Foot problems can occur due to a number of causes that, in most cases, are easily diagnosed. An orthopedic is a specialized doctor whose advice you should seek if you have any kind of discomfort in one or both of your feet. Discomfort may include chronic or regular pain, difficulty in movement and/or disfigurement. These are generally a result of arthritis, physical injury or a genetic or hereditary condition. In some of the cases, the pain and discomfort can be treated without any surgery, by using medications. However, in extreme cases, where medication, physical therapy, and other such non-surgical methods fail to have any impact, surgery is the only way to go.

These surgeries are less invasive and require a limited recovery time. They are also one of the most successful types of surgery. The surgical procedure is successful in dealing with the main complaints of a foot problem. It successfully treats a foot by,

Relieving pain: The pain in your feet interferes with your work, making it difficult to carry on with your daily life, affecting your personal and social relationships. Pain often indicates an underlying problem, and it is easier and effective to treat the problem with a surgery, as it relieves you from the chronic pain.
Restoring function: If your feet do not function properly, it will be impossible for you to move, as they are necessary for mobility. When a simple stride becomes a problem, your whole lifestyle is affected. Accepting defeat is not an option. A good orthopedic can help you to get back to your normal daily life by surgically treating your feet thus ensuring they function properly.
Improving appearances: Foot deformity, due to a number of reasons such as polio or bone spurs, can lead to a restricted lifestyle. Movement is hampered and so is freedom. Surgically it can be treated and the appearance of your feet can be improved.
Arthritis is also a cause of a number of foot problems. In more cases than not, surgery becomes a necessity to treat your foot. Here are some of the surgeries that cater to arthritis-related foot problems:

Repairing Fracture: If the fracture is beyond repair by non-surgical methods, surgery is the last refuge for an orthopedic surgeon. Surgery will include repositioning of the bone and the use of supports to keep them in position.
Arthroscopic debridement: This surgical procedure helps to remove inflamed tissues or spurs from the joint.
Arthrodesis: Also known as joint fusion, it involves the removal of the ends of the bones at the joint and replacing them with metal pins or screws.
Osteotomy: The surgical procedure involves realignment of a joint by cutting the bone.

Foot Problems - Can They Be Treated By Surgery?

Lupus, romantically named after the wolf, is a very dangerous disease that can often be fatal, and when it isn t, it makes the sufferers  life pretty much unlivable. Lupus is an autoimmune disease wherein the body s immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks normal, healthy tissues, thereby causing symptoms like inflammation, swelling, and damage to the joints, skin, kidneys, blood, the heart and lungs.

Signs you are suffering from lupus!

Out of proportion and persistent fatigue: This is the most common sign of lupus. Almost 90% of patients experience it, according to a research.
Slight to high fever: Low grade fever due to no justifiable cause can be another sign of lupus. The fever usually comes and goes. Talk to your doctor if you experience this symptom as this could be a sign of inflammation, infection, or imminent flare-up of the disease.
Thinning of hair: Thinning of the hair is often one of the first signs of lupus due to inflammation of the skin and scalp. Some people have hair coming out in clumps while others just have a less alarming thinning of the hair symptoms. Lupus can make hair feel dry and brittle. Doctors call this  lupus hair .
Unexplained skin rash called malar rash: Also called the butterfly rash, it appears on the cheek and the bridge of the nose. 50% of patients get this rash. It can appear suddenly or after exposure to the sun. Usually it appears just before a flare-up of lupus.
Chest pain which increases with breathing: The lungs and the blood vessels in them become inflamed. This makes breathing difficult and can also cause chest pains when you breathe. The lung size can also shrink due to lupus, causing shortness of breath.
Painful, stiff or swollen joints: Inflammation due to lupus can cause pain, stiffness, and swelling in your joints, particularly in the morning.
Blood in urine: This happens due to inflammation of the kidneys or nephritis, which causes swelling in legs and feet and high blood pressure (BP). If lupus is not treated, you can also die of end stage renal disease.
Persistent loss of appetite: Lupus causes acidity and indigestion and loss of appetite.
Thyroid problems: Patients develop an autoimmune thyroid disease which can cause both weight loss and gain. The thyroid helps control your body s metabolism and if it doesn t function properly, it can affect vital organs like your brain and heart.
Dry eyes and dry mouth: Some lupus patients develop Sjogren s syndrome, another autoimmune disorder. This causes malfunctioning of glands responsible for tears and saliva in our body, hence your eyes may feel dry and your mouth will also remain dry.
Lupus is unpredictable and patients often suffer flares, or active symptoms of the disease, followed by periods of normalcy. Because the signs of this disease are so general, it s easy to miss them; so, if you have been getting even three symptoms of lupus, it s time to see a doctor.

