Participants: James Marcum & Charles Mills
Series Code: UP
Program Code: UP00049B
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00:01 Welcome back to the program, I'm Charles Mills
00:02 Dr. James Marcum is here, we're talking about FEET today, 00:06 those things that a lot of people tend to ignore, 00:08 but we ignore them at our peril. 00:10 Feet have a way of letting us know that they're not happy, 00:13 and that they want some attention, 00:15 and we're learning what we need to do about our feet, 00:18 and what shoes to wear. 00:22 Now let's talk about some questions from 00:24 heartwiseministries. org 00:25 So I guess it's Happy Foot Day 00:27 on Ultimate Prescription. It is Happy Food Day! 00:29 We want you to have HAPPY FEET! 00:31 And, would it offend you if I took my shoes off? 00:33 You may do that because you have this... 00:36 What's that disease called? 00:37 I have "plantar fasciitis" Plantar fasciitis... 00:40 And, you know, it's interesting that a cardiologist 00:42 would be talking about this, but this is an important topic, 00:46 and I want us to cover some feet problems 00:48 that everyone has because I want people to keep 00:50 walking and exercising and that can help the rest of their body 00:53 and if their feet are messed up, it's hard to do that. 00:55 You just take your shoes off and listener at home, 00:58 if you are having problems with your feet, 00:59 you can take your shoes off, I don't mind. 01:01 Happy Feet Education Day, today, Charles. 01:04 I'm ready, I'm ready! Okay 01:06 Don't put your foot in your mouth on this one. 01:08 You get it? It was a pun. I already did already... 01:11 "What is the best way to eliminate - Oh Dear... 01:14 fungus in the toenails?" Oh, that's got to be painful! 01:18 I get that question a lot. 01:20 Fungus happens in toenails, 01:23 and there are a couple of ways you can eliminate it. 01:25 The standard party line is to go to a podiatrist, 01:28 or your doctor and get an antifungal medication 01:31 called "Lamisil" 01:32 That probably works the best because you put it on there 01:36 and after a period of time, 01:38 it eventually gets rid of the fungus. 01:40 The problem is, you gotta make sure your liver 01:41 is pretty healthy when you use that medicine. 01:44 Now there are other things that I've heard of 01:46 through the years that I've tried a couple of them 01:48 with different patients. 01:50 One was Vicks Vaporub - you know, rub Vicks Vaporub 01:53 and cover the nail - that didn't really work for me. 01:57 Other people suggest trimming the nail 02:00 until the fungus is gone and put some antifungal. 02:02 ...That might work a little bit. 02:04 And then, one thing you can do 02:05 if you really don't like the fungus, 02:07 is you can eliminate the nail all together. Oh! 02:09 Well some people do that if the nail is really diseased. 02:13 The doctor would do that, you don't do that at home. 02:19 The person that specializes in feet, is called a "podiatrist" 02:22 So, go to a podiatrist, get some professional help, 02:26 but, you know, they use a medicine called "Lamisil" 02:29 There are some other folk remedies, 02:31 but I'm not sure how successful they're going to be. 02:35 That's for fungus in the toenails. 02:37 Wait, let me think, is there anything else in the 02:39 toenails that we need to talk about? 02:42 Ingrown toenails! 02:44 You know, we need to keep the toenails clipped healthy. 02:47 Okay, how do you clip them healthy? 02:48 Yeah, I just clip them straight across, you might want to ask 02:51 the podiatrist, so they don't get too long, 02:53 and they poke on things. 02:55 If your foot is bleeding from your toenail, 02:58 that's never a good sign. Not good, not good 03:00 Ingrown toenails - the podiatrist usually clips that 03:03 a certain way and takes care of that too. 03:05 That can be very painful and if untreated, 03:07 that can cause bad infections. 03:09 So we talked about toenails. 03:11 All right, here we go... 03:13 "How are bunions usually treated?" 03:15 What is a bunion and how do you treat that? 03:17 Yeah, bunions are painful areas on feet that hurt a whole lot. 03:22 There are a couple of ways that I've seen the podiatrist do this 03:24 One of the ways is they have pads that they put on 03:27 that sore area, the bunion, and hopefully that will get better. 03:30 Sometimes if it's in severe cases, 03:33 they can actually do a bunionectomy. 03:36 Would you like to have that done? 03:37 I don't like the sound of that. 03:39 That's where they cut the bunion out... 03:40 And you've also heard of things like heel spurs. Yes 03:43 You know, those are different things that happen on the foot 03:45 that shouldn't be there that cause pain. 03:47 Heel spurs, bunions - all these are extra tissue 03:50 that presses on things, especially when you walk, 03:54 and it causes pain. 03:55 So if you want to see how your foot is doing, 03:57 go out and do some walking and see if you have pain. 04:01 If you're not having pain when you walk, 04:02 chances are YOU have happy feet! 04:05 I'm assuming you walk with shoes on - Yeah I do 04:10 I might walk without shoes too sometimes. All right - okay 04:13 "My big toe - according to this writer, 04:15 is swollen, could this be gout?" 04:17 Now you mentioned gout earlier. Yeah 04:18 Gout is a deposition of a chemical called "uric acid" 04:23 in the joint of a food... in a joint of the FOOT! 04:27 I'm having a hard time with my words, Charles 04:29 That's okay but food is important for feet. 04:31 Yes it is, but anyway, the toe gets this uric acid in it, 04:36 and it gets very painful. 