Category Archives: Custom orthotics

Here We Grow Again: We’re Coming to Holly Springs!

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Raleigh Foot & Ankle Center is pleased to announce the addition of its Holly Springs office in November 2018. The new state-of-the-art podiatry practice will open at 1004 Werrington Drive, Ste. 300 in Main Street Square along G.B. Alford Highway (Hwy 55). The practice will offer foot and ankle care for all ages. Services will include surgical and non-surgical treatment for skin and nail conditions, fractures, sprains, sports injuries, birth deformities, foreign bodies, diabetic foot care and disorders, pediatric conditions, nerve disorders, and wounds.

“Our vision is to serve the community by providing compassionate and progressive foot and ankle care for children, adolescents, and adults,” said Dr. Kirk Woelffer. “And our mission is to provide advanced care through a dedicated, well-trained healthcare team in a friendly, professional setting.”

“We offer the latest advances in technology to get you back on your feet quickly,” said Dr. Alan Boehm. “This includes digital x-rays, Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT), ultrasound, 3D scanning for custom molded orthotics, and laser therapy for toenail fungus.”

The Holly Springs office will also feature an onsite nail care salon with medically trained technicians who will perform podiatrist-supervised pedicures for patients, including those with diabetes.

Raleigh Foot & Ankle Center’s surgeons Dr. Kirk Woelffer, Dr. Alan Boehm, Dr. Jordan Meyers, bring over 35 years of trusted podiatry experience. They volunteer at Open Door Clinic, Alliance Medical Ministry, and Project Homeless Connect.

“Holly Springs has seen a tremendous amount of growth, with little increase in available foot and ankle care,” said Dr. Jordan Meyers. “Making time to go to the doctor is challenging enough, so we are excited to provide advanced foot and ankle care a little closer to home for all the great people in Holly Springs and its surrounding areas. This also provides an opportunity for us to not only offer great medical care, but contribute and give back to the community through various avenues of charitable work.”

Raleigh Foot & Ankle Center plans to open the Holly Springs satellite office on November 12, 2018. For more information call (919) 850-9111 or visit www.RaleighFootAndAnkleCenter.com. Raleigh Foot & Ankle Center is a division of Foot & Ankle Specialists of the Mid-Atlantic, LLC.

 

Injury Prevention Made Easy

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Did you know you should ALWAYS wear shoes… even at home? Check out Dr. Jordan Meyers’ easy and practical tips for “Injury Prevention Made Easy.” He provides some great tips for the home, office and gym to keep you from needing emergency podiatric care. Read it here.

Sports Medicine: Stay in the Game

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Sports Medicine can help everyone from gym class heroes to Superbowl stars. Check out Dr. Kirk Woelffer’s tips on how to keep athletes of all ages in the game. He shares great, non-invasive podiatry treatments including custom orthotics and Shockwave which can help you get back on your feet quickly. To read the article, click here.

Relieve Your Heel Pain!

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Heel pain – ouch! We’ve all experienced it at some point in our lives. Heel pain conditions vary from plantar fasciitis to heel spurs to Achilles tendinitis. Treatments also vary from taking some time off your feet to rest, trying out some stretching and icing techniques, physical therapy, and taking anti-inflammatory medications.

Another way to relieve heel pain is to wear orthotic shoe inserts. Usually these inserts are cushioned in specific areas to relieve pain and pressure from a particular part of the foot. They could be as small as a foam heel pad or as large as a full-length insole.

If you need to purchase over the counter items for your heels, you should check out Raleigh Foot & Ankle Center’s online store! It is a great way to get all of the over the counter items we provide in our office, without the hassle of stopping in. If you need to order more BioFreeze for your joint pain, or a new set of leather full-length shoe inserts for your heel pain, you can do it all from the comfort of your home! Just visit our online store and browse by the type of product or the condition you suffer from.

For example, if you’re currently suffering from plantar fasciitis, you may want to look at foam heel pads or silicone heel cups to reduce stress and strain on your heels.Or maybe you want to look at our over the counter shoe inserts, which can be three-quarter length or full-length, and range from leather inserts for dress shoes to synthetic inserts for athletic shoes. There are lots of options for whatever your needs are. Visit our online store today!

