Foot & Ankle

Plantar fasciitis is a major cause of dysfunction and missed work among people of all ages and backgrounds. It can lead to swelling, tenderness, and pain in the bottom part of yourfoot and heel and is caused by inflammation and irritation within a thick band of tissue on the underside of your foot known as the plantar fascia (this connective tissue forms the arch of your foot).

Plantar fasciitis symptoms are often worse first thing in the morning or after a prolonged bout of sitting. You may be at risk for developing this inflammatory pain condition if you “do too much too soon” when it comes to exercise (e.g., going from a couch potato to running 3 miles the next day), being overweight, standing a lot at your job, and having either a too flat or a too high arch in your foot.

At Advanced Pain Relief Clinic, our multidisciplinary team provides massage therapy, physiotherapy, custom orthotics fittings, and of course advanced chiropractic care including spinal decompressions and adjustments to help maximize your postural alignment, reduce strain on the irritated plantar fascia, and allow your foot to heal.

One therapeutic modality that we’ve been using with great success for our patients with plantar fasciitis and other acute and chronic pain conditions is shockwave therapy. Never heard of it? If you have plantar fasciitis, pay attention–this may be the next best thing for your foot.

How Shockwave Therapy Provides Non-Invasive Plantar Fasciitis Treatment

Our clients love shockwave therapy for 3 main reasons:
1. It’s a non-invasive, non-surgical, and drug-free treatment.
2. It requires no downtime and causes no discomfort during the session.
3. It’s effective!

So, how does it work? Essentially, shockwave therapy uses short, high-energy sound waves emitted through a specialized wand-looking device to trigger healing changes at the cellular level of the targeted tissue. Specifically, shockwave therapy has been shown to promote cellular repair and regeneration, accelerated tissue healing, reduced scar tissue formation, and reduced pain and other symptoms of injury. It’s particularly effective in areas of the body where tissue density changes (such as around the area where ligaments and tendons attach to bones), making it an excellent modality for treating pain in and around the heel.

So, if medications and rest haven’t helped, considering consulting with our clinic in Kitchener, Owen Sound and Port Elgin. He may choose to utilize shockwave therapy as part of your plantar fasciitis treatment and get you back on your feet quickly. By relieving your pain and other symptoms as well as healing the plantar fascia itself, you’ll be able to resume your daily activities at work, in the gym, and at home. We’ll also help you make better lifestyle choices regarding nutrition and exercise to help manage your controllable risk factors and prevent future or recurring damage.

At Advanced Pain Relief Clinic, we believe a whole-body approach is the best way to provide chiropractic care and wellness for our patients. We know all your tissues and bones must work together to maintain balance, mobility, and function. For example, your feet support your weight all day long, and sometimes gradual damage will cause a condition known as heel spurs. Heel spurs can be painful or painless, debilitating or a minor inconvenience d. As your chiropractor in Owen Sound and Kitchener we will work to identify the cause, and symptoms to relieve the problem.

What are Heel Spurs?
Heel spurs are extra calcium deposits that build up on the bottom of your heel often leading to sharp pain. They often look like a new, strange bone poking out of your heel but that is not the case. The calcium deposit often gives the illusion of a bone fragment, but with proper treatment, we can eliminate the pain on your heels.

Common Symptoms of Heel Spurs
If you see or feel something bony on the bottom of your heel, you may have heel spurs. Additional symptoms may include:
• Unusual warmth in the heel
• Inflammation and swelling of the heel
• Pain on the bottom of your foot (may not be present at all)
• Pain that begins in the front of your heel and radiates to the arch of your foot
• Sharp pain when standing up in the morning

