Who you choose for treating your foot wound can mean the difference between keeping your foot and amputation!

Caring for a diabetic foot wound can be extremely challenging.

That is where we come in.

ABOUT US

Established in 2002, The  Center for Ankle and Foot Care has a solid reputation and is respected as foot doctors who care about their patients outcomes.  With a shared vision, our doctors started the company with the intent of providing ethical and superior services, and that is exactly what we do.

MORE THAN JUST WOUND CARE

As surgically trained podiatrists, the Center for Ankle and Foot Care doctors truly understand the diabetic foot, how ulcers are formed and how to treat ulcerations.  Dr. Michele McGowan was trained in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was the diabetic foot fellow.  "My time as the Diabetic Foot Fellow encompassed 2 years of surgical training dedicated to the treatment of the diabetic foot wounds and the complications associated with the wounded foot, " Dr. McGowan explains.  " Sometimes patients waste so much time being under treated by doctors who do not understand the pathophysiology and biomechanics of the diabetic foot.  There are so many studies that show the better outcomes are associated with timely intervention by a skilled physician." 

If you are diabetic and have a wound on the your foot, it is time to call our office.  Dr. McGowan has made treating the diabetic wounds her passion.  "I believe preventive care is paramount, many patients we treat that are diabetic are not aware of all the benefits that insurance covers for them to stay wound free."  At our office we work hard on helping you treat your diabetic foot wound, we work closely with other doctors like vascular and infectious disease, as the team approach is needed many times in the diabetic foot. 

" I love helping patients with wounds get better.  There is no other part of my profession that I enjoy more.  It takes a lot of hard work on the doctor and patient side to help heal a wound.  I am a big fan of tough love and make my patients be an active part of their care. Patients need to know how important it is for them to be invested in their outcome.  Wound care is not a passive patient treatment, patients come in to our office and if they really want to be healed we can help them.  Sometimes I have to get a patient to a vascular doctor to restore blood flow, or an infectious disease doctor for IV antibiotics, sometimes patients have to wear an annoying boot they don't want to wear.  But I take the time to explain all of this to a patient. Sadly, sometimes a patient comes into the office after delaying care for so long and I have to be the person who tells them that it is too late for their limb."  If you have been struggling with a wound for a long time on the foot, it is time to call us at The Center for Ankle and Foot Care and make an appointment with Dr. McGowan.  Call now 352-242-2502. 

A common pathway to ulceration...the anatomy of a diabetic foot ulcer.

To the left, you see two pictures of the same foot.  This is a common presentation of the neuropathic diabetic foot. Neuropathic refers to the patient's inability to feel pain and the appropriate signals that would help a patient seek care sooner.  A patient has no sensation, they continue to develop callused skin in one area. After enough pressure from a callus develops a wound starts to form under the callus.  The patient could go for a very long period of time with the ulcer getting larger and possibly infected due to their lack of sensation that is often associated with long standing diabetes.

One of the most critical factors in a patient's successful outcome, is having a skilled physician involved in their care.  If you know someone or you yourself has a wound on the lower extremity, you need a doctor who has a passion for limb salvage.  Limb Salvage is a term that has been coined in reference to preserving the diabetic foot or a foot with an open wound.  Doctors who are trained in limb salvage have been specially trained.  As the diabetic limb salvage resident at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh, I spent two years diagnosing, treating and preserving limbs of many patients.  I can honestly say that no other part of what I do as a podiatrist is more gratifying than helping a patient prevent an amputation.  I have practiced in Clermont, Florida since 2002 and happy to say that I have helped save many limbs.  If a patient has a wound below the knee, I can help them!  My favorite place to treat wounds is at one of the two wound care centers that I see patients: Leesburg Regional and The Villages Regional wound care centers, but I also see people in Clermont in my office.

