Dr. Brandon Macy
Podiatrist - Clark, NJ
1114 Raritan Road
Clark, NJ 07066
Gearing up to participate in a running event is no simple task. If you want to do your best, you’ll want to start training months in advance, especially if you are running a long race. Additionally, you’ll want the best gear to support you and keep you safe from injury.
What gear could we mean? Your running shoes, of course! To keep your feet supported and as comfortable as possible during your training and the actual race, look for the following features when choosing your running shoes:
As you prepare, make sure you keep good hygiene, trim your toenails properly (to prevent ingrown toenails), and stretch your feet and ankles before and after each run. If you experience an injury, it’s important to rest and recover, rather than continuing to train on it.
If you experience foot pain while you are training, see our board-certified podiatrist, Dr. Brandon Macy at Clark Podiatry Center. He can assess your feet and find the best treatment for any concern you may have. Make an appointment at our Clark, NJ office so we can keep you walking (or running!).
Your children grow up in what seems like a blink of the eye. They start to crawl, take their first steps, are running, and jumping, and before you know it, tying their own shoelaces! Then it’s off to college!
Okay, so it’s not quite that quick, but time sure can fly by. That’s why we want to encourage you to start teaching your children to take care of their feet early. Children are pretty perceptive and can learn by example starting from a young age. Take advantage of the years when they are soaking up knowledge and teach them some of the following ways to take care of their own feet:
If you need tips on how to help your child with foot care, come see our board-certified podiatrist, Dr. Brandon Macy at Clark Podiatry Center. He can assess your child’s feet at New Jersey Children's Foot Health Institute and find the best treatment for any concern you may have for your child’s feet. Make an appointment at our Clark, NJ office so we can keep your child walking.
Your skin is one tough organ. It literally holds you together! But it’s also your first defense, making it more prone to attack from the outside world (and maybe some from inside your body). Your skin might not have 99 problems, but they surely are at risk of a lot!
Have we made our case for you to take care of your feet, including the skin? Be sure to wash your feet with soap and warm water each day. This is especially important if you go to communal locker rooms where you can easily pick up microorganisms while barefoot.
Noticed a skin problem on your foot? We can help assess your skin. Make an appointment today for a consultation at Clark Podiatry Center. Our board-certified podiatrist, Dr. Brandon Macy will assess your children’s feet to find the best solution for stinky feet! We are located in Clark, NJ and serve patients in all the surrounding Union County towns!
Do you have hardened bumps on your toes or patches of thickened skin on the bottom of your feet? Because of the various surfaces on which your feet walk, they have a way to protect themselves from harm. Skin begins to thicken in spots where they experience a lot of pressure or friction.
Who is likely to get corns and calluses?
Corns: Those with foot deformities like hammertoes, curly toes, claw toes, or bunions are more likely to experience corns. This is especially the case if you wear shoes that are too tight or too short. Additionally, those who stand or walk for long periods of time can experience constant friction. Corns are usually localized to a small, specific location, such as the toes.
Calluses: Those who wear high heels, have lost fat padding on the balls of the feet, or have abnormal gaits can experience constant pressure on certain wider parts of the feet, like at the base of the balls of the feet.
Should you treat corns and calluses at home? Or go see a podiatrist?
You may have noticed some over-the-counter corn and/or callus medications. Before applying any type of medications, try some of these following adjustments before corns or calluses become painful or to relieve painful symptoms:
When the abovementioned tips don’t do trick, you may need to have corns or calluses filed down or removed by a podiatrist. They may use one or more of the following:
If your corns or calluses are painful and you need help treating them, make an appointment to see our board-certified podiatrist, Brandon Macy, DPM at Clark Podiatry Center. He can find the best treatment options to get you feeling better. Come see him at our Clark, NJ office, which serves the surrounding Union County areas.
Can’t you just get out the root?” is a regular question patients ask when they return for a 2nd, 3rd, 4 visit (or more) over time to relieve their painful corns and calluses. Unfortunately, corns and calluses don’t work that way and there’s a reason for that. Let’s get to the “root” of the matter.
First, there is no difference between a corn and a callus. They are more descriptive terms for thickening of the outer layer of the skin in spots due to an excessive amount of pressure and friction on a given spot. Corns are typically on the toes, calluses elsewhere on the foot. They often become painful due to their bulk, much like if you had a pebble stuck in your shoe.
The underlying cause is a bony deformity—a hammertoe deformity for corns or an imbalance of the metatarsals in the ball of the foot for calluses. These issues are largely determined by how your feet were built by your parents and how they developed as a result. The corns and calluses are the results of these deformities, not independent growths, as would be the case if there was a wart present. Occasionally, the corn or callus will have a deep spot in the center which some people think is a root, but is actually just the focus point of the pressure and is thicker than the rest of the lesion.
Initial symptomatic treatment involves carefully paring down the corn or callus, which relieves pain and that is enough for many people. Padding or cushioning help even more. Wearing well-fitting comfortable shoes is also advisable. Although shoes don’t really cause corns and calluses--they will make the best (or worst) out of the given situation.
Often we’ll recommend orthotics to go in your shoes with accommodations to relieve pressure from calluses. In the more severe cases, symptomatic treatment just isn’t enough and the only way to deal with it is to address the underlying foot deformity by correcting it surgically.
The takeaway point is this: corns and calluses are symptoms of foot deformities. Treating the symptoms alone will get you temporary relief, which can be OK. But if you want to prevent them from returning, you need to address the deformity. That is the only way to get at the REAL root of the problem.
For more information or an appointment, contact us at 732-382-3470 or visit our website at www.clarkpodiatry.com. At Clark Podiatry Center, we want to keep you walking!
#ClarkPodiatryCenter #Calluses #Corns #Footpain
Questions or Comments?
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1114 Raritan Road
Clark, NJ 07066