Plantar heel pain is a common source of pain and disability. Evidence-based treatment decisions for people with plantar heel pain should be guided by the best available evidence, expert clinical reasoning, and consider the needs of the patient. Education is a key component of care for any patient and needs to be tailored to the patient and their condition.

Rates of diabetic foot ulceration (DFU) recurrence reported at one, three and five years range from 25 to 40 percent, 50 to 60 percent and 65 to 80 percent respectively. Almost all patients with a history of a DFU will experience a recurrent DFU within 10 years.5 Between 71 to 85 percent of recurrent DFUs will end in amputation. This should serve as an impetus for providers to look at ways to reduce DFU recurrence rates.

A new cooling insole developed by University of Texas Southwestern (UT Southwestern) scientists reduced the foot temperature of patients with diabetic neuropathy by several degrees, diminishing a significant risk factor for diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). This device, detailed in an article in The Journal of Foot & Ankle Surgery, could eventually prevent thousands of amputations that take place worldwide annually because of this condition.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted almost everything we do. Once upon a time, most of us commuted to a workplace, but many of us now work from home. This shift has led to a change in dress, basically eliminating the need for fancy shoes and replacing those fancy shoes with sock feet or bare feet. While this may seem like a positive for foot health, Toronto-based pedorthist Anthony Harper says he’s seen an uptick in soft-tissue injuries since the pandemic began.

 

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