Foot and Ankle Safety Tips for the Summer Months

(StatePoint) From the beach to the backyard, taking care of your feet and ankles in summer is essential.

“Nothing ruins summer fun faster than a problem with your feet. However, a few smart precautions can help keep you healthy and safe,” says Gretchen Lawrence, DPM, AACFAS, a board-cer tified foot and ankle surgeon and an associate member of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS).

To help you understand some of the most common summer risks to feet and how to avoid them, ACFAS is sharing these insights:

• Puncture wounds: Millions of Americans go barefoot every summer, and thousands will sustain cuts and puncture wounds. To prevent injury and infection, wear shoes whenever possible and get vaccinated against tetanus. If you do get a puncture wound, see a foot and ankle surgeon within 24 hours and don’t swim until it’s healed. Bacteria in oceans and lakes can cause infection.

• Pool problems: Always wear flip

This month’s Senior Safety Page is Proudly Sponsored byAMERICAN VEIN! Give them a call right away! And thank themfor sponsoring this valuable flops or other footwear in locker rooms and on pool decks to prevent contact with bacteria and viruses that can cause athlete’s foot, plantar warts and other problems.

• Sun damage and skin cancer: Don’t overlook your feet during your sun protection routine. Feet get sunburned too, and melanoma on the foot or ankle is more likely to be misdiagnosed than on any other part of the body. A study published in “The Journal of Foot & Ankle Surgery” reported the overall survival rate for melanoma of the foot or ankle is just 52%, in sharp contrast to the 85% or down them.

• Travel concerns: Sitting for long stretches can increase the risk of dangerous blood clots. “Whether road tripping or flying, regularly stretch your legs and pump your feet to circulate blood. Wearing compression socks for longer travel is also a good idea,” says Dr. Lawrence.

• Diabetes complications: If you have diabetes, prolonged hot and humid weather can lead to numerous foot woes. Any type of skin break has the potential to get infected if it isn’t noticed right away, and exposure can cause dry, cracking skin. Inspect your feet daily and wear closed shoes whenever possible. Swelling is another hot-weather risk, potentially making shoes fit tighter which can cause blisters. Compression stockings may not sound appealing in hot temperatures, but they can reduce swelling and help prevent poor circulation. Finally, never go barefoot in summer. Impaired nerve sensation can make it hard to detect just how hot surfaces are. Just a few minutes walking barefoot on pavement to grab the newspaper can cause third-degree burns.

For more information and to find a foot and ankle surgeon near you, visit FootHealthFacts.org, the patient education website for the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons.

GLEN VOLLMECKE

Author: "Intermission a Place in Time."

sShires of Britain…Imagine. Nestled amid lush, emerald green rolling hills of Britain are stunning hamlets within innumerable shires notoriously revealed in ‘Lord of the Rings.’ My birth place of Cheshire is one of them. A magnificent county in England reveals innumerable haunted Elizabethan homes. Despite the quiet solitude of country estates and self-effacing villages, ghostly paranormal activity intrusion, upon these historic structures is rampant, also well documented; results of endless investigations by scientists, teachers, professors and other academics: Not to mention many locals. Seizing the imagination, the towering red stone building of Linlithgow Palace was historically Mary Queen of Scot’s birthplace, and subsequently her cherished home.

In 1746 brutally defeated by Jacobite forces General Hawley’s army retreated. Clothes thoroughly soaked and overwhelmed by squelching rain; they surged inside finding instant solace near the roaring log fireplace. Wine flowed, wet garments discarded and soon merriment momentarily erased their pitiful past dishonor. The men, without forethought and drunk with alcohol, added many more logs causing a sudden eruption of flames which quickly engulfed the chamber. Ultimately, many quarters became instant furnaces, leaving much of the castle devastated; instantaneously… an ashen, pallid memory of years gone by. To this day, usually around midnight, and preceded by a delicate perfume, a white clad transparent figure hovers over the staircase. An amiable, gentle vision emits sad uncanny sighs, while guarding her historic remains. Today Mary Queen of Scot’s heartbreaking image remains a significant feature of Linlithgow Palace.

Steeped in tradition and mystical activities, the west of England has no competition. Vast bastions of Celtic England include picturesque green hills of Summerset. My own grandfather’s birthplace of Cornwall defines Bodmin More’s isolated existence, a place of historic reputation, based on fact and legend, where King Arthur was taken to die…you decide. Leaning lazily against erratically placed structures, stone circles form sporadic shapes and silhouettes, against a stark unyield- ing background.

Moving on to Dozmary Pool, near a documented visitations is a rather tall lady, dressed in black, accompanied by a small ghostly apparition of a child, hair draped loosely framing her pale features. Death occurred around 1645 during the Plague…her fragile skin covered in masses of small septic, weeping sores. tumultuous water’s edge, history re-counts stories of Sir Bedivere transporting a dying King Arthur. Rapidly, a spirited arm clothed in white caught Excalibur by the hilt, brandishing three times; rapidly dragging him beneath the water.

Mary King’s Close ‘like a time machine’ was my own first impression of Edinborough, it’s dark primeval cobblestoned streets and silent shadows. All so comparable to yesteryear, equally ancient as it was in 1545… the Middle Ages. Silent shadows, and palpable antiquity is currently prevalent, and more apparent to the tourist than to residents; once a place of the worst disease-ridden tenements in Europe. The Plague continues to be revealed as traces of the past. Buried below an 18th. Century building and hidden from tourist’s whims still exists a rat infested ‘Mary Kings Close.’

During 1645 locals unable to contain this devastating disease, and inhumane contagion, decided that parts of this structure would be ‘walled off,’ leaving its inhabitants to suffer a solitary predictable death.

The stench permeated far beyond the reconstructed walls. To control the ensuing putrefaction, skillful butchers severed decaying arms and legs, all piled into wheel barrows transported as multiple body parts were instantly incinerated. Even now, as hundreds of years ago, many ghostly apparitions wander uncontrollably. A middle-aged couple of visitors (tourists,) met a grisly disembodied head, the wispy gray beard with vicious eyes floated randomly escorted by a severed arm. Deformed and haphazard phantom creatures and tiny children were included in these inexplicable images.

Among countless remarkable and

Apparently, the loss of her favourite doll induced a need for seclusion, and therefore as a result loneliness. This waiflike creature of the past evidently weeps aloud; an endearing, yet heartbreaking sound resonating from the humid, dank interior of that room. Once aware of her predictable death, present day tourists still leave parcels of toys and books in remembrance of this tiny waif, all piled in one corner of a room. In 1750 the newly constructed Royal Exchange, known as the City Chambers now exists above the ‘hidden rooms’ of Mary King’s Close, which currently remain available for prebooked excursions, and acknowledged as the most haunted area of Edinborough…

Thought for the day:

While it’s impossible restraining one’s evil thoughts or deeds, realize other forms of good are a possibility. The same energy is equal, good or bad, and one is transmissible to the other.