The post Why most elective foot surgeries are not necessary? appeared first on Arch City Foot & Ankle.

We have been taught by many years of practice and schooling that traditionally our first treatment of choice and the standard of care for chronic and acute pain is the use of anti-inflammatory medication. This can include oral medicine or injectable types. But……it’s not a cure…..just a bandaid for the pain and they’re cheap bandaids. Listen to my podcast about how we can battle foot pain with alternative medicines and why I think they work better than OTC and prescription medications.

What type of problems cause foot pain?  Acute vs Chronic.  We are going focus on general foot pain.

List of foot problems that cause pain and can be treated safely with foot pain alternative treatments

-Arthritis 

-PF

-ingrown toenails

-sprains

-broken bones

-even fungal toenails cause pain

-Bone bruises 

-cartilage damage

-Tendinitis

Listen in for some great suggestions for alternative food supplements that will help reduce your inflammation. Very good article that lists all herbal medicines that I talk about in this podcast that will help with foot pain alternative treatments https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4877453/

Article about the importance of Omega 3/6 on reducing inflammatory phases in the https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16841861/

We have a new online patient ordering program! You can now get your Standard Process®, MediHerb®, and Standard conveniently from us. Contact our office for details. Sign up for Patient Direct at http://www.standardprocess.com.

If you would like to have your Omega 3 and Omega 6 test simply with a finger prick test that here in Arch City Foot and Ankle can help. Check out this video about the test for more details. http://vimeo.com/408012742

The post Alternative treatments for foot pain and how ibuprofen broke my ankle appeared first on Arch City Foot & Ankle.

Welcome back to What the Foot podcast and Happy Halloween. With winter on the way and the end of open toes shoes and sandals, we are going to discuss ingrown toenails, why we get them, how to fix them, and how to prevent them. I will also explain little about me and about why the delay in my podcast recording. Fracturing my ankle has helped me understand what my patients go through on the other side of anesthesia and how Brazilian jiu jitsu helped turn my life around. 

Find me at http://www.feetdoc.com

https://www.facebook.com/stlfeetdoc

Enjoy the show.

The post Halloween Edition-Bloody Ingrown Toenails appeared first on Arch City Foot & Ankle.

Listen to our first review on the Powerstep over-the-counter arch support with our own “Buy it, Try it, or Fry it” options.

Lis Franc sport injuries?  What are they and why Allen Craig will have a tough time returning to baseball this year during the MLB playoffs.  Lis Franc joint injuries are very common in professional athelets and can cause significant loss of playing time.  I will discuss the recovery time for this injury in my podcast.

by Dr. Dennis Timko

Podiatrist

Dr. Dennis Timko, is a podiatrist in the St. Louis, Eureka, MO. area. Dr. Timko specializes in diabetic foot care, foot surgery, AFOs, and orthotics. Dr. Timko is the solo owner of Arch City Foot & Ankle, which has been in business since 2003.

The post WTF Episode 2- Bosnia vs Obamacare, Allen Craig foot injury appeared first on Arch City Foot & Ankle.

What’s the difference between a large and small sensory nerve in the foot that can cause numbness problems?  How do you test for sensory neuropathy?  This article and radio show are about testing for numbness in the foot.  We also have more information on vitamin treatments for neuropathy in our website on foot and ankle problems.

The most important exam for testing for neuropathy in the foot is the neurological physical examination in the office. This exam consists of deep tendon reflex, proprioceptive exam, sharp and dull touch, warm and cold temperature testing and vibratory sensation. All these simple tests can tell us important information that doesn’t require expensive tests, MRIs, or biopsies. There are mainly 2 different types of sensory nerves in the foot, large fiber and small fiber (2 sub-types). The small are composed of two sub-types, the C fiber that is thin (diameter 0.4-1 micrometer) and unmyelinated (no insulator or myelin). The second type is the more rapid, thinly myelinated A-delta fiber (1-5 micrometer in diameter). Both carry types of pain sensation and other sensations (intense pressure, cold, and others depending on the receptor type). The large fibers carry touch and pressure as well as joint position sense. These fibers are myelinated, hence faster in conducting impulses from the periphery to the brain.

by Dr. Dennis Timko

Podiatrist

Dr. Dennis Timko, is a podiatrist in the St. Louis, Eureka, MO. area. Dr. Timko specializes in diabetic foot care, foot surgery, AFOs, and orthotics. Dr. Timko is the solo owner of Arch City Foot & Ankle, which has been in business since 2003.

The post 4 simple ways to test for neuropathy in the foot appeared first on Arch City Foot & Ankle.

Happy 4th of July!  Listen to this episode if you want to learn the difference between difference between orthotics and over the counter arch supports?

Arch Supports & Orthotics: Do we really need them?

If you are listening to this you probably had or are currently dealing with foot pain.

