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September 19, 2014Saddle bone deformity is a enlargement of bone on the top of the foot just in front of the ankle. That is the part of the foot that often gets referred to as the saddle. The technical name for this is a dorsal metatarsal cuneiform exostosis. Dorsal means top. The base of the first metatarsal and the medial cuneiform are the bones that are involved. Exostosis means enlargement of the bone, hence the name. There are a number of different causes for this, most of them biomechanical. The biggest problem with the saddle bone deformity is pressure on the enlarged bone from the shoe. This may cause a bursitis or may caused shooting pains from a pinched nerve or just be painful from the pressure. The best way to treat a saddle bone deformity is to remove the pressure causing the symptoms. Conservatively this can be with better fitting shoes and or pads shaped like a doughnut to get pressure off the enlarged bone. Surgically, the management is a removal of the enlarged bone.
There are so many podiatry and related conferences now that its difficult to pick and choose between which one to attend. You don’t want to miss out on anything, but then again you do not want to waste time and money at a conference you get nothing from. There are so many options online now to get ones information, that conferences probably do not have the impact that they once had. having said that, there are non-academic reasons for going to a conference. There are the social reasons and opportunity to visit all the trade exhibitors for the better content. I tend to stick to the conferences I know and the ones that I know a lot of people who I know are going to (ie the social reasons!). There are some good listing of conferences on this site, at ePodiatry (though it does need to be updated!) and at Podiapaedia.
I just started out here to blog about foot problems and foot care on Fridays. I did not see who I am as being that important, but since a few people have asked, this is me here. You can read about the clinic on PodiaPaedia.
Since about late 2009, there has been a trend to less is more in running shoes with a big movement towards minimalist footwear and barefoot running. Since about late 2012 there has been a a trend towards a lack of interest in this. Since that time there has been an increase in interest in the super padded or maximalist running shoes such as the Hoka One One. The minimalist/barefoot trend was driven by a lot of evangelists, books, magazine articles, websites, blogs and forums. Despite all the support, interest and minimalist running shoe sales have been dropping. Their is not much evangelicalism going on for the maximalist running shoes nor is there much support for it on websites and magazines and their is no book published promoting it. Despite that now, the Hoka One One maximalist super-padded running shoe is predicted to outsell the entire minimalist running shoe category this year.