Tag Archives: toenail fungus

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.

 

Summer Feet!

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Care for your feet in the summer sun!

Sunny days are here, and you know what that means – time to break out your favorite summer clothes and accessories. From sunglasses and flip flops to t shirts and shorts, the possibilities are endless. But remember when you’re heading out to the pool or the beach, or even just for a walk in the sunlight or a round of golf, to put on your sunscreen, even on your feet!

Think about it: for the majority of the year, your feet are covered in shoes and don’t get much exposure to the sun and UV rays. Because your feet are used to being protected, it’s possible they will be more sensitive to the sunlight and more likely to get sunburned. It’s even possible to get burned on the soles of your feet. Ouch!

If you have plans to be outside, remember to put on a sunscreen that offers protection from broad spectrum UVA and UVB rays, and remember to reapply often. There’s nothing worse than discovering you got sunburned feet because you forgot to put on more sunscreen after swimming and toweling off! Also remember to apply sunscreen to your entire foot, even if you are wearing sandals, so you don’t end up with splotchy or striped skin.

Summer shoes come with their own set of problems for your feet. Flip flops, sandals, and other open toed styles expose the feet not just to the sun, but also to dirt, germs, and higher risk for injury. Limit flip flops to the beach, the pool, and public showers only whenever possible. After your outing, be sure to wash your feet in warm and soapy water and dry thoroughly to prevent bacterial or fungal infections. You also want to make sure your shoes fit properly and aren’t causing discomfort.

If you do experience any issues with your feet this summer, please contact Raleigh Foot & Ankle Center at (919) 850-9111 and make an appointment. Our doctors have experience treating a wide variety of foot problems and will do their best to get you back on your feet!

Nail Your Unsightly Fungus {NOW} In Time for Summer

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Toenails

I want to briefly explore nail fungus, as it’s a common topic we discuss with our patient. It’s often times as a secondary or tertiary concern to their main ailment of foot and ankle pain. Fungus in the nail can appear as white, dark or yellowing of the nail, with thickened, brittle, crumbly or ragged appearance. It is often times caused by a dermatophyte fungus, as they like to live in warm, moist environments like showers, swimming pools, and shoes. They can also invade through small cuts in the skin and separations between nail and nail bed.

Fungus more frequently affects toenails as they are usually exposed to the environment fungus likes to breed in, they have less blood flow, and the immune system can have more difficulty detecting the fungus. Risk factors of developing fungus include:

  • Age
  • Perspiration
  • Working in moist environments
  • Wearing shoes and socks that don’t allow proper ventilation or absorb moisture
  • Living with someone with fungus
  • Walking barefoot in damp communal areas such as showers, pools and gyms
  • Having athlete’s foot infection
  • Other conditions such as diabetes, circulation problems, and weakened immune system.

Prevention can sometimes be accomplished by washing your feet regularly, wearing socks and shoes that absorb sweat and reduce humidity, discarding old shoes, using antifungal sprays in your shoes, not going barefoot in public areas, not using nail polish or artificial nails (with the exception of KerryFlex nails), and utilizing only sterile nail salons, like the one featured at Raleigh Foot & Ankle Center. Current treatments include topical medication, oral medication, and laser treatments. For any patient who is truly ready to get rid of their fungus, I recommend a synergistic approach of utilizing all three types of treatment, including antifungal spray for shoes. This gives the best chance of treating the fungus from all angles, getting rid of the fungus and keeping it away. It can take 6 months to notice treatment effectiveness, and up to a year to completely resolve, so get treated today to have beautiful nails for next summer!

 

Don’t forget about Raleigh Foot & Ankle Center’s laser special, going on during the month of October: come in and get laser treatment THIS MONTH and receive a FREE toenail care kit.

 

 

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!