Learn my recommendations for my favorite OTC foot orthotics.

Why are custom orthotics expensive?  What foot problems and are they used for? Arthritis,  neuromas, foot pain, flat feet, pediatric foot problems, heel pain, plantar fascitiis, diabetics, and wounds.

Why I don’t recommended them for everyone?

We have a special quest will blow your mind about foot orthotics.

Everyone has different foot types

How are they made and what makes custom?

From the evaluation, biomechanics to the casting technique and the production and materials.

Weight and foot type contribute to what type of orthotics you may need.

How much are foot orthotics and OTC arch supports?

Why attorneys and the highly litigious world can contribute to the increasing prescribed use of foot orthotics?

How do you get foot orthotics made?  Make an appointment today to get casted.

by Dr. Dennis Timko

Podiatrist

Dr. Dennis Timko, is a podiatrist in the St. Louis, Eureka, MO. area. Dr. Timko specializes in diabetic foot care, foot surgery, AFOs, and orthotics. Dr. Timko is the solo owner of Arch City Foot & Ankle, which has been in business since 2003.

The post Foot Orthotics VS Arch Supports appeared first on Arch City Foot & Ankle.

Learn how to get your infant to walk sooner you must listen to this podcast. Learn from a podiatrist point of view on why infant walkers can deceive the average parent and are not a healthy choice for infant foot development and to get your little one walking sooner.

As a foot doctor/podiatrist and now father of a 11 month old boy, I have been more careful to acknowledge pediatric foot problems.  Luckily my son does not have any noticeable foot abnormalities, but I have learn something about infant walkers that I wanted to share with other parents.

Bonus podcast information on why I feel that Western medicine is not as helpful as Eastern medicine such as Acupuncture, naturopathy, etc.  Hear about by recent experience with acupuncture by listening to this podcast.

Also if you are looking for another option for a baby walker and here’s my suggestion for a way to give your back a break without hurting your child’s developmental process on learning to walk.

by Dr. Dennis Timko

Podiatrist

Dr. Dennis Timko, is a podiatrist in the St. Louis, Eureka, MO. area. Dr. Timko specializes in diabetic foot care, foot surgery, AFOs, and orthotics. Dr. Timko is the solo owner of Arch City Foot & Ankle, which has been in business since 2003.

The post Infant walkers are not healthy for infant foot development appeared first on Arch City Foot & Ankle.

Since I’m doing a podcast on foot and ankle injuries of professional athletes, mainly baseball, I thought I would discuss my feelings on privacy of health information in athletes.

I hear, see and read about it almost everyday.  Player “XYZ” is getting an MRI next week for a ankle sprain?  Or “player XYZ” is having a visit with Dr. Andrews which usually means TJ surgery in the near future.  It is part of the games.  It is human nature.  We are not perfect and will sustain to injuries, especially, at the speed and competition of a professional athlete.  My feeling is that those athletes are in a different category then the average person both financially and physically.  It is part of the entertainment business once your are past the collegiate years.

The teams that they play on have their own HIPAA (health insurance portability and accountability Act) regulations. It allows there coaches and front office personnel make important financial decisions. Would you sign a player for millions if you didn’t know if he had chronic plantar fascitiis AKA, Albert Pujols? As a foot doctor, the St. Louis Cardinals did the right thing by letting him go!  Or knowing that the second baseman from the Boston Red Sox had a finger injury lingering all year?

But I see the one reason a player may not want to disclose their injury would be to not let the opponent know that they have a weakness. Here are my thoughts on privacy of professional athletes health records.

Yes, we need to know why those athletes are hurt. Even from a physician who supports HIPPA in his own practice. Players make more money than the average person, a significant amount of more money. The average mlb salary for 2013 was up 5.4% to $3.39 million. The average US wage in 2012 was $42,498. The minimum wage for a MLB player in 2014 is $500,000! That’s earnings that an average American will take 12+ years to reach. The fans, who pay most of their salaries, spend millions on going to games, buying memorabilia, playing daily, weekly, yearly and fantasy leagues. I don’t include gambling on teams wins or loses in Vegas because fantasy is more of a strategy and takes educated thought processes by calculating statistics and not as much luck driven (except head to head football and baseball points leagues) but that’s another issue we will not get into.

If I’m going to spend over $300 (See Yankees vs Cardinals May 27, 2014) for one ticket, $10 for a beer, $6 for a hot dog (well I’m a vegetarian so for me a veggie burger or cheese pizza will do just fine), etc, then I want to know if my player will be performing that day and if they are not, then why.

As long as the disclosed injury is related to their performance on the field or court then I see no problem of releasing patient health information in professional athletes. I don’t want to know if they have a STD or are a diabetic or have cancer or other type of autoimmune disease or chronic internal disease.