Common Causes of Heel Spurs
Of course, your treatment plan will depend on the cause of your heel spurs. Our goal is always to figure out what caused your pain, then work to relieve and prevent it. So, what usually causes heel spurs? Here are some of the most common causes and risk factors that may lead to heel spurs:
• Plantar Fasciitis – This inflammatory condition affects the ligament that connects your heels to your toes, and heel spurs may result if this tissue cannot allow normal joint movement
• Overuse – If you play sports that include jumping, running, or wearing tight-fitting shoes, you may gradually tear the connective tissue that should cover your heel bone and prevent spurs
• Gait – If you place excessive weight on the back of your foot while walking, you may be causing damage to the bone, nerves, or ligaments in your heel
• Excess Weight – Overweight patients face higher risks of heel spurs because of increased impact
• Loss of Fat – Your heel’s protective pad of fat usually deteriorates with age, leaving the heel more vulnerable

How Our Clinic Treats Heel Spurs
If we suspect you may have heel spurs, our care professionals will diagnose them with an X-ray and start tackling the cause of your spurs right away. For example, if your unusual gait is placing excessive stress on your heel, we will perform a series of adjustments designed to correct imbalance and restore the natural alignment of your spine and legs. We may also recommend stretching exercises, inserts for your shoes, and other lifestyle adjustments that make it easier for your heels to support everyday movement.

At Advanced Pain Relief, we know your daily lifestyle can have long-lasting effects on your entire body. Our treatments focus on the whole body, not just the spine, and your feet are especially sensitive to the stress of everyday movement. That’s why we offer chiropractic treatments for Morton’s Neuroma, among other common foot conditions. Learn more about this diagnosis and our chiropractor’s personalized treatment options.

What is Morton’s Neuroma?
Essentially, this foot condition is defined by the thickening of tissue in your foot. When this tissue thickens around nerves that lead to your toes, it causes pain in the ball of your foot due to tightening of the ligaments and nerves.

Symptoms of Morton’s Neuroma
While Morton’s Neuroma is a common and easy-to-diagnose condition, it can lead to long-lasting pain and stress if you don’t seek treatment. Here are a few common symptoms of Morton’s Neuroma, which are good signs you should seek our services:
• Pain in the ball of your foot
• Pain that radiates into your toes
• Sensation of a pebble inside your shoe
• Numb toes
• Tingling sensation in your toes

Common Causes of Morton’s Neuroma
So, what causes this aggravating condition? Some lifestyle choices increase your risk of Morton’s Neuroma, but other risk factors cannot be helped. Here are some of the most common causes of Morton’s Neuroma:
• High heels and ill-fitting shoes – Do you wear shoes that put extra pressure on the ball of your foot and your toes
• Foot conditions – Do you already have bunions or hammertoes?
• Unusual shape – Both high arches and flat arches may increase your risk of this condition, in part because shoes put unnatural pressure on your feet
• High-impact sports – Do you run, jog, ski, climb, or participate in any other sport that puts constant pressure on your feet?

How Our Clinic Treats Morton’s Neuroma
At Advanced Pain Relief, our goal is always to relieve your pain and prevent it from coming back again. Our care professional may recommend a spinal adjustment to correct your posture and reduce some of the unnecessary pressure on your feet. We may also refer you to one of our massage therapists to help reduce the inflammation of your foot tissue, or a kinesiologist who can guide you through exercises that loosen the tissue. If your lifestyle or wardrobe is the cause of your Morton’s Neuroma, our chiropractor will even help you make gradual adjustments, such as orthopedic supports for your shoes and gear.

Bunions develop over time. They may be painless for quite a while as they develop, only beginning to cause discomfort when the skin becomes reddened and sore and the patient finds themselves switching footwear in an attempt to relieve the pain. When you feel discomfort from a bunion, you can find relief with treatment from our Doctors and care professionals here at Advanced Pain Relief Clinic in Owen Sound, Kitchener and Port Elgin.

What is a Bunion?
When your big toe pushes against your second toe over time, it forces anatomical changes in your foot. The joint of the big toe (MTP joint) is forced to stick out and becomes larger and painful. A bony bump forms on the base of the big toe joint. This bump is a hallux valgus- more commonly known as a bunion. Progressively painful bone disorders that affect the joint structure of your foot, bunions can also occur at the base of the little toe as well; this is called a ‘tailor’s bunion’.

