When you injure your arm or thumb, it’s pretty easy to protect those areas while time helps the body heal. People tend to treat their feet a little different, because we typically can’t stop using our feet. Even when we try to protect our feet and ankles, oftentimes we end up putting thousands of steps on our feet every day. If you’re doing this while nursing an injury, more problems can develop.
People often take a wait and see approach when it comes to helping a foot injury heal, or worse, they just power through it and assume everything will heal fine eventually. In today’s blog, we explain why it’s oftentimes in your best interest to see a foot specialist sooner rather than later when it comes to caring for foot injuries.
When To See A Foot Specialist
For this blog, we’re focusing on mild and moderate foot and ankle injuries. There are obvious situations where you’ll be fine without care, just like there are times when you need attention as soon as possible. We’re more focused on the situations when you’re really wondering if you need medical attention of if you’ll be fine in a few days. Here’s why you’ll want to seek out a specialist in those situations.
Figure Out Exactly What’s Wrong – There are so many bones, ligaments and muscles in the foot and ankle that it’s often impossible to know exactly what’s wrong without a professional diagnosis. If you think you’re dealing with ligament damage when you’re actually dealing with a midfoot fracture, you’re not going to have the easiest time during your recovery. Figure out what’s wrong with your foot by getting an official diagnosis.
Targeted Treatment – Once you know what is actually wrong with your feet it’s much easier to follow through on an individualized treatment plan. Knowing that your treatment plan is designed specifically for your needs ensures that you’re helping do what you can to fuel your recovery.
Extended Recovery – If you just try to walk it off and go about your day, there’s a good chance that you’re going to end up extending your recovery. It’s better to focus on your recovery and be back to normal in two weeks than to try and push through the pain and have discomfort linger for months. This is what you’re risking by trying to keep walking on damaged ligaments or a midfoot sprain.
Lots Of Misinformation Online – There are plenty of informative websites that can help guide you on your recovery, but the internet is also filled with well-intended bad advice. If you end up following bad advice, your pain can linger or you can actually make the initial injury worse. See a specialist who can give a recommendation based on your specific injury, not just generalized advice.
Your Feet Are In It For The Long Haul – Your feet, like your body, will be with you until the end. We need to play the long game when it comes to our feet health and not sacrifice our future goals for short term wishes. We understand that you want to be out there with your teammates, but missing a game or two is better than missing the whole season because you tried to come back from injury too soon. When it comes to your foot health, give up the short term by focusing on the long haul, and a foot specialist can help give you advice on how to do just that.
For more tips, or to schedule your first appointment with a foot and ankle specialist, reach out to Dr. Silverman and the team at Silverman Ankle & Foot today by calling (952) 224-8500.
