The year is marching on, my dear NYC podiatry patients, and we are surrounded by a rapidly evolving news cycle, cascading world events, a grotesquely entertaining government, all wrapped up in a noisome cover of fake news from all sides. And that is why, my foot friends, you turn to the most trusted source of real news in the blogosphere right here within these pixels. Let’s tackle a few of the more common foot and ankle conceptions and misconceptions that are frequently heard and dispelled within the hallowed halls of our sacred blog and NYC podiatry practice.

High heels are all bad. Well, not entirely. A 4” stiletto is not a very stable platform and most certainly does place the wearer at greater risk for a slightly humiliating and less than graceful ankle injury. It does not, however cause bunions, hammertoes, or other such maladies- can blame your parents for that, or thank them for not conferring the genes if your toes point north. And a low heel is generally comfortable and even therapeutic for Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis and other itises that grace our office.

My husband is going to give me athlete’s foot. He’s a generous guy, but even those alligator skin feet won’t shed from his dogs to yours, unless you’re susceptible too. See it takes two to tango, meaning the exposure to fungus is not enough to contract athlete’s foot, one has to be susceptible and that’s not transmitted from spouse, rather from parents- again. Don’t tell him all that because then he’ll never want to treat it and will continue to live like a frat boy.

I got this nail fungus from the salon. Maybe? Can’t entirely rule it out, but again if one is susceptible there are plenty of great places to be exposed to the fungus that invades nails- like leaving bread out on the counter for a week- the fungus is ubiquitous and is looking for a home. And despite the other myth, the vast majority of salons are safe for the vast majority of people. Anecdotally I have not been privy to an abundance of nail salon infections in my career so I maintain a healthy skepticism of the salon-nail-infection-pandemic that has purportedly gripped the nation like an out of control, resistant to the shot flu.

I can only get 3 cortisone shots in a (month, 6 months, year). Oh boy. Not sure where this one comes from, but everybody seems to know it’s absolute truth. Despite an exhaustive search in the medical literature I’ve yet to find a definitive safe limit to cortisone injections. And since every body part, every body, and injection concentrations are all different it would be exceedingly difficult and inaccurate to apply the same limits to everybody. Common sense dictates, however, that after a number of shots- three sounds pretty good- if there is a lack of demonstrable improvement of symptoms perhaps it’s time to reconsider diagnosis or treatment.

So there you have it my dear NYC podiatry patients. Dispelling myths, dispensing truths, and saving lives. All in a day’s work. Have a nice day.

See you in the office.

Ernest Isaacson

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Ernest L Isaacson DPM PC
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