Low-Tech Treatment for Common Foot Issues

Here is something about a new treatment for diabetic ulcers from the first of the year

On December 10, 2010, Sanuwave  Health, Inc. , a medical technology company focusing on regenerative medicine–reported it has submitted the first round of applications for a device that treats diabetic foot ulcers to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Sanuwave  (http://www.sanuwave.com) focuses on the development and commercialization of non-invasive, biological response activating devices for the repair and regeneration of tissue, musculoskeletal and vascular structures.   Sanuwave ‘s products and product candidates include vascularization and circulation, and restoring the body’s natural healing process.  According to the website, the company has demonstrated this technology is safe and effective in stimulating healing in chronic conditions of the foot (such as plantar fasciitis).

While it is good news that we have more options for treatment for conditions such as foot ulcers and plantar fasciitis, Sanuwave’s treatments are experimental and promise to be expensive.  Plantar fasciitis (or heel pain syndrome) is a very common foot problem that 2 million Americans are diagnosed with each year: it involves inflammation of the rubber-band structure that holds together the inside part of your With so many new people experiencing this painful condition each year, are there any other treatments that require less high-tech gadgets and are ideally less complicated and expensive?

The answer to this question is “yes,” according to Dr. Burton S. Schuler who has practiced podiatry in Panama City, Florida  and has subsequently seen his share of both plantar fasciitis and diabetic foot ulcers.  Schuler’s practice focuses on prevention of foot problems, and he contends that one major way to avoid plantar fasciitis and foot ulcers is by checking to see if you have a longer second toe  http://whyyoureallyhurt.com/mortons-toe/what-is-a-mortons-toe/

If you suffer from “Morton’s Toe”, or longer toe, then your foot can be in pain because the second toe meets the ground before the first toe, throwing off normal foot pronation.  This causes numerous problems, including calluses that can develop into ulcers for a diabetic (http://www.footcare4u.com/category/diabetes/) and heel problems– such as plantar fasciitis.

While companies such as Sanuwave continue to develop high-tech problems for treating common foot issues using complex medical technology, Dr. Schuler’s treatment–a toe pad placed under the first toe to correct abnormal pronation– is refreshingly low-tech and more widely accessible  http://www.footcare4u.com/category/about-dr-schuler/

WHAT IS A MORTON’S TOE OR LONG SECOND TOE

In the 1920’s and 1930”s Dr. Dudley J. Morton of Yale Medical School and Columbia Medical School wrote that a problem with the 1^st metatarsal bone, known as a Morton’s Toe  http://whyyoureallyhurt.com/mortons-toe/what-is-a-mortons-toe/ could be the reason for most foot problems. Dr. Janet Travel, White House physician to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and Professor Emeritus of Medicine at George Washington University took this concept further by writing and teaching that the Morton’s Toe could cause pain all over your body. She wrote and taught for four decades that a Morton’s Toe could cause back, hip, knee, leg foot and ankles problems. She felt that the Morton’s Toe, was so important that at the age of 89 she made a video tape to teach other physicians about how to recognize it and how to treat it.