Dr. Henne and myself have had many conversations about our patient outcomes.  The most interesting part about our patients in our practice that are diabetic, is that they are not usually the patients that we have to perform amputations on or have to put them in the hospital for a debridement.  Debridement is a term used describe what a doctor does in order to remove dead or infected tissue from a wound. It could be superficial or down to bone depending on the severity and depth of the wound. What Dr. Henne and I take very seriously is the role we play in preventive care in the diabetic foot.  When we meet a patient who is diabetic for the first time in our office we explain the role we play in prevention of future foot problems, by means of At risk foot care. At risk foot care is the term used by insurance companies for visits to the podiatrist for care of the feet.  These visits are ways for early detection of foot problems that could lead to ulceration and possible infections. These visits are meant to put out fires before they start.  What we offer in our office is the patient is always seen by the doctor and only the doctor performs these services in our office.  There is no medical assistant trimming calluses in our office, only the doctor.  These visits do not seem like a huge deal to our at risk patients because they don't develop problems, just by keeping up with a good foot care regimen.

If you are diabetic you should be following some very simple rules:
1. Check your feet daily, and if you can not see or reach your feet, have someone else check them
2. Always wear protection on your feet
3. Avoid soaking your feet, unless otherwise instructed by your doctor
4. Do not wait to seek treatment for something suspicious on your feet

If you have an open wound or you have a loved one who has an open wound, and they have not had any improvement you need to think about seeking out a higher level of care. Look for a doctor who is passionate about limb salvage.  If you are in the Central Florida area, we would be more than happy to evaluate you.  Sometimes when patient's require more complex care, I see patients at the wound care center in Leesburg or The Villages. Call our office today if you would like an evaluation of your wound 352-242-2502.

Our office is located in Lost Lake Professional Village
Michele McGowan DPM
3190 Citrus Tower Blvd Ste A
Clermont,FL 34711.

Cracked dry heels? Get smooth heels now!!!!

We see many patients a day that come into the office for all different types of foot and ankle problems. A very common issue that is mentioned by patients after treating their foot problem is, "Hey doc, what to you recommend for dry, cracked heels or dry skin?" For years I would direct them to their local neighborhood pharmacy with a prescription for 40% Urea cream.  But about two or three years ago I started to have many angry patients who would call the office upset that I would give them a prescription for something so expensive and that was not covered!!! That is right, insurance companies stopped covering this very effective and safe way to get rid of cracked heels and dry skin.  I gave up on this for a while, sending patients to get some junk at the pharmacy that just wasn't as effective.

Over the counter, in the last couple of years, many great new Urea 40% creams have become available without a prescription but are not available in stores.  My favorite, which is available on Amazon is Revitaderm 40. What I love about this product is that, out of all of the creams available on the market for dry cracked heels this one comes with a pleasant odor while still being extremely efficient at making your skin smooth and get rid of dry cracked heels. This product has Chamomile, Tea Tree Oil and Aloe Vera which gives is a great odor.  Many other products seem just oily and a little smelly.

Urea Cream 40 / RevitaDERM - 8oz

I now just direct my patients to Amazon.com to buy the cream. Many times they can get it the next day, with out having to go to the store and hunt around for something you can not find there!  If you go to your local neighborhood pharmacy, the closest they come to this product is 10% Urea creams.  I would say this may be O.K. for areas that you do not bear weight on, but would not be effective for the problem areas like dry cracked heels and thick skin under the ball of the foot.  The 40% Urea creams will be very effective over time to get your heels and problem areas smooth as a baby's bottom:)

If you have really thick skin on the bottom of your feet, a trick I tell my patients about is the following. Before bedtime, place the Reviatderm 40 on the affected foot and (I know this is going to sound really weird) gently, not tight, wrap Saran or cling wrap around the foot and place a clean sock over it and go to sleep, take wrap off in the morning and go about your business.  If you have really bad calluses or thick dry skin you could see a big change in as little as a week doing this daily.

The link below will take you to Amazon for purchasing the RevitaDerm 40 cream.  I can say that I have seen many people have great satisfaction with this product and that is why I am sharing it with you! This product is safe for diabetics as well. Calluses on a diabetic foot can lead to ulceration (open wound) if left to continue to build up.  I consider this product an ounce of well needed prevention on the diabetic foot!

 If you have a foot or ankle problem and would like to learn more, feel free to visit our website at http://centeranklefootcare.com/