What to Do About Your First Diabetic Foot Blister
There are certain things that you should do upon discovering your very first diabetic foot blister, and there’s one thing you should NOT do – and that is panic. (more…)
Stiff Feet in the Morning: Causes and Solutions
Are you under 50, not previously injured but keep waking with stiff feet in the morning that soon return to normal once you’re up and about?
Stiff Feet, No Injury
“Stiff feet in the morning can be caused by a number of underlying conditions,” says Arielle Levitan, MD, board certified in internal medicine and co-founder of Vous Vitamin LLC and co-author of “The Vitamin Solution: Two Doctors Clear the Confusion About Vitamins and Your Health.”
“Most commonly, a condition called plantar fasciitis causes people to have stiffness in their feet when they first wake up,” continues Dr. Levitan.
“This is an inflammation along the bottom of the foot.” The tissue affected are ligamentous bands called plantar fascia.
Along with the morning stiffness in the foot caused by plantar fasciitis is also a burning type of pain — in the arch and/or bottom of the heel.
Only one foot may be affected, but for some people, both feet are affected by this common disorder for which being overweight is a risk factor.
Other Causes of Stiff Feet in the Morning
“Other conditions that can cause stiffness in the feet upon waking up also include various forms of arthritis, tendinitis (Achilles) or less commonly certain vitamin deficiencies such as vitamin D deficiency that results in muscle stiffness,” explains Dr. Levitan.
Prevention of Stiff Morning Feet
“Stretching out the feet can make a big difference,” says Dr. Levitan.
“Some people also sleep with ankle braces to prevent the stiffness in the morning.
Freepik.com, yanalya
“Vitamin D replacement and sometimes a magnesium replacement can help with these types of symptoms.”
If there is no pain with the stiffness, and soon after you’re up and about, your feet feel normal, there’s no need to be concerned.
The situation may simply be related to lying still in a bed for many hours – especially in an older body. Inert joints can become stiff, and all they need is some movement to unstiffen.
To help prevent or minimize morning foot stiffness, you should consider taking up a physical activity that stretches and really uses the feet, such as yoga, hiking, jogging, step aerobics or martial arts.
Now if there’s pain along the arch and/or the bottom of the heel, you can place your bet on plantar fasciitis – for which there’s a variety of treatment options available such as ultrasound-guided injection, Botox or stretching, and exercises.
Dr. Levitan is board certified in internal medicine and has a special interest in women’s health and preventive medicine.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained clients of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Shutterstock/okawa somchai
Causes of an Overnight Cough Other than Acid Reflux?
If you don’t have a coughing problem during the day but only overnight while you sleep, acid reflux isn’t the only potential cause.
You may not even be aware of repeated coughing throughout your sleep, while other members in the household will hear it.
If they tell you that you cough throughout the night, take them seriously and find out what the cause is.
Often, the cause is acid reflux — making its way to the throat and irritating the larynx. This is called LPR: laryngopharyngeal reflux.
It doesn’t always come with heartburn, either. Sometimes, chest symptoms are absent, and the symptoms occur only in the throat.
Nevertheless, you should not self-diagnose.
Don’t guess; make an appointment with your physician, who may end up referring you to a specialist to uncover the cause.
Of course this idea is always scary, but the cause may be very benign and easily fixed.
“Common causes of an overnight cough include asthma (often worse at night), a sinus infection or an allergy (especially consider things in the bedroom such as carpeting, dusty drapes, pets or dust mites found in bedding),” says Arielle Levitan, MD, board certified in internal medicine and co-founder of Vous Vitamin LLC and co-author of “The Vitamin Solution: Two Doctors Clear the Confusion About Vitamins and Your Health.”
Dr. Levitan is board certified in internal medicine and has a special interest in women’s health and preventive medicine.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: Shutterstock/EHStockphoto
How Long Is It Normal to Lose Smell and Taste from a Cold?
Don’t you just hate it when you’re looking forward to a delicious meal and you realize you can’t taste or smell due to your cold?
And no matter how hard you blow your nose — which may not even feel stuffed — you just can’t get back your sense of taste and smell. This stinks (no pun intended)! (more…)
Heavy Feeling in the Chest plus Coughing: Likely Causes
Usually, coughing is not a symptom of a heart attack, though a heavy or pressure-like feeling in the chest is a classic symptom of a heart attack about to happen, or one already in progress. (more…)
Clavicle Popping in and out Near Sternum: Causes?
Depending on your level of health anxiety, you might think that your popping clavicle is due to cancer or a neurological disease.
