Think about how often you need to replace your tennis shoes.
Why do they need replacing? (For every 400 miles you walk, according to expert guidelines.) Well, it’s pretty simple. You replace your shoes because, over time, their cushioning and support elements wears down. That’s to be expected after miles of walking, running, and exercising. They simply wear out. And, after that happens? Unless you replace those shoes, you're more likely to experience foot, heel and arch pain. That's why we always share tips to help you know when it's time to replace your sneakers.
Hopefully, the need to replace your shoes makes sense. But let's stop and think about the feet you put into those shoes. How often do you get to replace those babies?
Clearly, that sounds like a ridiculous thought. After all, it's not like you can go out to the store and score a new pair of tootsies when your feet feel sore. However, like your shoes, your feet traverse a lot of miles in your lifetime. (About 75,000 miles just by the time you turn 50, according to the APMA, or American Podiatric Medical Association.)
Now, like your shoes, your feet start out with a certain amount of natural cushioning, in the form of fat deposits. And, unlike the cushioning in your shoes, the deposits in your feet are meant to last a lifetime. Even so, they can break down with all the miles of walking, running, and exercising you expose them to over the years.
And so, when patients come into the office complaining that if feels like they’re walking on rocks, we can usually diagnose the problem as being due to one of 3 reasons.
Why It Feels Like You're Walking on Rocks
Does every step you take feel like you're walking in a worn out shoe? Or, worse, does it fehttps://www.tanglewoodfootspecialists.com/blog/high-arched-feet-hip-and-knee-pain-podiatrist-in-houston.cfmel like there's nothing between you and the uncomfortable surface of a rocky walk way? Here are some of the potential causes of your discomfort:
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The natural fat pad on your foot has worn away
We call this condition Fat Pad Atrophy. It’s the medical way of describing the wear and tear that occurs over time on the natural fat cushioning in your feet. And, if this is the cause of your discomfort? It means the “rocks” you’re feeling are actually the heads of your metatarsal bones. Without the protection from your fat cushioning, you’re more likely to feel them when you wal around without wearing shoes. It will be especially uncomfortable when you walk around barefoot on a hard floor.
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You have thick, deep calluses on the bottom of your feet
In areas of pressure, calluses form. Remember, calluses are your body's protective response to that pressure. But, when your fat pad has worn away, these calluses will build up on the bottoms of your feet as they try to cushion the area beneath the bones. Unfortunately, when that happens, you may not like the results. In fact, as your body tries to protect itself from pressure, the pressure actually increases. Now, you're feeling your metatrasal bone heads AND the painful pressure of those calluses. At that point, you may come into our Houston podiatrist's office so we can pare down these calluses. And doing so will provide temporary relief. But the key word there is temporary. And, in a minute, we'll explain how that relief could be longer lasting. First, though, we'll explore the final reason why it might feel like you're walking on rocks...
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Your metatarsal arch has fallen
The metatarsal arch of your foot goes across the forefoot, beneath your metatarsal bones. If you have high-arched feet, that means your metatarsal arch will be naturally lower. But, even in other foot types, the arch can drop over time. Again, if that happens and you have already seen your natural fat cushioning wear away, you may feel like you’re walking on rocks.
In some of these cases, custom orthotics or pads can be helpful to provide support and cushioning. So often, people ask half-jokingly “Can’t you just squeeze some fat into my foot?” In the past, we always responded that we wished we could.
Well, guess what? Now, we can, thanks to a new treatment option available in our Houston podiatry practice! And it's called Leneva, an innovative solution to natural fat pad loss.
Choosing Leneva Treatment for Fat Pad Loss
We'd like to introduce you to Leneva. Leneva is sterile human adipose tissue. Put simply, that means it's a syringe that's filled with sterile fat. When you come in complaining of foot pain due to fat pad loss, we can inject the Leneva graft directly into the area that feels like you're walking on rocks. We can even deliver this injection beneath a painful callus. But, it's not simply working to cushion the area. It's so much better than that!
After the injection, the Leneva graft serves as a scaffold for your body to create new fat tissue. In fact, over the next twelve weeks following an injection, your body will start producing new fat on its own. As such, we can consider this treatment a form of regenerative medicine. And, when it reaches full effect, your Leneva injection will provide lasting cushioning for the ball of your foot, your heel, or any other area that experiences pain because of fat pad atrophy.
It's time to stop walking on rocks. And wishing that you could replace your feet like you do your old, worn down sneakers. Instead of suffering, it's time to start walking on air! Contact the office to request an appointment. When you come in for your consultation, we'll determine the precise cause of your foot pain. Then, we can determine if you are a candidate for fat pad replacement with Leneva.