Causes of Bunions
• Heredity- Bunions often run in families with an inherited foot shape/ type.
• Gender- Women are far more likely to develop bunions. Adolescent bunions occur most often in girls aged 10-15.
• Arthritis- Rheumatoid arthritis sufferers are at greater risk for the condition.
• Uneven weight bearing- Causes the toe joint to become unstable.
• Poorly fitting shoes and High Heels- tight, narrow, ill-fitting toe-crowding shoes.
• Foot Injury or Foot deformity.
• Flat Feet.

Symptoms and Possible Complications
• Pain and burning feeling
• Bulge or bump on the outside of the big toe base
• Corns and/or calluses
• Swelling, redness, soreness
• Difficulty walking
• Even if your bunions are painless, the presence of bunions can lead to complications like:
• Bursitis
• Arthritis
• Hammer toes
• Painful calluses
• Difficulty walking

Diagnosis and Treatment of Bunions
At Advanced Pain Relief Clinic can quickly diagnose bunions by a physical examination of your foot, but they may require an x-ray to determine the extent of deformity/damage that has already occurred.
Treatment of bunions depends upon their severity. Your chiropractor can adjust a misaligned MTP joint, which will reduce fluid in the area, which reduces pain. You may also have other foot/knee misalignment that has been contributing to bunion and foot pain; this will be adjusted as well.
Other non-surgical treatment may include:
• Orthotics or shoe inserts to relieve pressure on the toe
• Taping, splinting or padding the toe
• Recommendations for appropriate footwear
• Ice to reduce pain and inflammation
Severe bunions may require surgical correction

Here’s a painful scenario you may be all too familiar with: You want to run, walk, jump, dance or perform any of the other activities that figure so prominently in your daily life — but your Achilles tendons just won’t let you. Achilles tendinitis can cause serious pain and stiffness in that all-important tendon connecting the heel to the calf, quite literally hobbling your quality of life. But don’t fret, because our foot clinic in Kitchener and Owen Sound can help you overcome that painful inflammation by treating its underlying causes.

Understanding Achilles Tendinitis
The Achilles tendon is tough, strong band of connective tissue anchoring the calcaneus (heel bone) to the calf muscles. Inflammation, pain and swelling in this tendon is known as Achilles tendinitis, and it can occur in two primary locations. In insertional Achilles tendinitis, the point where the tendon attached to the heel bone is inflamed; in non-insertional Achilles tendinitis, it is the middle portion of the tendon that experiences the inflammation. You may notice the pain running along the back of your heel when you first stand up and walk around in the morning, especially if your were engaged in heavy work or athletic activity the previous day. The area may also appear lumpy, thick or otherwise swollen.
Where did your Achilles tendonitis come from? Acute cases generally occur when the tendon is suddenly forced to perform an extreme action, such as pivoting in a dance move or launching off the starting bock in a sprint. But your pain and swelling can also be a chronic condition stemming from a long-term chronic situation. For example, individuals with abnormal arches in their feet and/or unbalanced musculoskeletal systems can develop persistent Achilles tendonitis,especially when lack of arch support in their footwear makes things even worse. Bone spurs can also irritate and damage the Achilles tendon.

Our Natural Pain Relief Options
While a complete rupture of the Achilles tendon generally calls for surgical intervention, inflammation of the tendon can be successfully treated through non-invasive conservative options. Here at Advanced Pain Relief Clinic, our diverse team of practitioners can prescribe a multi-modal approach that addresses both your symptoms and the conditions that brought them about in the first place. Your treatment plan may include:
• Laser Therapy – Laser therapy uses amplified light to boost cellular repair and regeneration to your Achilles tendon can heal more rapidly, while also boosting blood flow to relieve swelling and blocking pain signals in nerves.
• Shockwave Therapy – Shockwave therapy uses sonic pulses to break up internal scar tissue and promote circulation in the injured Achilles tendon.
• Orthotics – custom orthotics can correct foot arch and alignment problems that strain your Achilles tendons.

