Six months ago today you had my right knee replaced. In looking back, you did not realize how much energy the pain from your knee took out of you each day before the surgery. You are so grateful to be 99% pain free now that you are entering a new year and a new decade.
You visited with your doctor last week, and the only disappointment from the surgery is the amount of bend you have in that knee now. You cannot get much past 100 degrees, and because it takes a bend of 110 degrees to go down the stairs normally, for now you are going down one stair at a time with both legs. You might get to the higher bend, but you also might not. With the help of the doctor you decided taking additional action to increase the bend is not worth the potential risk and you are happy with my results.

Now that your knee is in better shape and that you are getting a little more exercise, however, you have also found the need to make an appointment with a podiatrist to see if there are some additional things you could be doing to avoid the pain you have been experiencing in your right foot.

Podiatrist and Other Kinds of Foot Specialists Offer a Number of Different Services

Walking is supposed to be an enjoyable activity that allows people to stay fit while also getting the opportunity to enjoy the fresh air. When you have significant foot pain, however, the challenge of walking can limit your access to this activity. Foot health is a problem that many people experience, especially as they get older. Fortunately, a podiatrist can often help a person understand the root of the pain and the recommended foot pain treatments.

Podiatrists and other kinds of foot care specialists offer a number of treatment options that can help many people get back to feeling their best selves as soon as possible. Unfortunately, in a time when so many Americans are overweight and are suffering the chronic health problems that come with that, there are more and more people who are being diagnosed with diabetes, a disease that is sometimes associated with frequent foot pain. In fact, the latest health reports from the American Association of Diabetes Educators indicates that there was a reported 30.3 million people living with diabetes at the end of the year 2017. In addition, the same group indicate that as many as 4.1 million adults, which represents 33.9% of the adult U.S population, have prediabetes. Everyone of these people may find themselves dealing with foot pain at some point in their lives.

Diabetes Patients Are Not the Only People Who Suffer from Foot Pain

In addition to people who experience foot pain as part of their diabetes, there are also a number of other conditions that can lead a person to need podiatry care. For instance, nearly 10% of the population is affected by Plantar Fasciitis, and bunions occur in approximately 30% of the population in Western countries. Likewise, the Mayo Clinic reports that there are 200,000 cases of hammer toes reported a year. Overall, 75% of Americans will experience foot health problems of varying degrees of severity at one time or another in their lives. As a result the need to see a podiatrist is often actually quite common.

The problem with foot pain is that it can keep you from leading the kind of active lifestyle that will keep you in the best health. The latest recommendations for most adults is that they get as many as 10,000. steps a day. This is a difficult goal to achieve if you are a sufferer of chronic foot pain. Fortunately, with the diagnosis from a podiatrist and the work of occupational and physical therapist, some people are able to get back to their normal routine. From dealing with a knee replacement to making sure that you have the right kind of shoes for when you can walk, there are many things that are important when it comes to the aging process and staying healthy.

Are you ready to put your best foot forward into the new decade?