February is American Heart Month, and at Pasco-Hernando Foot & Ankle, we want to help all our patients keep their hearts going strong. One big weapon in your arsenal to fight against heart disease is your diet.

At Pasco-Hernando Foot & Ankle, we know there’s a lot of information and misinformation circulating about ingrown toenails, their treatment, and prevention.

At Pasco-Hernando Foot & Ankle, one of our priorities is helping our patients with diabetes avoid complications. Neuropathy and poor circulation which are associated with this disease pack a one-two punch that can be devastating to the health of your feet.

At Pasco-Hernando Foot & Ankle, we know that numbness in the feet is a symptom that may come on gradually. At first, you may just feel like your foot’s “asleep” or has pins and needles, but as time goes on, you realize you can’t perceive sensations in your feet as well as you have formerly.

Studies show that most fitness resolutions fizzle around the third week in January. There are ways to boost your chances of success, however.

At Pasco-Hernando Foot & Ankle, a health observance we’re excited about is National Measure Your Feet Day which falls on January 23rd. Did you know that wearing shoes that fit properly is the number one way you can be proactive in improving your podiatric health?

At Pasco-Hernando Foot & Ankle, we hope taking better care of your feet is a priority for all our Nature Coast patients. We’d like to offer some suggestions for starting the New Year off on the right foot.

Here on the Nature Coast, we know that our winters are not as severe as in some parts of the country, but at Pasco Hernando Foot & Ankle, we want to inform patients about the risk of fungal and other foot infections at this time of the year. Several factors combine to increase the chances of contracting one.

At Pasco Hernando Foot & Ankle, we want to know if you’ve remembered two very important and deserving recipients—your feet! Below are a few items you would likely find on your feet’s wish list if they made one.

It was a night of holiday feasting and fun. Shrimp cocktail to start, then a delicious roast beef dinner served with a wonderful red wine and capped off with a snifter of brandy. In the middle of the night, however, you wake up with excruciating pain throbbing in your big toe, which feels hot and swollen. At Paso-Hernando Foot & Ankle, we hear many similar scenarios at this time of year, and they are the classic presentation of gout.

Have you been experiencing an annoying but not completely debilitating pain in your forefoot or heel? At Pasco-Hernando Foot & Ankle, one condition we sometimes see in patients who complain of pain is a stress fracture. Although less dramatic than an acute fracture, a stress fracture can be just as serious.

Today, we’d like to help our patients better understand this common podiatric condition. Below are some do’s and don’ts regarding warts.

At Pasco-Hernando Foot & Ankle, we know the biggest shopping day of the year—Black Friday—is right around the corner. If you’re planning to get out there and get your first pick of holiday gifts, we want to give our Nature Coast patients some strategies for saving your feet and your money.

Bunions are a progressive condition. It means they will only get worse, not better, over time. Initially, when patients consult our podiatrist, Dr. Lawrence J. Kales, about a bunion, they may be at a stage where the deformity is not causing them pain and discomfort, and the foot doctor will wait and see approach, monitoring the progression of the bunion.

Heel pain can have a few different causes. At Pasco-Hernando Foot & Ankle, we know that heel pain may start as dull and intermittent, but as time goes on and the pain gets more intense and constant, it becomes quite debilitating and may limit your ability to be as active as you would like.

In October, Pasco-Hernando Foot & Ankle recognizes Raynaud's Awareness Month and it's a good opportunity to share some information about this condition with our patients.

At Pasco-Hernando Foot & Ankle, we recognize International Podiatry Day in October. We think it’s an excellent opportunity to let our patients know that we can help improve their health in ways they may not be aware of.

Each September, we at Pasco-Hernando Foot & Ankle recognize Falls Prevention Awareness Day. Statistics show that 1 in 4 Americans 65 and older will fall this year. Falls are the primary cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries to seniors.

When it comes to fungal infections like athlete’s foot and toenail fungus, we at Pasco-Hernando Foot & Ankle often have patients tell us that they didn’t seek treatment sooner because the condition wasn’t causing them any pain. In honor of Fungal Disease Awareness Week, which occurs in September, we’d like to share some information about how these infections affect your feet and what to do about them.

A condition that we frequently treat at Pasco-Hernando Foot & Ankle is hammertoe. Many patients can identify this toe deformity by its namesake bending downward at the first or second joint, resembling a hammer, but don’t necessarily know what can be done to fix it. Although initially, it may just be that the toe looks odd, this can become a painful and debilitating condition as time goes on.