Lupus (Skin Disease) - 10 Signs You Are Suffering From It!

A common skin condition, which causes the discoloration of your skin in patches across the face, melasma is more of a social embarrassment and cause for distress rather than being a serious condition. Although it affects men as well, studies have shown that over 90 percent of patients are women. It is also known as the mask of pregnancy as many pregnant women develop this skin condition.

Causes of Melasma
Primary causes of melasma have been attributed to various hormonal changes within the body. Let's look at some of the factors that may cause this disorder:
1. Pregnancy: This is often attributed as the leading cause of melasma, the primary cause has often been attributed to hormonal changes that a woman may experience due to pregnancy.

2. Treatments that may change hormonal balance: Women on contraceptive pills or who have implants such as intrauterine devices may also develop this disorder. This is due to the balance of estrogen and progesterone being changed within the body.

3. Sun exposure: Continued sun exposure may also lead to melasma. This is due to the activation of melanocytes within the body which start producing more melanin.

4. Stress: Long periods of stress on the body can also trigger hormonal changes and cause melasma.

5. Thyroid problems: If someone suffers from Hypothyroidism or low levels of the thyroid hormone, it can trigger other hormonal changes and also cause this skin disorder. 
It has also been noticed that people with generally a darker skin tone tend to get melasma and it is less common in people with fairer skin.

Certain characteristics of Melasma
Melasma develops in certain patterns which can be easily diagnosed either as spots on the skin similar to freckles or brown patches of skin that grow bigger. Some of these patterns are:
a. Malar pattern: This grows on the nose and cheeks
b. Mandibular pattern: Starts growing around the jaw line
c. Brachial melasma: This grows on the upper arms and shoulders
d. Lateral cheek pattern: Grows on the cheek on both sides of the face
e. Centrofacial pattern: Nose, upper lips, forehead and cheeks

Treatment of Melasma
Most women who develop melasma during pregnancy report that it goes away after childbirth. However certain forms of melasma may appear in non-pregnant women due to hormonal changes. Treating the underlying hormonal changes usually resolves the problem. However certain other methods may be required to resolve the issues such as skin creams, chemical peels, dermabrasion and microdermabrasion.

All About Melasma

What is Follicular transfer (FT) is also known as follicular unit extraction (FUE).

It is a type of hair transplant procedure which is less invasive than the other types. It is performed when the person has a good hair growth at the back or side of the head which becomes the donor s area.

How is it performed?

The procedure is performed by specially designed instruments under a high powered microscope which provides precision for best and natural results. When the part gets numb the follicles are isolated with a specialized punch device which extracts the follicular units completely with necessary glands. This method is used to separate the surrounding tissue from the follicular unit which results in minimal injury and undetectable scarring.
Then the follicles are removed without any damage to the area. If the scar is left behind it takes few days to heal proceeded by hair growth which takes about weeks.
Then the extracted hair is prepared and sorted for treatment.
Then the follicles are implanted in the scalp by making small incisions by microsurgical needles generally in a group formation of 1-4 to give a natural and recognizable look.
To create a natural hairline transacted hair are used, which will start to grow within weeks naturally. The length of your hair depends upon the follicular units grafts. Approximately 12 months later you will have re-grown hair.
You can get the discharge immediately after the treatment. In 5-7 days the healing takes place after which the redness and swelling disappear.
Advantages of Follicular Unit Extraction

Easy recovery: As there were small incisions made in the procedure which lowers the risk of widening which generally occurs in FUT procedure. This is the reason there are fewer limitations on exercise post-procedure.
Less scarring: FUE doesn t produce linear scarring on the donor's area because it doesn t require any sutures, scalpels; due to which you can wear your hair short too.
Quick healing: As there is less scarring, the time required for healing is very less as compared to FUT where the scarring is more, therefore, the healing is slow.
Disadvantages of follicular unit extraction

It s expensive: As the cost is decided on a number of sessions required for the procedure. FUE requires more sessions than FUT, as this transplants individual follicle units which are more time-consuming.
It s temporary: In most of the cases it doesn t last longer than FUT. because in this the follicular units are taken from a various area which leads to thinning of the donor zone and visible scarring.
Shaving: The one who doesn t like shaving can have a problem. Because FUE requires shaving of donor s area. Only in advanced procedures like long hair FUE, shaving is not required.

