Sports Medicine

Sports Medicine

Foot & Ankle Sprains in Austin, TX

This is one of the most common injuries seen in a sports medicine practice in Austin, TX. The majority of these are benign, and the individual should recover with conservative care in a week or two. However, there can be serious consequences resulting from these injuries such as joint cartilage damage, tendon tears, fractures, and chronic ligament tears that fail to heal properly.  More severe ankle sprains can be addressed with either growth factor /stem cell injections or in some cases surgical reconstruction.

Achilles Tendonitis in Austin, TX:

This is a serious injury in Austin, TX that is often under-appreciated. Damage to this strong tendon is slow to heal due to its poor blood supply, and lack of elasticity. Complete tears are an emergency situation and require immediate surgical correction, partial tendon tears and imflamatory tendonitis ( all of which can be diagnosed in office using an ultrasound ) are most often treated conservatively with tailored physical therapy and / or growth factor injections. However sometimes it requires surgical intervention with good success.

Sport Specific Injuries in Austin, TX:

There are many injuries in Austin, TX such as stress fractures, tendon tears, nerve injury, etc that are specific to a particular sport. This is often due to improper shoe wear, biomechanical stresses, sports surface, and mechanism of injury. Treatment and rehab can be tailored to the specific athlete and their sport of choice. Lone Star Podiatry has a strong emphasis on sports medicine and has treated many athletes from the professional level to weekend warriors, and adolescent athletes.

Knee/ Hip/ Back Injuries in Austin, TX:

In some cases these injuries can be related to abnormal anatomical motion at foot and ankle level. In some cases these pathologies may be improved, or relieved with custom orthotics, combined with proper shoe wear.

Common Foot Problems

Common Foot Problems

Heel Pain in Austin or Dripping Springs TX:

This is one of the most common problems seen by Lone Star Podiatry in Austin, TX. This is often an easy problem to fix conservatively with orthotics, injections, and physical therapy. There is often pain after prolonged rest or with the first step in the morning. There can also be a litany of other pathologies causing this heel pain such as nerve entrapment, bone and soft tissue tumors, and even associated systemic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Treatment depends on the specific diagnosis.

Bunions/Hammertoes in Austin or Dripping Springs TX:

A bunion deformity of the first big toe joint, and is generated by a mixture of congenital factors and pathological motion in the foot. This generates an abnormal joint axis and can cause significant joint damage, and pain. Hammertoes are related deformities of the lesser toes causing them to contract generating painful corns and callus that can lead to ulceration and infection. These deformities can be slowed in their progression with custom orthotics. It can be surgically addressed straightening the big toe joint/ toe thereby eliminating the chance for arthritis, and pain. Lone Star Podiatry tailors the patient's treatment based on multiple factors (pain, activity level, other health problems) and what is best for that particular patient.

A short demonstration of one of the most common bunion correction procedures being done today, The Austin bunionectomy. Bunion Video Click Here

Ingrown toe nails, plantar warts, nail fungus, skin cancer

Are all common pathologies in Austin, TX treated by Lone Star Podiatry

Diabetic wound Care and initial screening

Diabetic Wound Care and initial screening are part of Lone Star Podiatrymultidisciplinary approach to treating diabetics in Austin, TX and their associated foot problems. The most serious consequences for diabetic pathology in the lower extremity can often be averted with a good comprehensive diabetic foot care protocol developed by Dr. Cassidy and tailored to the patients specific needs.

Other Pathologies

There are a variety of other pathologies seen by Lone Star Podiatry such as bone and soft tissue tumors, skin cancer, trauma (ie. Foot/Ankle fractures, burns, sprains and strains of ligaments and tendons), and congenital deformities.

CUSTOM ORTHOTICS

CUSTOM ORTHOTICS

CUSTOM ORTHOTICS IN AUSTIN AND DRIPPING SPRING TX

Orthotics, are custom inserts for the foot that are made to fit in a patient's shoe in order to control abnormal motion in the foot. These custom devices can be made to help relieve pain from bunions, painful calluses, heel pain, and other foot pathologies. Lone Star Podiatry designs each orthotic to fit the unique pathology of each patient. He uses a local lab in Austin, TX to ensure product quality.

Making the proper orthotic starts with some fundamental principals like how you get the impression of the foot. We do a plaster cast and hold the foot in the proper subtalar neutral position and design the orthotic to bring the ground up to meet the foot. When you step in foam or on a force plate to get the impression the foot is captured in the pathological or wrong position and the practitioner has no idea on where the correct position is.

We fabricate a rigid orthotic in order to address the 1.5-5X your body wt. per sq inch of force that is applied to the feet with walking and running respectively. Abnormal motion is controlled by wedging the heel the exact number of degrees the heel bone swings out (everts)( calcaneal vagus).  We do not place a bulky arch in someone that has no arch. We instead mach their arch.   An arch is a bony construct and can only be changed with surgical correction. We can also make other modifications to the device for leg length issues and painful plantar callous', and many other modifications.

These are truly custom to the patient.

Common Childhood Complaints Treatment

Common Childhood Complaints Treatment

Ingrown Toe Nails:

Common in pre-teen and teenagers in Austin, TX and Dripping Springs/procedure done by trained professional. This is when the leading edge of the nail is behind the leading edge of the skin and growing into the skin causing redness/swelling/ pain. A course of antibiotics is usually not enough to get rid of this problem. Usually, a portion of the nail is removed and the nail bed ablated with a chemical to prevent the nail from growing back.

Plantar Warts

This is caused by a virus that presents as a small lesion on the bottom of the foot. They can multiply to larger lesions if not treated in a timely manner. There are a number of treatment modalities. Lone Star Podiatry is able to resolve this condition conservatively and allow patients to continue normal activities most of the time 

Athletes Foot:

This is a fungal skin infection of the foot. This is common in people in Austin, TX and Dripping Springs TX with feet that excessively sweat in the shoe. This creates a perfect environment for the fungus to proliferate. A combination of controlling the environment of the foot, and either topical or oral medications is usually enough to control this problem. It should be evaluated by a podiatrist to rule out a bacterial infection.

Pigeon Toed:

When the pathology is located in the foot it is called Metatarsus Adductus and is often undiagnosed until the child starts school. It should be evaluated by a professional to determine if the pathology exists in the foot, leg, or hips.

  • More easily corrected if caught before 12 months / Casting vs Sx
  • A child may be slow, unmotivated in sports, want to be held
  • Braces for older HS and JH kids

Miscellaneous:

Bone and soft tissue tumors / Trauma / Osteochondroses / Congenital abnormalities (coalitions, toe walkers, clubfoot, extra toes, ) / skin disorders