Testimonials
REVIEWS OF DR. SCHULER
Here is an article about heel pain, written about me
According to an article in the Lower Extremity Review in June 2010, roughly 2 million Americans are affected each year by heel pain, and 10% of people experience chronic heel pain in their lives at some point (http://www.lowerextremityreview.com/cover_story/heel-pain-revisited-new-guidelines-emphasize-evidence). Although heel pain is such a pervasive problem, there are diverging perspectives about how best to treat chronic heel pain. Lower Extremity Review attributes some of these diverging perspectives to the “scope of practice…physical therapists can’t give cortisone injections or perform surgery and podiatrists are less familiar with physical therapy approaches” (http://www.lowerextremityreview.com/cover_story/heel-pain-revisited-new-guidelines-emphasize-evidence).
One Panama City, Floridapodiatrist, Dr. Burton S. Schuler, who graduated from the New York School of Podiatric Medicine in 1975, is familiar with the many approaches taken to treating heel pain. In his book, Why You Really Hurt: It All Starts in the Foot, Schuler advances his perspective that it is all too common to misdiagnose heel pain and rush to treat it with injections or surgery. But, how about using a toe pad instead. Schuler’s reasoning behind taping a toe pad underneath your first toe applies only if you have Morton’s Toe (or short first metatarsal bone).
In his 36 years of podiatry practice, Schuler states that he has witnessed many patients’ heel pain diminish because they treated their Morton’s Toe. Abnormal pronation of the foot can place undue stress on the arch and heel of the foot–eventually leading to chronic pain. The toe pad alleviates this stress. This treatment is a welcome alternative, as treatments like corticosteroid injections are discouraged by many as a first line of treatment, because “They don’t address a single issue that gave the person the problem,” says Michael Gross, PT, Ph.D. a professor of physical therapy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (http://www.lowerextremityreview.com/cover_story/heel-pain-revisited-new-guidelines-emphasize-evidence). Many, including Gross, believe injections compromise tissue that is already weak. And with such risks in treatment of heel pain, it is best to heed Dr. Schuler’s advice and check to see if you have Morton’s Toe; this could be the main cause of your heel problems, and it may be easier to treat in the long run.
The plantar fascia is a ligament-like band that runs from the ball of your feet to your heel. This band pulls on your foot’s heel bone, raising the arch of your foot as it pushes off the ground. When your foot moves improperly, due to overextending circumstances, such as strenuous exercise like running, the plantar fascia can swell and its tiny fibers can strain–causing plantar fasciitis.
A major factor that should be checked for runners with plantar fasciitis is the length of their second toes. Dr. Burton S. Schuler, a podiatrist in Panama City, Florida who has practiced for 36 years, writes that a short first metatarsal bone–also known as Morton’s Toe–can be the cause of incorrect pronation leading to plantar fasciitis . He asserts that our bodies were not designed to take the abuse that can be caused by a Morton’s Toe when you are a runner or jogger, and prescribes a Toe Pad or Shoe Insert for runners (and non-runners) with Morton’s Toe. By doing so, Schuler argues that you can delay such problems as shin splints, Anterior Compartment Syndrome, Overuse Syndrome, Chondromalacia (Runner’s Knee) and other problems caused by the constant abuse and pounding on the body brought on by running.
According to a recent article in Podiatry Today, it is difficult to find the correct treatment for plantar fasciitis patients, and even more difficult to treat runners who have it since they are so reluctant to take time off from their running to rest their feet (http://www.podiatrytoday.com/keys-to-treating-plantar-fasciitis-in-runners). The good news is that runners with the condition can continue to train during treatment if they are diagnosed early enough. For runners, the first thing to check is the shoes they are wearing. They need stability and motion control to ensure proper pronation of the foot. They also run less, get massages, and take corticosteroid injections. These injections are effective yet risky, as ruptures have accompanied the injections, and injections at the same site can cause fat pad atrophy ((http://www.podiatrytoday.com/keys-to-treating-plantar-fasciitis-in-runners).
If you are a runner who endures heel pain due to plantar fasciitis then you should ensure that Morton’s Toe treatment is included in your plantar fasciitis treatment options if your first toe is shorter than your second one.
Dr. Burton S. Schuler foot doctor, foot specialist, podiatrist of Panama City, Fl and the director of the Ambulatory Foot Clinics Podiatric Pain Management Center and is a leading authority on the Morton’s Toe, Long Second Toe and it associated problems. He is the author of the newly published book about The Morton’s Toe, Why You Really Hurt: It All Starts In the Foot. The book is published by the La Luz Press, Inc and is disturbed national by the Cardinal Publishing Group. Why You Really Hurt: It All Starts In The Foot, is the story of how one bone in your foot could be the real reason for pains thru out your whole body. It is important because it offer the public new information about why millions of people suffer everyday with aches and pains, and offers new hope to get rid of problems they believed they would have to live with forever. It literally can be the “medical missing link”
Around the turn of the century, (1911) M.J. Lewi, M.D., then the Executive Director of the New York State Medical Society, felt there was a tremendous need for a specialist trained in the care and treatment of the human foot. He then went about opening the first school for the training of such medical specialists.
For many years thereafter, foot care specialists were trained in the proper way to cut toenails, learned how to construct a beneficial arch support and received instructions on how to relieve such common disorders as painful Corns and Calluses. Through the years, these people were known as Chiropodists, and some who were trained throughout this period are still in practice today.
After 1950, a great evolution took place which resulted in the upgrading of these medical men. Podiatry grew out of the profession of Chiropodist. In 1957, the American Chiropodity Association was changed to the American Podiatry Association, and its membership today is no longer limited to those with pre-surgical type training but includes a multitude of those who practice far more sophisticated surgical procedures, and who, like any other type of physician or surgeon, earn their degree as a D.P.M. (Doctor of Podiatric Medicine).
At the present time, there are approximately 14,000 practicing podiatrists in the United States, all functioning in an individualistic style in accordance with their educational background and the nature of their specialization. There are those who confine themselves to such tasks as properly trimming toenails, and others who excel in the insertion of artificial ankle joints.
There are Podiatric:
- Pain Specialist
- Dermatologists
- Pediatricians
- Radiologists
- Surgeons
Skillfully trained as both a physician and surgeon of the foot, the podiatrist is best equipped to diagnose and treat both simple and complex foot problems. The range of a podiatrist’s diagnosis and care can be said to be extremely more far-reaching in the sense that it concerns itself with your complete physical history, past illnesses, current ailments and medications, occupation and hobbies, and any other factors that contribute to the general lifestyle of your feet. (It all plays a part, you know, and none of these areas can be ignored if the most effective solution to a foot ailment is to be found.) Surgical Podiatrists, are given to consideration of a patient’s professional and personal commitments in scheduling the best time and place for surgery.
Generally speaking, the greater percentage of foot surgery can be comfortably accomplished in the podiatrist’s office. When and wherever possible, hospitalization and the use of general anesthetics are avoided, which in turn permits the patient to immediately return to his family and to recuperate in an environment that is not alien to him. Major Bunion corrections, the relocation of dislocated metatarsal heads, the removal of painful Heel Spurs and Ingrown Toenails are problems which are all handled in the podiatrist’s office on a daily basis.
