Do you often feel pain in your feet? Especially women who like to wear high heels. Today, I would like to introduce two common foot deformities in Hong Kong people.
HALLUX VALGUS
Hallux valgus refers to a deformity symptom in which the angle of the big toe is more than 15 degrees. Draw a line from the base of the big toe, and the angle between this line and the second toe is the hallux valgus. angle. The normal angle of hallux valgus is 8 to 15 degrees. If it is greater than 15 degrees, it is hallux valgus, 20 to 30 degrees is mild hallux valgus, and if it is more than 40 degrees, it is severe hallux valgus and requires surgery.
Causes Of Hallux Valgus
The causes of hallux valgus can be divided into congenital and acquired factors. Congenital factors are genetic factors, and hallux valgus caused by acquired factors is related to the shoes you wear at ordinary times. Usually, wearing shoes with too high heels, too pointed toes and too narrow shoes will make the heels not easy to fix, and the toes will not be easily fixed. Causes squeezing friction and compression. Such unfit shoes not only affect the extension and movement of the toes, causing discomfort and pain, but also destroy the function of the original three footholds. When walking, the whole body weight falls on the front of the foot, and the toes Gradually deformed due to weight compression, resulting in hallux valgus.
The Dangers Of Hallux Valgus
In people with hallux valgus, the joint at the bottom of the big toe is dislocated, causing the big toe to bend inward and the big toe bone protruding outward. At this time, the big toe will squeeze other toes. In severe cases, the point at the base of the big toe Pain and inflammation caused by the constant friction of wearing shoes, and thick skin and bursae can easily form on the outside of the protruding bone, which may cause permanent deformation of the toe.
How To Prevent Hallux Valgus
To prevent hallux valgus, the choice of shoes is the key. When buying shoes at ordinary times, you should choose shoes with wide toes, so that the toes can have enough space for movement, and the pressure on the toes caused by the shoes will be greatly reduced. In addition, it is necessary to choose shoes with the correct arch design. These shoes have strong shock absorption and decompression effects, so that the whole body weight that our feet bear when walking is evenly distributed on the soles of the feet, which can effectively prevent the toes caused by pressure distribution. Inflammation and relaxation of the ligaments.
Hallux Valgus Correction
Helps restore the appearance of feet; reduces pain for patients. Under local anesthesia, a suitable size incision was made on the tibia of the metatarsophalangeal joint to remove the hyperplasia bunion and excessive osteophytes, cut off the hallux adductor muscle, and correct the valgus angle and intermetatarsal angle by scafu+Akin osteotomy. for the purpose of correction. Postoperative incision cosmetic suture, the scar is shallow, and the appearance is beautiful.
PARONYCHIA
Paronychia is also commonly known as frozen nails. The reasons include improperly trimmed finger (toe) nails, fungal infection, finger (toe) nails are squeezed and deformed by external force, contact allergens or chemicals, resulting in finger (toe) nails embedded next to it. Tissue (the nail groove), most often in the big toe, with symptoms such as redness, swelling, pain, and even bacterial infection, cellulitis, and more. Paronychia is generally not serious and only needs to be treated with antibiotics; however, if the nails are severely ingrown, surgery and braces must be used.
Paronychia Symptoms
Paronychia can cause redness, inflammation, and pain in the paronychia. In severe cases, there will be abscess formation, or chronic tissue hyperplasia and paronychia hypertrophy.
Paronychia Progression
The progression of paronychia is related to the type. Acute paronychia bunion deformity is mainly caused by infection. It is usually caused by a wound on the paronychia and is caused by bacterial or fungal infection. In severe cases, there will be purulent pustules. Chronic paronychia is mainly caused by long-term chemical stimulation, resulting in redness, swelling, shrinkage of the nail bed (the skin under the nail), and even deformity of the nail.
Paronychia Complications
Cellulitis: If bacteria invade the injured skin, it will not only cause paronychia, but in severe cases, it may lead to cellulitis, which may cause more serious bacterial infection if not careful.
Common Causes Of Paronychia
The main causes of paronychia are as follows:
Shoe problems: Often ill-fitting shoes squeeze and deform the toenails.
Trimming the nails or toenails: The nails are trimmed too short, causing damage to the skin tissue around the nails, or trying to trim the dead skin on the nail bed and accidentally injuring the skin. In addition, like to bite your nails can easily cause paronychia.
Fungal infection: especially Hong Kong athlete’s foot or onychomycosis are easy to cause paronychia due to wound infection.
Long-term exposure to chemicals or allergens: It is mainly the cause of chronic paronychia. Due to the long-term influence of chemical substances or allergens, the paronychia is inflamed for a long time, and various paronychia problems occur.
Types Of Paronychia
Acute paronychia: Acute paronychia is usually caused by an injury to the skin at the margin of the nail, which is caused by bacteria invading the skin, causing bursts of violent throbbing pain.
Chronic paronychia: When the skin of the paronychia is poorly metabolized, it is easy to cause small wounds. At this time, whether it is the barb on the edge of the nail or the irritation of the cleaning agent, it may cause paronychia. Chronic paronychia usually occurs in the white half-moon near the nail growth plate, and it usually takes a while to develop into chronic inflammation.
Paronychia Prone Groups
– Often wear tight, pointed shoes
– Improper trimming of toenails
– people with diabetes
– work with long-term exposure to chemicals
Paronychia Prevention Key Points
– The way you trim your nails is very important to prevent paronychia
– Active treatment of athlete’s foot and onychomycosis.
– Avoid biting your nails with your mouth.
– Avoid prolonged direct contact with chemicals or allergens.
Paronychia Treatment
Generally mild paronychia can be treated with appropriate antibiotics according to the pathogen causing the infection (need to distinguish between bacteria or mold). For chronic paronychia, the cause of the chronic inflammation must be identified and treated. The symptoms can be improved with steroid creams.
Severe Ingrown Nails (Toenails) Require The Following Treatments:
Nail Corrector: Using the principle of reaction force after the corrector coil is tightened, it can level the curled toenail and improve the curvature of the nail.
Toenail patch: After grinding the nail to a suitable rough surface, use the gel to stick the nail to level the curved nail.
Surgical treatment: The use of surgery to destroy the nail plate, cryotherapy and laser cautery are also common surgical methods.
Nail bed plastic surgery: Nail bed plastic surgery, also known as “wedge resection”, because most “frozen nails” only have infection at the edge, so just cut off the edge toenail, then remove the infected tissue and destroy the nail bed , the toenails that will grow in the future will be smaller, and there will be no more problems with curling nails.
Paronychia Care Focus
1. Paronychia is a disease with a high recurrence rate. After the treatment is completed, the patient must develop good living habits, including the way of clipping toenails and not wearing tight or pointed shoes.
2. Pay attention to the cleanliness of the toenail seam. If you have any discomfort or recurrence, you should seek professional medical consultation and treatment.