And in fact, if your clavicle pops in and out, you will notice that this occurs with certain movements of your upper body.
“The clavicle can pop out of joint with certain upper body movements,” says Arielle Levitan, MD, board certified in internal medicine and co-founder of Vous Vitamin LLC and co-author of “The Vitamin Solution: Two Doctors Clear the Confusion About Vitamins and Your Health.”
“This is typically because the joint is lax,” says Dr. Levitan. “It can, however, be painful and sore to touch. If you have lax or ligaments you are more likely to have this happen.”
Certainly, for peace of mind as far as the cause, you can schedule a visit with your general practitioner or a sports medicine physician.
Your doctor can recommend exercises and also which movements to try to avoid to limit the popping in and out of your clavicle.
But rest assured, you do not have to worry about cancer or a neurological disease as the cause of this annoying condition.
Your health care professional can advise on particular exercises to engage in, and also which movements to do on a daily basis, to try to avoid or reduce the frequency of the popping in and out of your collarbone.
After all, this situation can also cause soreness or aching.
It is important to get plenty of calcium and to do strength training exercises for strong bones, especially as you get older.
A great shoulder exercise is that of pressing a heavy ball overhead for repetitions, bringing it down to chest level before pressing it back up again — while standing.
The clavicle will be strengthened with weight bearing exercises such as the one just described.
A regimen of strength training, however, will not cause a clavicle to pop in and out.
Dr. Levitan is board certified in internal medicine and has a special interest in women’s health and preventive medicine.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Cause of Catching a Cold Every Two Months
There are many causes of catching a cold every few months, and some are easily fixed, while others require aggressive medical intervention (more…)
Actinic Keratosis Mimicking Seborrheic Dermatitis
If a dermatologist tells you the rough red or pink patches on your face are seborrheic dermatitis, beware:
They may be actinic keratosis mimicking the more benign condition. (more…)
Drinking a Lot of Water but Barely Peeing: Causes, Solutions
Some causes of not peeing despite drinking plenty of water are life-threatening, while others are quite harmless.
When urine output is abnormally low, this is called oliguria.
Benign Causes of Infrequent Urination
“A person who is behind in their fluids (dehydrated) can drink a lot of water but not urinate much,” says Arielle Levitan, MD, board certified in internal medicine and co-founder of Vous Vitamin LLC and co-author of “The Vitamin Solution: Two Doctors Clear the Confusion About Vitamins and Your Health.”
Ask yourself the following questions:
• Have you been working out intensely and not replenishing your lost fluids?
• Have you been working many hours in a hot environment?
• Have you been experiencing a lot of menopausal or postmenopausal hot flashes?
Any of the above situations could dehydrate the body, requiring more water intake than usual. You can be dehydrated and not be all that thirsty.
Serious Causes of Infrequent Peeing
Dr. Levitan says, “Another cause for this could be retaining water — due to congestive heart failure, liver disease or having lots of sodium intake.”
Congestive heart failure is when the heart does not pump adequately.
Either the pumping action is weak, or the amount of blood that fills the heart prior to each pump is insufficient.
Heart failure. Shutterstock/EstherQueen999
Either way, the body is not getting optimal amounts of blood with each heartbeat.
Things begin backing up, causing fluid retention – most commonly seen in the lower extremities as a puffy or swollen appearance.
Edema. Shutterstock/AppleDK
If congestive heart failure is not being treated, the result may be oliguria.
The treatment includes taking diuretics (“water pills”) every day to encourage urination.
Liver disease has many potential causes including chronic heart failure. In heart failure, the liver receives a reduced supply of blood.
Over time this will damage the liver in that it will perform suboptimally.
Chronic kidney disease or renal insufficiency is another fallout of chronic heart failure.
If the kidneys aren’t working properly, you may not pee as much as you should even if you’re drinking a lot of water.
Acute kidney failure will definitely result in oliguria.
Acute kidney injury can be caused by acute heart failure, acute liver failure, an adverse drug reaction, poisoning or a urinary tract obstruction, to name a few.
However, severe kidney distress will be accompanied by other symptoms.
Filling up on water is not a treatment for any of these conditions.
If you cannot explain away your “I hardly pee” situation with any of the benign causes listed above (which include a high sodium intake), then you need to see your doctor.
This is especially true if even after increasing your water intake more, you are still seemingly barely urinating.
Dr. Levitan is board certified in internal medicine and has a special interest in women’s health and preventive medicine.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Top image: Shutterstock/Phovoir
When You Need to Worry About Cloudy Urine: Urologist Answers Questions
Can a Banged Elbow Cause a Twitching Index Finger?
