Lactic acid: a runners friend or foe?

So I was on the stationary bike in spin class the other night at the Central Y in Gastonia, NC and the instructor said to sprint to flush the lactic acid out of our calf muscles after performing a set of intervals.
I had always heard that lactic acid was the bad guy: that it makes your muscles burn and causes you to feel sore the next day after a workout. I got to thinking and did a little research to learn that it is essentially wrong. In fact, it's the fuel for your muscles. It's produced by converting carbohydrates into lactate which is then used by your muscles whether they be in your limbs, torso or your heart.

So what causes the fatigue in your muscles? There's no good answer but one theory is your muscles, once exhausted, leak calcium and this weakens your muscle contractions, thus causing them to fatigue.

So contrary to popular belief, lactic acid is our friendly fuel source, not the arch enemy of the runner, cyclist or professional athlete. Who would've known?

When runner's excessively pronate (roll their arches inward), the extra energy expended by their leg muscles can cause them to fatigue more easily. Excessive pronation can be controlled by the use of foot orthotic devices. By controlling the pronation, the muscles function more efficiently.

Laser nail fungus treatment does not have to be costly in Gastonia, NC

So as the sleet was coming down last Friday, my partners at Gaston Foot and Ankle Associates in Gastonia, NC, and I were sitting around our empty office thinking of what we could offer our patients with ugly toenails  to prepare them for summer sandal weather.

We have been enjoying great success with our Q-Clear laser since early in 2012, and knew that more patients need to take advantage of toenail fungus-free living. Hearing often from our patients how embarrassing it is to have ugly toenails, we knew if we could just get this amazing treatment into the toes of more of our deserving patients, they would smile all the way to the beach this coming summer.

Well, we have figured it out. Make them an offer they can't refuse. 

With the cost of oral medication like Lamisil, now known generically as terbinafine, which includes periodic blood testing to monitor possible liver side effects, or slow-to-work and often unsuccessful topical medications, which many give up on long before there is any signs of clearing, there had to be a better way to offer laser care to our deserving patients. 

With a single treatment, a fungus nail can be treated with an almost 80% success rate of clearing the nail!

This is with no pain, no side effects, and no additional treatments. So our offer is to make it affordable to as many patients as we can. For $195. we can treat that ugly toenail and just $50. for each additional nail that may be involved! No one in this region has offered that!
Now occasionally a second treatment may be required, but we offer that treatment a half off the first one. (Insurance unfortunately doe not cover this type of procedure.)

Why can we make this offer where others are charging several times as much? Because we are dedicated to giving the best technology to all our patients, knowing that satisfied patients bring us more of the same. 

We don't know how long we will be able to make this offer, but we suggest with summer just around the corner, it is not too soon to work towards pretty toenails. The sleet stopped and the temperature is going to be in the high sixties tomorrow, so come on in!

2012 Christmas stockings or "socks that rock"

So it's just a week before Christmas, and I am sure a few of you are still struggling with that special gift you want to get that certain special someone. Well,  I have just come across that gift for the man who has everything!

Socks! Mind you, these aren't just any socks.  These are socks made from Cervelt, a fibre made from the Red Deer of New Zealand. This fibre is the most luxurious natural textile fibre in the world, used in high end scarves, jerseys and jacketing. They only harvest 25 grams from each animal to make these amazing socks. It took 12 years of development to bring these little ditties to the market. In fact, they are only making 100 pairs, so order now from Douglas Creek.

At just 895 British pounds for a pair, you might have to mortgage your first born, yet they have to feel more luxurious than those fleece footies you got from your Aunt Jill last Christmas.

Now I'm not certain what Santa is wearing for the ride this year. I just hope his socks aren't cotton, 'cause with a little snow in his boots, his toes are going to stay wet and cold. It seems that wool does a better job of wicking moisture away from feet and that's what I recommend especially for those little sweaty soccer players' feet.  Acrylic fibers work great too. Taking a spare pair for the ride might be good, as well as airing those boots out when he gets back to the North Pole. Sure hope he puts them in front of the heat register before he slips them back on the next day.

So now you know what the most pampered feet in the world will be wearing this Christmas. Let's hope that Santa gets a pair too!

Skecher shape-ups: do they really shape up?

Lately, I've been seeing more and more people wearing these funny looking shoes called "shape-ups" made by Skechers. So what are these rocker soled shoes and do they offer any benefits? The concept of a rocker soled shoe has been around for a long time and the shoe now being touted is really a knock off a shoe made by MBT or Masai Barefoot Technology. This shoe is based on the concept that the rocker sole provides a more natural gait and improves your posture as you stand.

I have suggested these shoes to some of my patients, especially those with foot pain due to arthritis, severe rigid flatfeet and any time there is need for more shock absorption due to a fused foot or ankle joint. Patients that work on concrete all day seem to think they have more support and less foot and leg fatigue. There are other versions of these shoes by Dr. Scholl's and Sports Authority makes a shoe called, "Aspire" for half the price of the Skecher which is half the price of the MBT ($240)

I think this shoe has a place for certain folks with foot pain, but I would not count this as a shoe that will truly "shape up" your physique. For more information about a variety of foot topics, see my webpage at gastonfoot.com!

Go bare this summer....

So many of my patients come to the office after a shocking discovery of discolored toenails after removing their nail polish. It seems that after several pedicures, they have contracted a toenail fungal infection but were unaware, as their polish cloaked the hidden villain. What they did not realize was that the polish trapped fungal spores (seeds) and prevented moisture from passing through the nails causing a fungus to grow. Reapplying polish week after week hid the process so once finally removed an unattractive sight was revealed.

Fungal nail infections are no fun to treat. They require months of care whether it be oral or topical medication. Oral lamisil is very effective but can be hard on your liver and can't be taken while taking cholesterol lowering drugs. I like Formula-3, a topical preparation of tolnaftate and several herbal extracts which seems very effective and even has an unconditional money-back guarantee! It still takes 3-6 months to clear the nail infection, so my advice is to never wear polish more than 3 weeks of every month and otherwise "go bare this summer" as well as throughout the year! Your toenails will thank you for it....

When shoes come off, bugs jump on...

A couple of weeks ago when I was traveling to Philadelphia to a wound care conference in the City of Brotherly Love, I got to thinking about what was taking place in the security line at the airport. Of course, as required, everyone was taking off their shoes to go through security. In many cases, as they walked barefoot, through the inspection line, they were exposing their feet to a variety of invaders: bacteria, viruses and fungi, any of which could penetrate a small break in the skin to cause some form of infection.

I began to think how dangerous that practice might be as thousands of travelers walk through these lines each day. Warts are caused by viruses and are pesky to eradicate and common in children but still can be found in adults and athlete's foot, a common fungal infection of the skin can be easily acquired by simple contact by the fungal spore found in the airport carpeting. Why take these invaders on a ride to your vacation destination? Take an extra precaution and wear socks through that line even if it is only to remove them to put your sandals back on.