04:38 And the treatment for that, 04:39 there are a couple of medicines we use to calm it down. 04:42 One is called "colchicine" to keep formation of these crystals 04:45 Sometimes we use another chemical called "allopurinol" 04:49 We encourage people to eat healthy diets. 04:52 You know, we want to stay away from lots of red meats, 04:55 and things like that, processed foods, 04:57 things that can cause this uric acid to come on. 05:00 It tends to run in families, but gout is very painful. 05:05 So that person's big toe could be gout. 05:09 Okay, so that needs to go to a podiatrist and find out... 05:13 Or a regular doctor can treat that too, 05:16 and sometimes it sort of runs its own course. 05:18 You know, it sort of gets better on its own. 05:20 Some people I've seen try to put charcoal poultices 05:23 on it and help that a little bit and sometimes that helps too, 05:26 to put charcoal poultices to help move out the 05:28 the crystals and the poison; 05:30 sometimes that can work on some people as well. 05:32 All right, very good - now here's another question from 05:34 heartwiseministries. org 05:35 We always invite our viewers to send in their questions 05:38 to that website because there you can find out what 05:42 you need to know and we'll find out what you need to know 05:44 and be able to provide an answer hopefully, on this program. 05:47 Okay, a question... 05:48 "I have infection in my foot and doesn't seem to heal, 05:54 is there anything... Now you get this question a lot... 05:56 "Is there anything NATURAL I can do?" 05:58 A lot of people are scared of drugs and.. they should be, 06:00 and they don't want to go the drug way, 06:03 what can you do for INFECTION NATURALLY? 06:06 Well, there are different types of infections. 06:08 For bacterial infections, they usually need antibiotics, 06:11 but in feet, sometimes things don't heal well. 06:15 There's a condition called a "diabetic neuropathy" 06:19 where diabetics can't feel their feet. 06:21 You could actually have a cut on your foot, 06:23 and it becomes infected and you wouldn't even know it, Charles, 06:25 from an infection. 06:26 So you want to make sure, things like diabetes, you don't have. 06:30 You also want to make sure you have good circulation. 06:33 Some people can have blockages in the blood vessels... 06:35 So if you can't get blood out there to your foot, 06:39 you can't heal either. 06:40 And some things that can help 06:42 with that is hot and cold treatments; 06:44 some people go into these special chambers called 06:48 "hyperbaric chambers" that help heal wounds; 06:51 sometimes people can, of course, take the antibiotics. 06:54 Sometimes the pill forms can't get to where it needs to go, 06:58 and they have to take some IV forms that can more 07:00 effectively get to the place of interest. 07:03 If an infection, if it's bacterial and is untreated, 07:06 it could get into the bone, 07:07 it could even get into the blood vessel. 07:09 Just last week in the hospital, I saw someone that had this 07:12 type of foot infection, they ignored it, 07:14 it went all the way from the toe into the bone, 07:17 and they, unfortunately, they couldn't control 07:19 the infection and they were going to have to have 07:21 that part of the foot amputated, 07:23 with the infection cut out. 07:25 That's the extreme case. 07:26 So in infections, we want people to get on it real quick, 07:29 make sure they don't have diabetes, 07:31 make sure they see their doctor, 07:33 see if they might need an antibiotic; 07:34 other ways to increase the circulation to the leg 07:37 that might help it heal. Okay, very good 07:39 Another question from heartwiseministries. org 07:42 "My feet are always swollen AT NIGHT" 07:45 Why would they swell at night and not in the day? 07:48 Well that is probably one of the most common questions 07:51 regarding the feet that I hear. 07:53 When feet get swollen, sometimes - 07:55 you know, why does fluid build up on both sides of the legs? 07:58 ...And that's sort of the dilemma. 08:00 One of the reasons is just having bad veins. 08:03 The veins wear out and can't get the fluid out. 08:06 So if you're sitting in the same position, 08:08 don't move around a lot, 08:10 if you have bad veins like varicose veins, 08:12 if you've had surgery on your legs like a bypass surgery, 08:16 or you stand up all day, 08:18 or you used to have a job all day, 08:20 then the fluid actually pools in your legs. 08:22 And you notice that in the morning it's not so bad, 08:25 but at the end of the day, they're pretty swollen. 08:27 Then you put them up and the fluid can come out, 08:30 and they're better the next day. 08:31 Now other things that can cause swollen legs 08:34 are things like blood clots in the legs 08:36 for people that don't move around very much, 08:39 thyroid disease can cause swelling legs, 08:42 heart failure - if the fluid backs up, 08:44 that can cause swollen legs as well. 08:47 So it's real important if you have swollen legs 08:49 to get to your doctor, have them evaluate, 08:52 see if they think it's bad veins or something more serious. 08:54 Also, things that help elevate your legs; 08:57 some people wear compression stockings to help push 09:00 the fluid out and for sure, a low sodium diet. 09:04 The more salt you get, the more fluid you retain. 