Jump into 2021 with 2 good feet!

Don't let your feet be a disaster in 2021!

If there is anything we have learned in 2020, it is that the future is never certain for anyone.  But we all can take precautions for our health to keep us at our best.  As this new year begins we wanted to wish everyone a happy and healthy new year! We also wanted to assure everyone that we take your health and safety very serious at the Center for Ankle and Foot Care, and want to let you know we still have all of our Covid protocols in place. 

Our doctors and staff are working very diligently to keep you healthy and our office as a safe place for you to have your foot or ankle problem addressed. Dr. McGowan and Dr. Henne want you to be safe and stress free while they help you with your problem. 

We are continuing to have no waiting room, this decreases any patient to patient contact and to decrease any gathering in an enclosed space.  Every treatment room is thoroughly cleaned in between patients. "We are lucky enough in this environment to have an office that is big enough to accommodate multiple patients in individual treatment rooms, so people rarely have to wait in their cars" Dr. McGowan explains. "Patients just call when they arrive at the office and then they are instructed to what treatment room to go into when they enter the building."

Our facility is is equipped with onsite X-ray. This becomes such a great asset to the patient who has fallen and the pain is only in the foot, ankle or lower leg. We are able to accommodate same day appointments for foot and ankle related injuries.  "I think it is a great sense of comfort for patients to be able to get into a smaller environment like our office instead of an emergency room.  You don't need to avoid treatment if you have had trauma to the foot or ankle, you need to seek out your specialist who have the capabilities in their office to treat your problem.  Covid is not a reason for you to walk around on a broken ankle for 6 weeks" Dr. Henne explains.  

 

We have about 28 bones in each foot. Our feet take a big beating sometimes with everyday wear and tear.  When we walk, about two and a half times our body weight goes through our feet and running about 4 times or more our body weight.  These are things many of us do each day.  Without the right support or protection of your feet, these simple activities can cause foot and ankle problems like: stress fractures, tendonitis, plantar fasciitis and more.  

Getting any pain in your foot or ankle means your body is telling you that something is wrong and you should go get it checked out.  Ignoring foot pain very often turns into a much bigger problem than it originally would have been.  "It is not uncommon for people to ignore foot pain, but during the fall months of 2020, we saw many patients who just ignored real foot problems for 6 months or more. These people's prognosis was much worse.  Some diabetic patients who ignored a small wound for months went on to amputations.  Other patients who thought the pain in the ankle would eventually go away, had Achilles tendon rupture or other tendon problems that pushed them to surgical intervention versus the conservative route that would have helped many months ago" Dr. McGowan reflects. 

As 2021 is off and running, we want to make sure you know we are happy to see you in our office and get you back on your feet as quick as possible. Happy New Year from our family to yours!

The Center for Ankle and Foot Care

Michele McGowan DPM 

Timothy Henne DPM

3190 Citrus Tower Blvd STE A

Clermont, FL 34711

352-242-2502

Centeranklefootcare.com

Red, Hot and Swollen in the foot is bad...Especially if you are diabetic!

RED, HOT AND SWOLLEN IS BAD!!!!! SEE YOUR DOCTOR!!!!!!

So while keeping yourself safe from Coronavirus don't let yourself go on to limb loss.  These are crazy times we are currently living in, but we still need to maintain our health of our total body.  We pride ourselves on limb salvage and helping our patients keep their limbs at all cost.  Before you ignore the red swollen toe, foot or ankle think again.  Diabetic foot infections happen quick. You should be checking your feet daily and inspect for anything abnormal.

Diabetic Foot Facts:

• Podiatric medical care in people with history of diabetic foot ulcer can reduce high level amputation from between 65% and 80%  Gibson, et al, Int Wound Journal, 2013
• Diabetes kills more people annually than breast cancer and AIDS combined. American Diabetes Association, 2009
• Chronic wounds affect some 8 million Americans each year. That’s one wound every 3.8 seconds in the USA, alone.
  Harsha , 2008 and Tomic-Canic 2010
• Diabetic foot ulcers double mortality and heart attack risk while increasing risk for stroke by 40%
  Brownrigg, et al, Diabetologia, 2012
• Every 30 minutes a limb is lost due to a landmine, Every 20 seconds, a limb is lost due to diabetes. Bharara, Mills, Suresh, Armstrong, Int Wound J, 2009
• 
  The relative 5-year mortality rate after limb amputation is 68%. When compared with cancer – it is second only to lung cancer (86%).  (Colorectal cancer 39%, Breast cancer 23%, Hodgkin’s disease 18%, Prostate cancer 8%) Armstrong, et al, International Wound Journal, 2007
• Diabetes contributes to approximately 80% of the 120,000 nontraumatic amputations performed yearly in the United States.  Armstrong et al. Amer Fam Phys 1998
• More than half of all foot ulcers (wounds) will become infected, requiring hospitalization and 20% of infections result in amputation.  Lavery, Armstrong, et al.  Diabetes Care 2006
• Up to 34% of those with diabetes will develop a foot ulcer. Armstrong, Boulton, Bus, New England Journal of Medicine, 2017
• 60-70% of those with diabetes will develop peripheral neuropathy, or lose sensation in their feet.  Dyck et al.  Diabetic Neuropathy 1999
• The estimated annual US Burden of Diabetic Foot Ulcers is at least $15 Billion Rice, et al, Diabetes Care, 2014

If you have a foot or ankle injury DO NOT GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM OR URGENT CARE CENTER!!!!!

If you sprain an ankle, rip off a toenail or have an infection or wound on your foot or ankle you should avoid the emergency room and urgent care centers.  I can think of nothing worse than walking into the hospital or urgent care center with a foot problem and walking out with COVID-19.  Hospitals do not want to see you right now!  They are taking care of very sick people that can make you sick. This does not mean your foot or ankle problem is not important or should not be tended to, especially if you have an infection or fracture. We take care of these things in our office and often can avoid the hospital.  We are taking all precautions to protect our patients by instituting curbside check in as well as virtual visits for those who have questions and concerns but are not able to make it into the office.

Our current role as foot and ankle surgeons I believe is more important now than ever before.  If we can keep healthy people out of the path of illness in places like the emergency room and urgent care centers we are providing a true service to our community. Now is not the time for specialists to be closing their offices.  Right now there are many things changing rapidly in the healthcare landscape right in front of our eyes on a daily basis.  But the most underlying theme is if you are not sick do not got to places where sick people are located. 

There are many routine type visits that can be re-scheduled but emergent foot and ankle problems should not be ignored especially in our diabetic patients.  Consider every 30 seconds someone world wide loses a limb due to a diabetic non traumatic amputation from a diabetic foot infection.  If you are diabetic and have foot and ankle concerns you should consider calling the office and setting up even a virtual appointment. Dr. Henne and Dr. McGowan may be able to guide you via a virtual appointment of what is the next step.  We can guide you if you need antibiotics, a procedure that we can schedule in office, ect. 

If you are considering making an appointment at our office or a telemedicine visit over the next couple of weeks, visit our website for more information and a telemedicine consent at: https://centeranklefootcare.com/coronavirus.html


Take care and remember we can all help control COVID-19:

• wash your hands
• carry hand gel
• avoid crowds and unnecessary travel 
• re-schedule elective procedures
• avoid urgent care centers and emergency rooms
• stay home if you can
• take advantage of telemedicine appointments

Again, as always from our family to yours, stay healthy!!!