Corns on your feet have several names. In medical circles, we call them “hyperkeratoses.” In Great Britain, they’re referred to as “rooster’s eye,” although we haven’t had an opportunity to consult any citizens there to find out exactly why! By any name, a corn refers to a patch of thickened skin on your foot. Corns are commonly found…

October is Raynaud’s Awareness Month. All of us at Clifton Foot & Ankle Center want to make our Fairfax County patients and friends more aware of how Raynaud’s disease could negatively affect your fingers and toes. Q: What is Raynaud’s disease?A: Raynaud’s is named after the 19th-century French doctor Maurice Raynaud, who first noted that the fingers and toes of…

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common diseases in the world and one of the most debilitating. Another way to express “arthritis” is “joint pain.” Painful joints can occur anywhere in the body – shoulders, fingers, hips, knees, ankles, and feet, to name a few. Joints ache, especially among the 50 and older crowd, because of…

In recognition of International Podiatry Day (October 8), we’d like to answer the three most common questions about podiatrists: What exactly is podiatry?It’s the medical specialty that deals exclusively with ailments of the feet, ankles, and lower legs. Who needs a podiatrist?People of all ages and from all walks of life experience problems with their…

Plantar fasciitis, or heel pain, hurts the most when you step out of bed in the morning. The pain eases up as you walk around but comes back when you stop moving again. It seems a little odd, doesn’t it? Why would you have more heel pain when you’re not using your feet? The answer lies within the thick ligament…

If you know a person who has NOT at some point or other taken a nasty fall, tell us about them the next time you visit Fairfax County’s Clifton Foot & Ankle Center. That person deserves special recognition because, well, pretty much everyone’s fallen at one time or another. However, when an older adult falls, it can…

The changing of the season from summer to fall transforms many people’s daily routines. Vacation days fade away into long days of attending classes. Outdoor dining moves inside as the wind kicks up and temperatures drop. Mom’s Carpooling Service is back in business. With all these changes happening, why not use this time as an…

September is Healthy Aging Month – but it may not mean what you think. It’s not your typical “awareness month” when people are encouraged to learn more about specific illnesses and conditions. Healthy Aging Month is less about knowing what can go wrong and more about making things right. It’s about the positive steps older Americans can…

Along with green eyes, olive-toned skin, or a muscular build, you inherited the tendency for joint problems in your big toe. What becomes of this tendency varies from person to person. Bunions run in families. One individual may slowly develop a bunion that causes no problems at all. Another may have a painful joint deformity before age…

Not everybody has perfect feet. It’s pretty rare to find feet whose muscles, tendons, bones, and ligaments always move perfectly well together. Many people are born with a biomechanical imbalance in their lower limbs. That is, something doesn’t line up quite right when they walk or run. Imperfect anatomy can also result in high arches, low or no arches,…