like athlete’s foot cause the skin between your toes and at the bottom and sides of your soles to itch and crack. You may develop blisters at the site of infection and have a foul foot odor. Toenail infections can cause your nails to separate from the nail bed, eventually leading to nail loss. Infections of the feet are easily treatable using over-the-counter anti-fungal or bacterial medications.
Also Read: Foot & Leg Ulcers in Diabetes – You Need to Know!
Other Systemic Issues
Bacterial infections of the feet are less common than fungal infections but are more severe and cause systemic issues when left untreated. An infection like cellulitis can spread from the foot tissues to the lymph nodes, where it spreads throughout the bloodstream, causing sepsis. Diabetic patients are at risk of developing peripheral neuropathy, a condition characterized by nerve damage in the feet. Timely treatment of cellulitis and peripheral neuropathy keeps these issues from spreading to other parts of the body.
Get Treatment at Your Nearest Foot and Ankle Institute
Foot and ankle conditions impact mobility, joint health, and body alignment. In severe cases, certain conditions will negatively affect your overall well-being. You can mitigate the impact of foot and ankle conditions on your health by seeking treatment from a foot and ankle institute. Prioritize your foot health to maintain your body’s mobility, balance, and alignment.
