Although rest and relaxation are the goals for most vacations, they usually involve a lot of walking and a lot of walking usually involves sore feet.
Walking is great exercise and one of the most reliable forms of transportation. But if your feet aren't in the best shape or you don't have the right shoes, too much walking can cause foot problems.
Good foot care is essential if you plan to subject your feet to long periods of walking. Some simple foot care tips include:
1. Wear thick, moisture control socks (wool or synthetic fabrics instead of cotton) and change them often!
2. Dry feet thoroughly after bathing, making sure to dry between toes. Use powder before putting on shoes and even antiperspirant on your feet if you sweat profusely.
3. Nails should be cut regularly and straight across the toe. Check for ingrown toenails and avoid cutting them too short.
4. Moisturize your feet regularly, but never between your toes. Also watch out for athlete's foot fungus infections.
5. Massage any aching muscles after exercise and apply ice to any sore joints for at least 15 minutes.
6. Bunions, hammertoes or any other serious foot problems should be evaluated by a podiatrist prior to your planned vacation. Custom orthotics can help balance your feet so your vacation can be more enjoyable and pain free!
The right shoe is also important to healthy walking. The ideal walking shoe should be stable from side to side, and well-cushioned, and it should enable you to walk smoothly. Many running shoes will fit the bill. There are also shoes made especially for walking. Walking shoes tend to be slightly less cushioned, bulkier, and heavier than running shoes. Whether a walking or running shoe, the shoes need to feel stable and comfortable.
Never wear new shoes for the first time on vacation. Always "break them in" for at least a week to make sure the fit is proper and there are no seams rubbing! Blisters can put a damper on a vacation!
Also, two pairs of shoes can be very helpful in making your vacation more comfortable. After a vigorous day walking, your shoes need almost 24 hours to dry out so they do not smell and harbor fungus, the cause of athlete’s foot.
Warm up exercises to help alleviate any muscle stiffness or pulled muscles are advised before walking. Loosening up the heel cords (Achilles tendon and calf) and thigh muscles before a walk is especially effective.
If you're not accustomed to long walks, start slowly and rest if your feet start hurting.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Oldest leather shoe steps out after 5,500 years
WASHINGTON (AP) — About 5,500 years ago someone in the mountains of Armenia put his best foot forward in what is now the oldest leather shoe ever found.
It'll never be confused with a penny loafer or a track shoe, but the well-preserved footwear was made of a single piece of leather, laced up the front and back, researchers reported Wednesday in PLoS One, a journal of the Public Library of Science.
Worn and shaped by the wearer's right foot, the shoe was found in a cave along with other evidence of human occupation. The shoe had been stuffed with grass, which dated to the same time as the leather of the shoe — between 5,637 and 5,387 years ago.
"This is great luck," enthused archaeologist Ron Pinhasi of University College Cork in Cork, Ireland, who led the research team.
"We normally only find broken pots, but we have very little information about the day-to-day activity" of these ancient people. "What did they eat? What did they do? What did they wear? This is a chance to see this ... it gives us a real glimpse into society," he said in a telephone interview.
Previously the oldest leather shoe discovered in Europe or Asia was on the famous Otzi, the "Iceman" found frozen in the Alps a few years ago and now preserved in Italy. Otzi has been dated to 5,375 and 5,128 years ago, a few hundred years more recent than the Armenian shoe.
Otzi's shoes were made of deer and bear leather held together by a leather strap. The Armenian shoe appears to be made of cowhide, Pinhasi said.
Older sandals have been found in a cave in Missouri, but those were made of fiber rather than leather.
The shoe found in what is now Armenia was found in a pit, along with a broken pot and some wild goat horns.
But Pinhasi doesn't think it was thrown away. There was discarded material that had been tossed outside the cave, while this pit was inside in the living area. And while the shoe had been worn, it wasn't worn out.
It's not clear if the grass that filled the shoe was intended as a lining or insulation, or to maintain the shape of the shoe when it was stored, according to the researchers.
The Armenian shoe was small by current standards — European size 37 or U.S. women's size 7 — but might have fit a man of that era, according to Pinhasi.
He described the shoe as a single piece of leather cut to fit the foot. The back of the shoe was closed by a lace passing through four sets of eyelets. In the front, 15 pairs of eyelets were used to lace from toe to top.
There was no reinforcement in the sole, just the one layer of soft leather. "I don't know how long it would last in rocky terrain," Pinhasi said.
He noted that the shoe is similar to a type of footwear common in the Aran Islands, west of Ireland, up until the 1950s. The Irish version, known as "pampooties" reportedly didn't last long, he said.