Follicle Transfer - Know The Benefits!

When an injury happens, the normal tendency of the skin is to repair itself from inside out, until it is completely closed and healed. However, in some cases, due to various reasons, excessively large scars can form. These hypertrophic scars are known as keloids. Here is everything you would like to know about keloids:

Features of keloids:

Benign, fibrous, smooth, hard growths that form over a healed wound
Can be bigger than the original wound
Most commonly found on chest, ear lobes, cheeks, and abdomen
Pregnant women are usually at the risk of developing keloids
Though they do not develop into malignant lesions, they are a cosmetic issue, especially when the visible portions of skin are affected
They are localized, flesh-colored and red in color
They are raised from the surrounding tissue and are prone to repeat injury
It continues to grow with time
Could cause discomfort and irritation when it comes in contact with clothing
Sun exposure or tanning can worsen it and cause tenderness
Common injuries that can lead to keloid formation include burns, surgical incisions, skin piercings, chicken pox scars, tattoos, etc.
Treatment for keloids may not always be effective and need repeat treatments
Treatment options: If the keloid is not in a visible area and does not cause any problem, it is best to leave it untreated and observe for any changes. The following changes could indicate the need for treatment.

Change in color from pale pink to red (indicating inflammation)
Severe increase in pain/tenderness
Sudden increase in size, which could indicate malignancy (keloids are an area where benign growth can turn cancerous)
A biopsy can be done to identify if treatment is necessary. This involves removing a small part of the tissue by injection and sending it for laboratory examination.
Treatment options include both nonsurgical and surgical. Nonsurgical methods are tried first before resorting to surgery.

Steroid injections into the keloid to control growth and inflammation
Moisturization to keep it soft and avoid dryness and cracking and bleeding
Freezing the tissue (cryotherapy) to freeze the growth can help in further increase in the size of the tissue
Laser to remove the tissue, especially if it is small. Alternately, this could be used as a secondary measure after the keloid is excised to prevent further growth
Radiation therapy to shrink the growth
Surgical excision, where the keloid is quite visible or large. This could be followed by radiation or laser to prevent further growth.
Also, in people who are prone to develop keloids, surgical incisions can be treated for a longer time with pressure dressings and silicone pads.

Keloids - Know About Its Treatment!

One of the most important functions of the skin is protection. During this process, it comes in contact with various substances including chemicals, pollen, dust, and other pollutants. While it does protect the overall body from all these, there is some damage that is inevitably done to the skin through these exposures. Different skin and different bodies react differently to these, and while some may have no reaction, others develop allergies. This is also defined by how strong the person s immunity is.

Hives is one of the most common skin allergy responses. While it is not easy to pinpoint what causes the allergy or the hives, the causative agent can be nailed by observing patterns and excluding out some of the causative agents. There are a set of regular household and surrounding items that could lead to urticaria, and working around these can help pin down the source.

Origin: When the body encounters a foreign body, it produces what are known as histamines. When they are produced, the plasma in the cell leaks out, producing a red and swollen appearance. Hives are red, itchy, raised patches on the skin. They are seen in about 20% of the population. Hives are usually allergic in nature, implying that they occur when there is a foreign substance that induces an allergic reaction. Hives can appear either due to coming in touch with some substance or due to eating some allergy-inducing substance.

Hives can be acute or chronic. Acute is when the hives appear in response to an allergic reaction. These usually disappear in a matter of days to a week at the maximum. In some people, they could be chronic and can last for months together.

Treatment: Given that they are allergic in nature, managing hives includes a combination of immediate treatment as well as preventive measures. While most are topically managed, others might require systemic intervention also.

Once the hives have developed, the following can help in the relief of symptoms and prevent from spreading further. The redness and swelling will take some time to disappear.

Avoid tight-fitting clothes
Use cool compresses on the hives
Avoid warm or hot shower
Stay in a cooler room
Avoid itching the hives
Use topical moisturizer to prevent dryness
Use topical steroid cream to manage the inflammation
Take a systemic antihistamine or an injection of epinephrine if required.
While these help in managing the hives which have occurred, preventing is via the following.

Avoid the source once identified
If the source is not yet known, record when the hives are occurring
Manage stress and see hives appear much less
Increase moisturizer use
Keep an antihistamine handy so you can take it immediately in case of suspected hives. 

Urticaria (Hives) - The Best Way It Can Be Treated!

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