09:07 So I see swollen legs almost every day. 09:10 Now some people, if they're real swollen, 09:12 they use a diuretic - a fluid pills that 09:14 takes fluid OUT of the legs. 09:16 I'm not a big fan of that because the pill is not 09:19 smart enough just to take it out of the legs. 09:21 It takes it out of everywhere and you might feel bad. 09:24 So I would rather people learn how to cope with it, 09:27 and have a little bit of swelling and maybe elevate 09:28 the legs, move around every hour, 09:31 maybe wear some stockings, cut back on their sodium, 09:33 rather than to take a fluid pill. 09:35 What is the difference, Dr. Marcum, 09:37 between someone who has this problem and someone that 09:40 doesn't have this problem? Is this heredity? 09:42 Is there a genetic element here? 09:44 Yeah, it could be or it could be... 09:46 I have some people that stand up every day, 09:48 and they stand up years and years and years, 09:51 and just gravity makes their veins worse. Gotcha... 09:53 We know some people have varicose veins, 09:55 you know that's where the veins get weak, 09:58 that can run in families as well. 10:00 The valves - sometimes a valve with break, 10:02 and you'll have like a little blood vein clot in your legs. 10:07 That can happen, so there are lots of different 10:09 things that can cause the veins to worsen over time. 10:13 It's a very common problem; usually it's not 10:16 life-threatening, it's just bothersome, 10:18 you know, when you're pulling around your legs. 10:20 Another condition that's very similar to that is 'lymphedema" 10:23 where the lymph can't get out of your leg, 10:25 that tends to be more genetic. 10:27 Well we all want happy feet, of course, 10:29 so we don't want to go through life with pain and suffering, 10:32 but you've outlined some natural things we can do - 10:35 the hot and cold, the elevation, 10:37 and I guess it might come down to the fact that if we are in an 10:42 environment, if we were in a job that requires us to 10:45 standup all the time or to use or overuse our feet, 10:48 and our feet are beginning to tell us, that's not a good thing 10:51 maybe we just should switch jobs... 10:53 Yes, or rest or put your legs up or have special footwear... 10:57 Does it get better, I mean if you start doing these things 10:59 can you continue doing bad things to your feet, 11:02 and your feet become stronger? 11:03 No, most of the time, walking will help the veins, 11:06 but most of the time, in time, the veins do 11:09 as part of the aging process, veins wear out. 11:11 So we want to keep them from wearing out as quick, 11:14 and when people start to swell, this could be a sign 11:16 that your veins are starting to have damage. 11:18 All right, well we've learned a lot of good things here about 11:21 our feet today and I hope that you have learned as well. 11:23 Again, I want to remind you of our website, 11:26 heartwiseministries. org 11:28 You can send your questions in to there, 11:30 and we will talk about them on the program just as we did 11:33 here talking about feet. And Charles, I know a 11:34 podiatrist that can answer specific questions as well. 11:37 That will be available to make those questions? 11:38 Yep, I know that... Okay, they will address those questions. 11:40 All right, when we come back, Dr. Marcum has some more words 11:43 of wisdom and comfort for us, so stay right where you are! 11:58 I hope everyone realizes the importance of their feet. 12:02 Do some feet exercises every day, take care of them, 12:05 do the stretching and if you have pain, 12:07 figure out where the pain is coming from. 12:10 You might have plantar fasciitis like me or gout, 12:13 or venous insufficiency or other problems in your feet, 12:17 get it checked out because if you don't have happy feet, 12:19 you can't walk anywhere. 12:21 There are some out there that need prayer today; 12:24 they sent their prayer requests into our website 12:26 where we actually pray for people. 12:28 God can do things; He can not only heal feet, 12:32 but He can heal our entire body. 12:35 If you're out there and need special prayer, 12:36 we're going to pray for you right now... 12:38 Dear Heavenly Father... There is someone out there 12:42 that needs You in a special way. 12:44 It might be physical healing, it might be mental healing, 12:48 but we know that You are the Ultimate Physician 12:51 that we can come to for healing at all times, Father. 12:54 Thank You for being here with us today. 12:56 Help us to take good care of our feet and please lead us 12:59 in this part of our lives is our humble prayer... Amen 13:03 Again, I want to thank you for 13:06 joining us on Heartwise Ministries, 13:08 and I know I'm not a podiatrist, 13:10 but if you go to our website at heartwiseministries. org 13:14 if you might have a specific foot question, 13:17 I will try to answer them. 13:18 You know we covered lots of parts about the foot today, 13:21 but I want you to take some time and make sure you have 13:24 comfortable feet. 13:25 Look into getting orthotics if your foot hurts, 13:28 and make sure you stretch that foot out every day 13:32 and look at it every day to make sure 13:33 it's not getting an infection. 13:35 We want to thank you for joining us on the Ultimate Prescription 13:39 and our prayers are going to be with you every day 13:42 wishing you the absolute best of health as we turn 13:46 to the Ultimate Physician for the answers. |
Revised 2014-12-17