With my fantasy baseball season starting in a few weeks, I’m always trying to get an edge on my competition with the latest news and information on the players.  I just want to win my league and know the truth that pertains to their statistical success and of course my home-team winning too.

Listen to our podcast to get some information on ingrown toenails in baseball players and how that might or might not affect their performance.  Learn about how we treat ingrown toenails and see photo of Bryce Harpers ingrown toenail that he tweeted last year and what to expect if a professional athlete has one and what is the recovery time.  We discuss player injury status of Toronto Blue Jay’s short stop Jose Reyes’s ankle, Geovany Soto recent foot surgery, and more foot and ankle sports injuries to help you in your fantasy season preparation.

by Dr. Dennis M. Timko

Podiatrist

Dr. Dennis Timko, is a podiatrist in the St. Louis, Eureka, MO. area. Dr. Timko specializes in diabetic foot care, foot surgery, AFOs, and orthotics. Dr. Timko is the solo owner of Arch City Foot & Ankle, which has been in business since 2003.

The post Should professional athletes health information be public or private? appeared first on Arch City Foot & Ankle.

Dr. Dennis Timko is a podiatrist in the St. Louis area who has provided outstanding foot and ankle care to patients for 10 years.  He has provided home care and house calls (Podiatrist home visits) to patients for 5+ years and has reestablished himself as being one of the few home care or house call doctors in the country that provide private home care visits.

General medicine and specialists including podiatrists home care is the future of medicine.  Here’s an article I found in the NY times that discuss the future of medicine coming from house calls and that it will save money for both the government and the doctors.

With the pending changes in Healthcare in America, Dr. Timko feels that treating patients in there homes will be the wave of the future in health care.  “I believe that doctors in big groups and large hospital practices will begin to realize that the quality of care will decline when Obama-care begins next year in 2014, due to adding 43 million more insured patients and declining reimbursements, doctors will have a hard time keeping there practices open.”  Join in to Dr. Timko’s podcasts on healthcare in the US. Home visits or house calls will be a nice touch for patients that can’t leave their homes and need quality care in the comfort of their own home.

Podiatrist home visits or house calls will only be done on Fridays pending the doctors schedule.  Appointments will either be between the hours of 10am-1pm or 1pm-4pm. Please call our office for an appointment or you can go online to schedule an appointment.

Medicare covers most home visits and house calls as long as they meet Medicare guidelines and are considered homebound.  Please see this form from Medicare for more information.

Some of the services that I can provide in the patients home are:

MUST BE CONSIDERED HOMEBOUND:

You must be homebound, and a doctor must certify that you’re homebound. To be homebound means the following:

A person may leave home for medical treatment or short, infrequent absences for non-medical reasons, such as attending religious services. You can still get home health care if you attend adult day care, but you would get the home care services in your home.

by Dr. Dennis M. Timko

Podiatrist

Dr. Dennis Timko, is a podiatrist in the St. Louis, Eureka, MO. area. Dr. Timko specializes in diabetic foot care, foot surgery, AFOs, and orthotics. Dr. Timko is the solo owner of Arch City Foot & Ankle, which has been in business since 2003.

The post Why house calls and home health care is the future of medicine appeared first on Arch City Foot & Ankle.

Want to know why a well trained and qualified St. Louis Podiatrist prefers treating nasty toenail fungus over performing cool foot surgeries to help survive the change of healthcare reform and my opinion on the Yankees signing Japanese pitcher, Masahiro Tanaka.

Being a podiatrist takes patience, time (4 year Bachelors degree, 4 years of Podiatry school, 3 years of surgical residency), money ($25,000/yr in 1996-2000), effort, and much more.  After 10 years of podiatry practice, I have come to the conclusion that I don’t need an ego.  I completed one of the best residencies in the country, trained and qualified and board certified to perform many different types of foot surgery, including open reduction with internal fixation of ankle fractures to amputations of the foot and toes, to sport injuries like plantar fascial tears.  All this and I’ve realized that its time to realize that healthcare reform and medicine in the US is changing and we need to adjust to the changes.  Here’s my list of why I love trimming toenails:

My baseball rant for my podcast is about the New York Yankees latest free agent signing of Mashihora Tankaka, the Japanese pitcher.  Seven years and $155 million is alot for a unproven pitcher in MLB.  I will talk about why this signing was good short term, but bad long term for the Yankees.

by Dr. Dennis Timko

Podiatrist

Dr. Dennis Timko, is a podiatrist in the St. Louis, Eureka, MO. area. Dr. Timko specializes in diabetic foot care, foot surgery, AFOs, and orthotics. Dr. Timko is the solo owner of Arch City Foot & Ankle, which has been in business since 2003.

The post Top ten reasons trimming toenails are better than doing surgery appeared first on Arch City Foot & Ankle.