Some smaller health problems only require watchful monitoring while your body handles this situation, like if you develop a cold or pull a muscle in your back. However, some small problems require intervention, because if you ignore the problem and hope it goes away on its own, it can snowball into a much larger issue. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at three foot and ankle conditions that, if left untreated, can quickly turn into a much larger health issue.
Treat These Three Foot Problems
Now, that’s not to say that each of these three issues will always turn into a major health problem if ignored, but your risk for a more significant injury or less effective treatment definitely rises if you don’t actively treat these problems. If you need help treating any of these three conditions, reach out to Dr. Silverman and his team today.
1. Repetitive Ankle Sprains – If you are spraining or rolling your ankle on a regular basis, like more than a couple times a year, you’ll want to have your ankle ligaments examined by a foot specialist. Chronic rolling of the ankle, even if it only results in a moment of discomfort and not an acute injury, is a sign that you could be dealing with weakened ankle ligaments. This may not seem too troublesome, but if your ankle rolls at the wrong time when a lot of force is being applied, that could turn into a major sprain or even a fracture. Let an ankle specialist help strengthen your lateral ankle ligaments so that you can prevent against a potentially painful fracture down the road.
2. Flexible Hammertoes – As we discussed on the blog a couple weeks ago, hammertoes are a condition that respond well to early intervention, and on the flip side, struggle to respond to conservative care if the condition has progressed far enough along. If you notice that you toes are starting to bend upwards when you’re trying to keep your foot flat on the ground, it could be a sign of hammertoe development. Left untreated, this joint dysfunction can lead to pain, advanced arthritis and extreme flexibility limitations. Help strengthen these toe joints while they can still respond well to treatment.
3. Bunions – A bunion involves a deformity of the big toe joint, and it can appear as a bulge on the side of your big toe joint. Again, it may be more unsightly than it is painful, but that doesn’t mean it will always be asymptomatic. Left untreated, a bunion will typically only continue to get worse, and just like a hammertoe, a greater deformity means that it’s less likely to respond well to treatment. Taking some simple conservative steps can help prevent the need for a possible surgical correction down the road, so talk to your foot specialist about your bunion treatment options while the deformity is still in its infancy.