Footnotes, The Foot & Ankle Blog of University Foot & Ankle Institute

Toenails!!!…huh…yeah. What are they good for? Absolutely nothing!!! (Apologies to Edwin Starr, the Temptations, and Bruce Springsteen). But it’s true, we don’t do much with our toenails. Our fingernails are still essential. Itches demand scratching. Our fingernails enable us to pick up small objects, and folks with a creative bent can paint them up like 10 tiny blank canvases on read more »

We recently discussed the various ways that being overweight can affect your podiatric health. To recap, it’s not surprising that carrying around surplus weight leads to foot and ankle problems. Being overweight exerts extra pressure on your feet and ankles, and this leads to serious difficulties such as flat feet, plantar fasciitis, tendinitis, bone spurs, arthritis, gout, diabetic damage to read more »

As that old song goes… “the toe bone’s connected to the foot bone… the foot bone’s connected to the heel bone” and so on. Eventually it makes its way up to the head bone, and then back down to the feet and ankles. The anatomical accuracy of that song may be dubious, but the basic theme is dead-on; in the read more »

Want some quick, natural, and instinctive advice about running in the dark? DON’T DO IT!! You’ll run into things (like tree trunks and branches, spiderwebs, curbs, mailboxes, wire fences, and potholes). You’ll run on things (like surface water, slippery leaves, sand, or gravel) You’ll be run into by things (like cars). You’ll run over things (like cliffs). You’ll be stalked, read more »

A surprisingly wide variety of lumps, bumps, and protrusions can afflict our feet. If you’ve got a bump on your foot, you may be wondering what the heck it is and how it got there. So we’ve put together an overview of the most common and interesting bumps (we’re foot doctors, so bumps on your feet are a big deal read more »

The silly side of fashion often shows up on our feet. Okay, certainly not on your feet. But iconic trendsetters such as Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, and Kristen Stewart are flooding Instagram with images of their very influential feet encased in clear plastic footwear. Some of these plastic high heel shoes are even created by top-line designers like Jimmy Choo and read more »

University Foot and Ankle Institute (UFAI) has been honored as the Best Foot and Ankle Surgeons in California. This year’s Top Doctors Award places the ten-location practice ahead of the hundreds of other foot and ankle specialists practicing in the state. What, you may ask, has allowed UFAI to stand head and shoulders above the rest? There’s more to it read more »

Originally published in Podiatry Today May 2018. An osteochondral lesion of the talus is often a difficult problem to treat. There is limited understanding of cartilage damage and its repair. Furthermore, it is hard to figure out why some osteochondral lesions, small or large, are painful and some are not painful. Finally, the treatment of such lesions is comprehensive but not read more »

Along with May flowers comes National Osteoporosis Month, and we want to take some time to discuss bone health and the important information you should be aware of when it comes to osteoporosis. In the United States, 53 million Americans have an increased risk for bone fractures, and the scary thing is, most of these people have no idea. Without read more »

What causes burning feet when walking or running? Here are the most common culprits and simple solutions you can try at home.