"In fact, enormous similarities exist between the manufacturing technique and style of this (Armenian) shoe and those found across Europe at later periods, suggesting that this type of shoe was worn for thousands of years across a large and environmentally diverse region," Pinhasi said.
While the Armenian shoe was soft when unearthed, the leather has begun to harden now that it is exposed to air, Pinhasi said.
Oh, and unlike a lot of very old shoes, it didn't smell.
Pinhasi said the shoe is currently at the Institute of Archaeology in Yerevan, but he hopes it will be sent to laboratories in either Switzerland or Germany where it can be treated for preservation and then returned to Armenia for display in a museum.
Pinhasi, meanwhile, is heading back to Armenia this week, hoping the other shoe will drop.
The research was funded by the National Geographic Society, the Chitjian Foundation, the Gfoeller Foundation, the Steinmetz Family Foundation, the Boochever Foundation and the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA.
It'll never be confused with a penny loafer or a track shoe, but the well-preserved footwear was made of a single piece of leather, laced up the front and back, researchers reported Wednesday in PLoS One, a journal of the Public Library of Science.
Worn and shaped by the wearer's right foot, the shoe was found in a cave along with other evidence of human occupation. The shoe had been stuffed with grass, which dated to the same time as the leather of the shoe — between 5,637 and 5,387 years ago.
"This is great luck," enthused archaeologist Ron Pinhasi of University College Cork in Cork, Ireland, who led the research team.
"We normally only find broken pots, but we have very little information about the day-to-day activity" of these ancient people. "What did they eat? What did they do? What did they wear? This is a chance to see this ... it gives us a real glimpse into society," he said in a telephone interview.
Previously the oldest leather shoe discovered in Europe or Asia was on the famous Otzi, the "Iceman" found frozen in the Alps a few years ago and now preserved in Italy. Otzi has been dated to 5,375 and 5,128 years ago, a few hundred years more recent than the Armenian shoe.
Otzi's shoes were made of deer and bear leather held together by a leather strap. The Armenian shoe appears to be made of cowhide, Pinhasi said.
Older sandals have been found in a cave in Missouri, but those were made of fiber rather than leather.
The shoe found in what is now Armenia was found in a pit, along with a broken pot and some wild goat horns.
But Pinhasi doesn't think it was thrown away. There was discarded material that had been tossed outside the cave, while this pit was inside in the living area. And while the shoe had been worn, it wasn't worn out.
It's not clear if the grass that filled the shoe was intended as a lining or insulation, or to maintain the shape of the shoe when it was stored, according to the researchers.
The Armenian shoe was small by current standards — European size 37 or U.S. women's size 7 — but might have fit a man of that era, according to Pinhasi.
He described the shoe as a single piece of leather cut to fit the foot. The back of the shoe was closed by a lace passing through four sets of eyelets. In the front, 15 pairs of eyelets were used to lace from toe to top.
There was no reinforcement in the sole, just the one layer of soft leather. "I don't know how long it would last in rocky terrain," Pinhasi said.
He noted that the shoe is similar to a type of footwear common in the Aran Islands, west of Ireland, up until the 1950s. The Irish version, known as "pampooties" reportedly didn't last long, he said.
"In fact, enormous similarities exist between the manufacturing technique and style of this (Armenian) shoe and those found across Europe at later periods, suggesting that this type of shoe was worn for thousands of years across a large and environmentally diverse region," Pinhasi said.
While the Armenian shoe was soft when unearthed, the leather has begun to harden now that it is exposed to air, Pinhasi said.
Oh, and unlike a lot of very old shoes, it didn't smell.
Pinhasi said the shoe is currently at the Institute of Archaeology in Yerevan, but he hopes it will be sent to laboratories in either Switzerland or Germany where it can be treated for preservation and then returned to Armenia for display in a museum.
Pinhasi, meanwhile, is heading back to Armenia this week, hoping the other shoe will drop.
The research was funded by the National Geographic Society, the Chitjian Foundation, the Gfoeller Foundation, the Steinmetz Family Foundation, the Boochever Foundation and the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA.
Mental decline from diabetes can start in middle age
(Reuters Health) - Diabetes can lead to a decline in memory, thinking speed, and mental flexibility in middle age, but controlling the blood sugar disorder might prevent some of these effects, new research from the Netherlands suggests.
Health
While the mental decline may be invisible to the individual, the fact that the drop-off starts accumulating in middle age puts diabetics at greater risk later on because of reduced "brain reserves," Dr. David Knopman, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told Reuters Health.
"Like a bicycle tire that's been partially deflated -- you'll be OK riding around but if you develop another little leak you'll be much closer to a flat tire much faster," said Knopman, who was not involved in the Dutch study.
