Eugene Podiatry Associates

Diabetes is the inability to manufacture or properly use insulin, and it impairs the body's ability to convert sugars, starches, and other foods into energy. The long-term effects of elevated blood sugar (hyperglycemia) can lead to serious damage to the eyes, heart, kidney, nerves, and feet. Diabetes affects the lives of nearly 26 million people in the United States, and nearly seven million don't even know they have the disease yet!

The feet and ankles work together to provide support and mobility to the body. A foot or ankle sprain is a soft tissue injury. Most often, a sprain occurs when an injury pulls, stretches, or tears the ligaments that connect bone to bone. A fracture is actually a break in the bone. Injuries are the most common causes of foot and ankle sprains and fractures.

The heel bone is the largest of the 26 bones in the human foot, which also has 33 joints and a network of more than 100 tendons, muscles, and ligaments. Like all bones it is subject to outside influences that can affect its integrity and its ability to keep us on our feet. Heel pain can occur in the front, back, or bottom of the heel, which can sometimes be disabling.

Ingrown nailsare nails whose corners or sides dig painfully into the soft tissue of nail grooves, often leading to irritation, redness, and swelling. It isthe most common nail impairment. Usually toenails grow straight out. However, sometimes one or both corners or sides curve and grow into the flesh.

A neuroma is a painful condition, also referred to as a "pinched nerve" or a nerve tumor. It is a benign growth of nerve tissue frequently found between the third and fourth toes. It brings on pain, a burning sensation, tingling, or numbness between the toes and in the ball of the foot. Biomechanical deformities, such as a high-arched foot or a flat foot, can lead to the formation of a neuroma.