I know we are all sick of hearing about it already, but currently it’s pretty much impossible to ignore that we are all stuck in our houses right now.
Here at Fulshear Foot and Ankle, we remain open for patients in need of care. While we encourage patients to continue to STAY HOME for social distancing reasons, there are definitely conditions which can become worse and result in chronic problems when not treated urgently by your foot and ankle specialist.
Even though the world has stopped, people are still being people at home. Many of us are still taking part in physical activities, playing sports games with our families, climbing trees (not recommended), recording elaborate tik-tok dance videos (you know who you are). This means people are still getting injured. In addition, there are also many people who already deal with chronic health conditions (some that may even be un-diagnosed) that can sometimes result in severe pain or infections to the foot or ankle and may need to be seen urgently.
While you may be able to perform some self treatment at home for basic cuts and scrapes, we would like to give you some guidance on what your options are if you are worried about you, or someone in your family’s foot or ankle condition.
A couple of urgent/ emergent issues of the foot and ankle that may require a visit include but are not limited to:
-Trauma:
This includes dislocated or open fractures, inability to bear weight after injuring your foot or ankle). Usually if you have a dislocation of the foot or ankle you will notice a physical deformity or difference in the shape of your injured body part. There are also certain types of foot fractures that need to be more aggressively immobilized than others, and some that require surgery.
-Infections (and conditions that mimic infections):
Often times infections of the foot or ankle will result in redness, swelling and sometimes severe pain. There may also be an associated wound or ulcer which puts the patient at a higher risk of severe infection if the condition is left untreated. Other signs of infection include streaking, foul odor coming from a wound, and associated fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, and/or shortness of breath. There are several other conditions, such as gout and poor circulation that can sometimes mimic infection signs of the foot or ankle. It is always best to speak with a specialist who can prescribe the appropriate treatment and order tests to determine the cause and proper treatment of your issue.
Anyone who has sudden redness and swelling with warmth with or without pain on any area of the foot or ankle is encouraged to contact their foot and ankle specialist.
There are many reasons that you may fear coming to the emergency room or ANY medical practice during this pandemic:
-You may have underlying medical conditions, or be taking care of family with medical issues
-You or your family members’ age which puts you at higher risk and warrants increased isolation precautions
-You have children at your house that you just cannot completely ensure will stop touching their faces and licking their fingers!!! (we feel you)
Our goal at Fulshear Foot and Ankle is to help YOU avoid going to the emergency room unnecessarily. Please call our office if you think you or a family member may have an urgent or emergent foot or ankle issue. We are screening all patients for safety reasons, and can also provide telehealth options for an initial video consult to help you decide if it may be necessary to physically come into the office or not. We want to do anything we can to help you even from afar, and to give you peace of mind. If you do need to come into the office, we are taking every possible precaution to ensure you and your family’s protection during this time.
You can reach our office at 281-391-1212
Stay tuned for our next blog post on some at home tips to treat non emergent foot issues!