Astrid Nooyens and colleagues at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands examined the health records and mental acuity scores of more than 2,600 men and women between the ages of 45 and 70 who enrolled in a large ongoing study into lifestyle effects on health.
At the five-year mark, of the 139 participants with type 2 diabetes, 61 were diabetics at the beginning of the study and 78 developed the chronic disease within the next five years.
The study confirmed the findings of earlier research, by Knopman and others, of an association between diabetes and declines in such mental functions as the ability to think quickly and recall words, but this is the first project to test memory and demonstrate how quickly the drop-off can occur.
Over a five-year period, decline in overall mental functioning in people with type 2 diabetes, while small, was nearly 3 times more pronounced than in non-diabetics.
But it didn't take many years for the impact to be felt. Even those who developed diabetes after beginning the study saw twice as much of a decline as their non-diabetic counterparts.
Compared to the "healthy" participants, participants who had long-term diabetes registered the largest declines in mental function. Those who developed diabetes during the trial saw less pronounced declines than their long-term counterparts in most areas except information processing, where they appeared to do a little better than the "healthy" people.
Type 2 diabetes is characterized by high blood sugar levels caused by the body's inability to process sugar properly. The illness can usually be controlled through diet and exercise but may also require drugs.
The Nooyens group found that while memory continues to decline for those with diabetes, the drop-off in thinking speed appears to occur in the first five years and then level off. That led the authors to suggest that early treatment and control of blood sugar levels could help thinking speed, but probably not memory, they note in the journal Diabetes Care.
The researchers found that for a small group of people who had lived with diabetes for nearly seven year, blood sugar levels did not explain the entire decline in mental function. In those people, they suspect other conditions related to diabetes such as high blood pressure and obesity.
The study did not look at whether patients with well-controlled diabetes experienced less mental decline compared to their poorly controlled counterparts, although the authors point out that there are other reasons, such as heart disease, to control sugar levels as well.
They also note that the random blood tests of both the long- and short-term diabetics suggested what treatment they were getting was "insufficient."
SOURCE: link.reuters.com/xyd69k Diabetes Care, online June 2, 2010
Health
While the mental decline may be invisible to the individual, the fact that the drop-off starts accumulating in middle age puts diabetics at greater risk later on because of reduced "brain reserves," Dr. David Knopman, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told Reuters Health.
"Like a bicycle tire that's been partially deflated -- you'll be OK riding around but if you develop another little leak you'll be much closer to a flat tire much faster," said Knopman, who was not involved in the Dutch study.
Astrid Nooyens and colleagues at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands examined the health records and mental acuity scores of more than 2,600 men and women between the ages of 45 and 70 who enrolled in a large ongoing study into lifestyle effects on health.
At the five-year mark, of the 139 participants with type 2 diabetes, 61 were diabetics at the beginning of the study and 78 developed the chronic disease within the next five years.
The study confirmed the findings of earlier research, by Knopman and others, of an association between diabetes and declines in such mental functions as the ability to think quickly and recall words, but this is the first project to test memory and demonstrate how quickly the drop-off can occur.
Over a five-year period, decline in overall mental functioning in people with type 2 diabetes, while small, was nearly 3 times more pronounced than in non-diabetics.
But it didn't take many years for the impact to be felt. Even those who developed diabetes after beginning the study saw twice as much of a decline as their non-diabetic counterparts.
Compared to the "healthy" participants, participants who had long-term diabetes registered the largest declines in mental function. Those who developed diabetes during the trial saw less pronounced declines than their long-term counterparts in most areas except information processing, where they appeared to do a little better than the "healthy" people.
Type 2 diabetes is characterized by high blood sugar levels caused by the body's inability to process sugar properly. The illness can usually be controlled through diet and exercise but may also require drugs.
The Nooyens group found that while memory continues to decline for those with diabetes, the drop-off in thinking speed appears to occur in the first five years and then level off. That led the authors to suggest that early treatment and control of blood sugar levels could help thinking speed, but probably not memory, they note in the journal Diabetes Care.
The researchers found that for a small group of people who had lived with diabetes for nearly seven year, blood sugar levels did not explain the entire decline in mental function. In those people, they suspect other conditions related to diabetes such as high blood pressure and obesity.
The study did not look at whether patients with well-controlled diabetes experienced less mental decline compared to their poorly controlled counterparts, although the authors point out that there are other reasons, such as heart disease, to control sugar levels as well.
They also note that the random blood tests of both the long- and short-term diabetics suggested what treatment they were getting was "insufficient."
