Orthotics for Morton’s neuroma

Custom orthotics for Morton’s neuroma are a widely successful and commonly used treatment. Here at Ace, we have plenty of experience in treating Morton’s neuroma and designing custom orthotics to treat it.

What is Morton’s neuroma?

A neuroma is an enlargement of the nerve that runs between the bones of the foot. It can develop inflammation around the area which puts even more pressure on the nerve. It can cause a numbness and tingling sensation in your toes, be sore and painful, and sometimes feel like you are walking on a stone.

Orthotic prescription for neuroma

When designing custom orthotics for Morton’s neuroma it’s important to pay attention to a few things. The first thing is your arch height. The lower the arch the more pressure will go through the ball of the foot when walking. Therefore to reduce pressure through the forefoot we need to lift up or prevent the arch from lowering any further. When designing the orthotics we will adjust the arch height and the flexibility of the orthotics to help treat this.

If the foot has a very high arch this can do the same, increasing the pressure on the ball of the foot. This time rather than pushing up the arch, we want to make contact with the arch to redistribute more pressure under the arch and away from the forefoot and neuroma.

If the neuroma is still sore after adjusting the arch height then we add a metatarsal dome onto the orthotics. This helps splay fore bones between the toes and reduces irritation on the neuroma even further.

Shoes for your orthotics

When treating the neuroma you will need to make sure your shoes are the right size. Shoes that are too small and narrow with cause more pressure on the neuroma and cause further irritation. Your orthotics are only as good as the shoes you put them into, and so having your podiatrist recommend some good shoes is very important.

If you think you have Morton’s neuroma give us a call and book an appointment with our podiatrist. In the meantime check out this taping method that might provide you with some relief.

Tennis elbow brace

Do you ever see people wearing those black straps just below their elbow you might have wondered what it is? It usually isn’t a fashion item and in most cases would be a tennis elbow brace.

They might be wearing it to help with tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) injury. This may have been recommended by their health practitioner in order to help with their injury.

How does it help with pain?

The idea behind the brace is to help offload the pressure/tension being put on the tendons that connect to the outer portion of the elbow (common extensor origin). The majority of the forearm muscles cross the elbow joint and attach to the lateral epicondyle. So when overworking those muscles with job demands, lifting, painting, writing or even playing tennis all that load is being put through that area in a more localised distribution.

The benefit of the brace is that it essentially creates a new anchor point that helps distribute the force over a larger area and takes some of the stress off the lateral epicondyle. Doing this allows the tendons and muscles to have a better chance to recover and can help speed along with recovery. It also allows the person to perform the exercises required to rehab the injured area with less pain and reduce the risk of setbacks. Your physio therefore may recommend one to wear during the prescribed exercise programme.

How long do you have to wear a tennis elbow brace?

We never want to leave you reliant on those fashionable braces and as the recovery progresses you will feel more confident with slowly weaning out of the brace and back to doing the things you enjoy doing. Working with your physio will help you determine when that time will be so that you find the perfect balance of support and recovery while moving to a program that will help prevent future injury.

We always recommend getting the view of a health practitioner before purchasing any bracing to reduce the risk of purchasing the wrong brace and reduce the risk of causing other issues.

If you need a brace or have a tennis elbow, give us a call today. Book in with one of our physio to get that elbow back on track. Book here or call us on 07 5572 6222

Chronic Kidney Disease Dietitian Gold Coast

It’s a no-brainer that enjoying a healthy diet is essential for everyone’s health, but for those with chronic kidney disease (i.e. chronic renal disease/ CKD), diet plays an important role in slowing down the decline of your kidney function. If you want to preserve your kidney function and prevent yourself from the pathway of hemodialysis, then this article is relevant to you.

What is Chronic Kidney Disease?

Our kidneys are vital organs that are mainly responsible for removing waste products and balancing fluid in our body, including regulation of the body’s salts like potassium and sodium. They also play a role in regulating our blood pressure and controlling calcium metabolism (i.e. our bone health). If our kidneys cannot filter waste products effectively and gradually lose their function over time, it can be a sign of CKD. There are 2 main causes of CKD, diabetes and high blood pressure are responsible for up to two-thirds of the cases.

Therefore, the type of food you eat play an important role in controlling blood pressure and blood sugar level if you have diabetes.

What diet is good for you?

Unfortunately, there is no size fit all standard diet for kidney disease, a healthy diet can be different for everybody based on your health needs and blood results. A general rule of thumbs are:

1. Have regular meals with a wide variety of food from all food groups

Try to have a consistent meal pattern (i.e. breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and enjoy foods from all core food groups, especially plant-based food, and whole grains. Aim to have half your plate with vegetable/salad.

2. Minimize your salt intake

Try to use more herbs and spices to flavor food instead of salt and eat less processed food and takeaways.

3. Don’t eat too much protein

Getting the right balance of protein can be tricky with CKD, eating too much causes your kidneys to work harder and decrease their function, but eating too little can cause muscle loss and weakness. Generally aim to eat a moderate amount of protein each day, e.g. a serving size of meat/fish close to the size of a deck of cards or 1 and a half cup legumes/pulses/tofu at main meals.

For any individualized meal plan or dietary advice, come and ask our dietitian today.

Does Tennis Elbow occur from playing tennis?

A fun fact about tennis elbow is that it rarely occurs due to playing tennis, in fact only about 5% of people will develop tennis elbow from tennis! Tennis elbow can be described as a pain on the outside of the elbow with increased activity and movement. The pain can also refer down as far as the wrist and hand. So why does tennis occur if not from tennis? Tennis elbow can be seen as an overuse injury in which it can occur from increased job demands involving the wrist, hand, and elbow, or with manual labor.

What is happening that causes pain?

As tennis elbow is more of an overuse injury there are a number of factors that could be contributing to the pain. Due to the repetitive nature of job, hobbies, and daily life, the repetitive movements can cause inflammation around the elbow joint. Inflammation is the body’s way of trying to protect itself which can be painful to move the affected area. Furthermore, microscopic tearing and degenerative changes within the tendon can be occurring. This is caused by the tendon tissue not being able to handle the load of activity and can slowly weaken which in turn causes the sensation of pain in the area with movement and activity.

How long can it last?

Tennis elbow is related to load management and activity which means it can vary in duration. The pain being experienced can change in intensity and duration. You may find that pain is immediate with certain activities and will resolve afterwards, or you may find it occurs a few hours after activity. With most overuse type injuries like this we will typically see recovery times around 3 months. Discussing treatment options and activity modifications with a physiotherapist can help speed up the recovery as well as give you the tools to help manage the future risk of reoccurrence.

Book now with Joey our tennis belbow phyios.