The doctors at Raleigh Foot & Ankle Center have decades of experience diagnosing and treating plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinitis, and other conditions that cause heel pain. Call our office at (919) 850-9111 or visit our website today to schedule your appointment and get your feet back to being pain free!

Start Back to School With the Right Foot Forward!

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Children at school classroom

Heading back to school is an exciting time in and of itself; there is no need to complicate things with unhappy feet!  In this post I will highlight a few of the things we at Raleigh Foot & Ankle Center think are important healthy feet tips for your kids as they head back for another successful school year!

Back to school shopping is a ritual that parents, and inherently children, partake in on a yearly basis.  A big reason for this is the fact that our little loved ones are constantly out-growing old clothes. This includes their shoes as well!  It is important to pay close attention to shoes that may be too small or causing pain, as they may need new shoes as often as every few months during “growth spurts.”

It is important that we teach our kids about sharing, but this should exclude shoes!  Parents really shouldn’t hand down shoes from one kid to the next, as often times this can promote the spread of conditions such as Athlete’s foot and toenail fungus.  It is also rare for both children to have exactly the same foot type, so their shoes likely won’t fit the same anyways.

Shoes should be comfortable straight out of the box.  Any excessive “break-in” period could mean that the shoes don’t actually fit well.  Make sure to keep an eye on how the shoe is wearing on the bottom as well.  If you notice areas of heavy wear, such as the heels or forefoot area, you should see your local foot & ankle expert to ensure there isn’t something biomechanically that needs to be altered.  The good news is that sometimes all that is needed is a simple custom insert to re-align biomechanical instability and promote good lower extremity health for life!  A simple analogy to orthotics keeping foot pain away is brushing your teeth to keep cavities away.

We wish you all the best of luck in this new school year, and look forward to sharing in your success stories when you come by the office!

Bare Feet are Fun! (Right?)

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Bare Foot Woes

Ah, the feeling of sand squishing between my toes as I stroll on the beach; so natural, so free. Many of us love the feeling of being barefoot. My 3 little kids live for it. It takes them hours to put on their shoes, but only seconds to take them off! The adults I meet at work as a podiatrist often feel the same way, saying, “It just feels good.” Yep. I agree. There is something special about the way being barefoot feels. Maybe it is Mother Nature telling us, “This is the way it should be.”

But, I also have lots of times when I notice my kids, my patients, and myself extolling the virtues of shoes. “These gel-air-pump-turbo running shoes I just bought feel amazing,” patients tell me. Or, I might find myself in the closet on the morning of my surgery day thinking, “Good day for my old man dress shoes today.”

So, what is better, living in supportive shoes, or living in bare feet whenever possible? The answer is different, and depends on each person’s “Achilles heel”, or problem. Generally speaking, if you have foot pain, it is best to increase your time in supportive shoes, even custom orthotics, and minimize your time barefoot or in flimsy footwear. You don’t want your feet doing the work of holding you up. Let the footwear do the work. If your feet don’t hurt, but other joints do, such as your knees, try using less supportive footwear. This will allow maximum motion in your foot and ankle joints, letting your feet perform as they were intended, as your natural shock absorbers. (This is a good situation for “barefoot running shoes”.)

Now, let’s get back to my favorite subject, my kids. Like most young people, they have pain-free happy feet. They don’t crave the benefits of support because nothing hurts—until chocolate lab Jake steps on their foot! Ouch! Yep. Being barefoot has its problems. A person is much more prone to cuts, scrapes, puncture wounds, bug bites, and nail injuries when he or she is barefoot. Trust me, I know. I have the pleasure of hearing blood-curdling screams daily from the shoe-resistant children in my house. Not to mention, I get to observe the problems with barefoot summertime fun every day at work. Bare feet can feel good, but sometimes there’s a price to pay.

Anyway, this post is not inclusive of all the good and bad associated with bare feet. (I could go on for days!) It is just a simple reminder that our feet are important and need our attention—especially if you hope to feel the sand squishing between your toes for years to come. Happy walking!