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Posts for tag: charcot foot

By drbhatia
April 30, 2012
Category: Foot Care

 

While people around Columbus may feel as though they have difficulties finding comfortable shoes, one man from Rochester, Minnesota has truly not had a pair of properly fitting shoes in six long years.  Igor Vovkovinskiy is the tallestman in America at 7 feet 8 inches tall.  His feet are so large that no shoe template existed for the estimated size 26 extra wide shoe he would need.  Because of this, the $16,000 price of the shoes posed a major barrier to Igor’s foot health, until he reached out via the internet to ask for donations.  He has now surpassed the $16,0000 goal and has various shoe companies offering to produce the shoes. 

Like Igor, people suffering from a variety of diseases or congenital deficits may also require a custom or modified shoe in order to maintain good foot health.  Nerve disease is one condition that can result in the need for custom shoes.  When loss of sensation occurs in the feet, bony changes can occur that result in arthritis.  This arthritis resulting from nerve disease is called neuropathic arthritis.  Individuals with diabetes represent a major portion of the population who develop neuropathic arthritis in the form of Charcot foot.  In Charcot foot, damage is inflicted on the foot bones as the individual continues to walk on damaged tissue because they are unable to feel pain from the damage.    The bone fragments into pieces, and then coalesces and reforms into an extremely misshapen foot.  A Charcot foot is typically very wide with complete collapse of the arch by the time bone remodeling is complete.  The combination of foot deformity with inability to feel is a potent combination leading to the development of dangerous ulcers for a diabetic patient. 

Luckily, custom shoes can be found with much less work than Igor had to put in to obtain his, simply by visiting your podiatrist.   Charcot and other complications of diabetes can frequently be avoided through regular podiatric care.  It is believed that the biomechanical condition called “equinus” where the foot is unable to lift off the ground, which can result from overpronation, contributes to the development of Charcot foot and ulcers in patients with diabetes.  Your podiatrist at Columbus Podiatry and Surgery can create individualized custom orthotics using a digital gait scanner to correct these biomechanical abnormalities.   Unlike Igor’s $16,000 extremely large shoes, many insurance companies recognize the need and offer coverage of custom shoes and orthotics for diabetic patients meeting specific criteria.

Please visit www.ColumbusFoot.com for more information or call 614-885 FEET (3338) to schedule an appointment with a podiatrist in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Podiatry & Surgery is located on the North side of Columbus, Ohio near Worthington. If you would like to see a podiatrist in Dublin, Ohio near Tuttle Crossing, call 614-859-FEET (3338) for an appointment.

By Dr. Animesh (Andy) Bhatia

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By drbhatia
September 20, 2011
Category: Foot Care

 

Many diabetic patients may have heard warnings to look out for “charcot foot” but they may not know exactly what this means.  Different from diabetic charcot foot is an inherited disease with another characteristic foot type called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.  As a part of September’s Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease awareness month, it is critical for patients to understand the differences between these two neurological disorders. 

CMT

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is caused by a gene defect that is often inherited.  If CMT is seen in other family members, parents should be on the lookout for the development of slowly progressing muscle weakness in the lower extremities before age 20.  Individuals with CMT have nerves that lose their myelin covering, which normally allows signals to be sent to and from skin and muscles at a normal speed allowing sensation and muscle contraction.  Patients will not usually complain of any numbness because their sensation was likely never completely normal.  As a result of the weakness and loss of sensation, first in the legs then typically seen in the upper extremities, kids with CMT may seem clumsy and have difficulty walking without tripping or rolling their ankles. The feet will often have a high arch appearance and may be prone to ulcers from damage caused by lack of ability to sense pain. 

Diabetic Charcot Foot

Patients with diabetes need to be concerned about charcot arthropathy when they develop areas of the foot where they can no longer feel anything.  The combination of lack of sensation allowing damage to the foot that patient cannot feel and an increased blood flow supplying mediators of the inflammatory process allows a “charcot joint” to develop.  In the charcot joint, the repeated small injuries occurring cause bones to gradually fracture and dislocate.   This causes deformity (often an extreme flat foot) which typically places the diabetic patient’s foot at a greatly increased risk of developing ulcers and subsequent infection with severe consequences.  The most common signs of the development of charcot arthropathy are swelling and increased temperature of the affected area of the foot, redness, pain and the feeling of a “loose bag of bones” when the joint is moved. 

In both diabetes with loss of sensation, and Charcot-Marie-Tooth, foot self-exams are immeasurably important in preventing ulceration and further complications.  Protective shoe gear and custom made orthotics can provide additional protective measures for the foot.  As shown by these two disease processes, loss of sensation in the foot is a major problem that should always be evaluated by your podiatrist.  

Please visit www.columbusfoot.com for more information or call 614-885 FEET (3338) to schedule an appointment with a podiatrist in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Podiatry & Surgery is located on the North side of Columbus, Ohio near Worthington. To schedule an appointment with a podiatrist in Dublin, Ohio, near Tuttle Crossing Mall, please call 614-885-FEET (3338).

By Dr. Animesh (Andy) Bhatia

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Podiatrist - Animesh Bhatia, D.P.M., C.W.S. , Sarah Newby, D.P.M. , Columbus OH, 43235, Dublin, OH 43017, (614) 885-3338
If you are in search of an experienced podiatrist in Columbus Ohio, you have come to the right place. Our podiatrists in Columbus, OH and Dublin, OH are highly skilled in many aspects of podiatric treatments. Selecting a foot doctor in your area can be a difficult task, but it doesn't have to be, especially when you have Dr. Bhatia and Dr. Newby as options.