Need a Foot Doctor? Come to Us!
If your Achilles tendinitis has you searching for a foot doctor, you’ve come to the right place. New clients get a complimentary consultation, so call Advanced Pain Relief Clinic today!

Most people will suffer an ankle sprain at some point in their life. The lateral ankle, situated on the outside of the foot, is one of the most frequently injured parts of the body among athletes and physically active people.

Lateral ankle inversion sprains occur when the foot rolls outward, forcing the weight of the entire body to the outer edge of the foot and stretching, spraining or tearing ligaments (tissues that connect bone to bone) in the ankle joint. This type of sprain is common among basketball players and people who participate in sports that require a lot of running, jumping or sudden stopping and starting. Uneven playing fields, like those in baseball or soccer, can also contribute to ankle injuries.

But athletes aren’t the only people susceptible to lateral ankle inversion sprains. Many times, simply stepping off a curb or walking on uneven ground can cause the ankle to slip outward, resulting in a sprain or a tear in the ligaments of the foot. Studies show that weak ligaments, joint instability and old age also contribute to a greater risk of experiencing a lateral ankle sprain. In addition, females are more prone to this type of injury, because they generally have smaller muscles and looser ligaments, especially during pregnancy, which means they have less stability in the leg to maintain the ankle’s position.

It’s not hard to tell when an ankle sprain has occurred. People who experience the injury sometimes hear a pop or a snap. They also usually complain of pain, swelling, bruising and difficulty in walking, and these symptoms can be so severe that patients with the condition sometimes think their foot is broken. An x-ray can determine whether a bone fracture has actually taken place.

 Proper care incorporates a variety of safe and effective techniques that can successfully reduce pain, prevent the buildup of scar tissue and restore proper motion to the foot. You should be aware, however, that ligament injuries often take long to heal, and that it could take weeks or months for you to fully recover from an ankle sprain.

Hammer toe (hammertoe) is a painful deformity of the foot that develops from an imbalance of the ligaments, tendons, and muscles around your toe joint(s). This creates an abnormal bend in the middle joints of the second, third or fourth toes. Mallet toe specifically affects the joint nearest to the toenail.

Two Forms of Hammer Toe
Flexible hammer toe- (an earlier, milder form of the disorder in which the toe joint can still be moved.) With the ability to manipulate the toe, there are more treatment options available at this stage.

Rigid hammer toe- At this point, the toe tendons have become rigid and the toe cannot be moved. The toe is permanently out of alignment and the patient has fewer non- surgical treatment options.

What Are The Symptoms?
Aside from the obvious physical deformity of a bent toe:
• Pain in the affected toe particularly when wearing shoes
• Swelling
• Burning sensation or redness
• Inability to straighten your toe
• Corns or callous on top of the middle joint of the affected toe (from rubbing against shoe)
• (In severe cases) Ulcer or open wound on the toe

Causes of Hammer Toe
• Footwear- high heeled shoes, shoes that are too small or tight in the toe box (the toes cannot lie flat)
• Toe Length- if the second toe is longer than the big toe you are more likely to develop hammer toe
• Trauma/Injury- A toe that has been broken, stubbed or jammed is more likely to develop
• the deformity
• Disease- certain conditions, like arthritis or diabetes put you at greater risk for foot problems like hammer or mallet toe
• Age- Your risk increases as you age
• Heredity-There is evidence that hammer toe may run in families
• Gender – Women are more likely to develop this condition than men

Hammer Toe and Mallet Toe Treatments
Left untreated, hammer toe will progress until surgery may be your only relief. If you have any of the above symptoms, call us here at Advanced Pain Relief Clinic. Our multidisciplinary team is ready to diagnose and treat your hammer toe while the toe is still flexible. Treatment options may include:
• Manipulation
• Physical therapy
• Gentle stretching
• Prescribed exercises
• Lifestyle change recommendations