SOURCE: link.reuters.com/xyd69k Diabetes Care, online June 2, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Medicare Diabetic Shoe Program
Diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions in the United States. Over the past decade, there has been an increase of 33% with the diabetic population currently topping 16 million people. There are many complications associated with diabetes including kidney, heart, vision, circulatory and foot problems. The good news is that many of these potential problems can be minimized as a result of life style changes, medications and other preventive care.
Amputations, and/or partial amputations, of the feet and legs are growing at an alarming rate. In fact, it is one of the leading causes of non-traumatic amputation in the US alone. Just recently American Podiatric Medical Association, Medicare officials and the American Diabetes Association established a team to explore ways to reduce the number of amputations in the diabetic population. The number of these lower extremity amputations grew by 28% in the past several years. However, it has been determined that a majority of these amputations could have been prevented by routine foot care.
As Medicare providers our doctors not only treat everything from routine foot care to surgery we also prescribe and dispense Medicare approved diabetic shoes and inserts. This valuable prevention program allows diabetic patients to receive one pair of diabetic shoes and 3 pairs of diabetic inserts every calendar year. As an approved program participant Medicare will cover 80% of the allowable amount and many supplemental insurance plans take care of the remaining 20%, leaving you with little or no additional cost. Many diabetic patients qualify for this benefit.
Amputations, and/or partial amputations, of the feet and legs are growing at an alarming rate. In fact, it is one of the leading causes of non-traumatic amputation in the US alone. Just recently American Podiatric Medical Association, Medicare officials and the American Diabetes Association established a team to explore ways to reduce the number of amputations in the diabetic population. The number of these lower extremity amputations grew by 28% in the past several years. However, it has been determined that a majority of these amputations could have been prevented by routine foot care.
As Medicare providers our doctors not only treat everything from routine foot care to surgery we also prescribe and dispense Medicare approved diabetic shoes and inserts. This valuable prevention program allows diabetic patients to receive one pair of diabetic shoes and 3 pairs of diabetic inserts every calendar year. As an approved program participant Medicare will cover 80% of the allowable amount and many supplemental insurance plans take care of the remaining 20%, leaving you with little or no additional cost. Many diabetic patients qualify for this benefit.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Crocs (CrocsRX) "Friends of CKPA" Program
Great news for all of you Crocs lovers!!! We have been working with Crocs, the maker of the CrocsRX brand that we offer at Central Kansas Podiatry Associates, and have developed a program that allows our patients and friends of the practice to order from a special website which waves the SHIPPING COSTS on all products ordered. We are excited to be able to offer this as an option to our patients and there friends. To access this site, go to www.ckpa.net, click on the Crocs Link and choose what you would like to order, and upon checkout, you will notice there is no cost for shipping. You can pick out any style and color of the CrocsRx as if you were directly in our office.
20 Good Tips for Living Healthy
1. Take a 10-30 minute "Thank you" walk every day. While you walk practice gratitude. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
3. Buy a TIVO, tape your late night shows and get more sleep - it's the ultimate energizer.
4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement: My purpose is to___________ today.
5. Live with the 3 E's. Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.
6. Read more books than you did in 2009.
7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi, qigong and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Do the "one thing" you have always wanted to do.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that are manufactured in plants.
11. Mentor someone and be mentored by someone.
12. Engage in daily random acts of kindness.
13. Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing positive energy into your life.
14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.
18. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:
I am thankful for __________.
Today I accomplished____________.
19. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
20. Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
3. Buy a TIVO, tape your late night shows and get more sleep - it's the ultimate energizer.
4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement: My purpose is to___________ today.
5. Live with the 3 E's. Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.
6. Read more books than you did in 2009.
7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi, qigong and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Do the "one thing" you have always wanted to do.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that are manufactured in plants.
11. Mentor someone and be mentored by someone.
12. Engage in daily random acts of kindness.
13. Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing positive energy into your life.
14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.
18. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:
I am thankful for __________.
Today I accomplished____________.
19. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
20. Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Advice to High Heel Wearers
The doctors at CKPA offer the following advice to those who insist on wearing sky high heels. We suggest not wearing heels that are higher than 2 inches. It’s very difficult, not only on the foot, but the knees and low back. The way the shoes put pressure on the front part on your feet, it applies compression on your toes and irritation to the nerves in the toes.
The bones in the ball of the feet, called sesamoids, can be damaged or broken. Constant pressure on the feet can result in thickening of tissues around the nerves of the toes, called Morton’s Neuroma, causing pain, stinging or numbness in the toes.
The bones in the ball of the feet, called sesamoids, can be damaged or broken. Constant pressure on the feet can result in thickening of tissues around the nerves of the toes, called Morton’s Neuroma, causing pain, stinging or numbness in the toes.
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