Podiatry

At your first appointment, you’ll meet with one of our physicians and undergo a physical exam and thorough medical history. If necessary, your doctor will order on-site imaging, which could include:

• X-rays – These help us see inside the internal structure of your foot to reveal possible damage to bones or dense tissue.
• Magnetic resonance imaging – This type of imaging gives us detailed, high-resolution images of your bones, joints and surrounding soft tissues, such as tendons, ligaments and muscles. It can show your doctor if you have any structural damage, deterioration or abnormalities.

Using these findings, your treating podiatrist will assess your condition and develop a personalized treatment plan. Your treatment plan may include nonsurgical treatment options or therapies, outpatient surgery or a referral to one of our other orthopedic specialists.

What podiatry-related issues do we treat at Ohio State?

Our podiatrists treat a wide range of foot conditions in people of all ages. Some of the most common foot problems we see in our specialty clinics include:

• Plantar fasciitis, a very common condition that causes pain on the bottom of your heel.
• Bunions, which form when your big toe points toward the second toe, causing a painful bump to appear on the edge of your toe.
• Charcot foot, a condition causing weakening of the bones in the foot that can occur in people who have significant nerve damage (neuropathy).
• Diabetic ulcers (sores) and diabetic nerve damage, which are common foot complications in people with diabetes.
• Flat feet, which refers to a change in foot shape in which the foot doesn’t have a normal arch when you’re standing.
• Ingrown toenails, when the side of the nail grows into the skin nearby, causing pain and tenderness.
• Fractures, which are breaks in the bone and require immediate medical attention.
• Hammertoe, which is a bending of one or both joints of the second, third, fourth or fifth toes, causing pressure on the toe when wearing shoes.
• Morton’s neuroma, which refers to an injury to the nerve between the toes, most commonly between the third and fourth toe, causing tissue thickening and pain.
• Nail deformities, or problems with the color, shape, texture or thickness of the fingernails or toenails.
• Plantar warts, which are growths on the skin of the foot caused by an infection with human papillomavirus, or HPV.
• Tendon and ligament damage, which can happen as the result of a fall, a sudden twist, a direct blow or repetitive use injury.

While our foot and ankle specialists treat some of the same conditions that podiatrists do, the severity of your injury and your return-to-activity goals may impact who can best treat you. Generally, our orthopedic foot and ankle surgeons treat the bones, soft tissues and joints, and our podiatrists also treat those areas as well as the biomechanics (movement) and dermatology (skin) of the foot and ankle.

The two teams work together to determine which provider will be the most effective for your unique condition and overall health.

Our podiatric experts have various treatment methods to help provide pain relief and restore function to your feet. The types of therapies we’ll recommend depend on a variety of factors, including the injury you have, the severity of debilitation and your recovery goals.

Nonsurgical treatments

With most people, we start with conservative nonsurgical treatments, including:

• Braces to properly position foot and ankle joints
• Cast boots to immobilize the foot or ankle for healing
• Custom-molded orthotics to correct irregularities in gait
• Physical therapy to exercise, train or rehabilitate the foot or ankle
• Special shoes to prevent wounds, infection or friction
• Injections, such as cortisone injections, to relieve pain, swelling and irritation

Surgical treatments

If conservative treatment is not an option or has previously failed, we offer progressive surgical treatment options, including:

• Bunionectomy to remove a piece of bone and realign the big toe to correct the deformity
• Surgical removal of spurs to get rid of the bony, abnormal prominence found on the inside of the foot near the big toe
• Foot and ankle reconstruction to correct complex deformities
• Open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) to set fractured bones and facilitate healing
• Osteotomy, which is surgically cutting the bone to alter it in some way, such as shortening, or to correct bone alignment.
• Plantar fascia release to relieve tension and inflammation of the plantar fascia ligament
• Tendon repair to surgically treat, repair or reattach a torn or damaged tendon

Why choose Ohio State for podiatry care?

The podiatrists at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center are national leaders in the field of foot and ankle care. Some of the highlights of our podiatric services include:

• Comprehensive and collaborative care. Not only do our podiatrists collaborate with orthopedic foot and ankle surgeons and other sports medicine experts, but they also work with many other specialties across the entire hospital system, including plastic surgery, vascular surgery, infectious disease, endocrinology, nutrition and physical medicine and rehabilitation. Our podiatric care is truly multidisciplinary.
• Unparalleled access to treatment and prevention tools for people with diabetes. While podiatrists can help prevent and manage many of the foot conditions people with diabetes may experience, they also work alongside experts in The Ohio State Comprehensive Wound Center and with limb preservation experts to minimize risks of major complications from the disease.
• Continual innovation and improvement. As part of an academic medical center, we lead and participate in much of the research happening in the field of podiatry across the country. This gives you unique access to clinical trials and the most leading-edge care, not always available elsewhere.