Foot & Ankle Health Articles from Reidsville
Written the way Dr. McKinney explains things in the exam room: specific, honest, and useful. Find your topic below, or browse by category.
Heel & Arch →
Achilles Tendinitis Recovery Time: Honest Expectations
The Achilles heals on tendon time, not your calendar. Knowing the real numbers prevents both premature quitting and reinjury.
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Heel Pain That Won't Go Away: What You're Probably Missing
When heel pain outlasts months of trying, one of four things is usually going on. None of them is 'just live with it.'
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Heel Spur vs. Plantar Fasciitis: Which One Is Actually Hurting You?
Plenty of pain-free feet have spurs, and plenty of painful heels don't. Here's how to tell what's actually going on.
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The Plantar Fasciitis Stretching Guide That Actually Works
Three stretches carry most of the evidence for fixing plantar fasciitis. Here's how to do them correctly, and how often.
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Why Your Heel Hurts Most in the Morning
That stabbing first-step pain has a specific cause, and it's one of the most fixable problems in podiatry.
Read the article →Toes & Nails →
Toenail Fungus Treatments Compared: What Actually Clears Nails
Four real options, very different success rates. An honest comparison before you spend another year on the wrong one.
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Ingrown Toenail Infection: The Warning Signs
Every ingrown toenail is angry; not every one is infected. Here's the line, and what crossing it means.
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Wart, Corn, or Callus? How to Tell What's on Your Foot
Three lesions that look alike, get mistaken for each other constantly, and need completely different treatment.
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Bunion Correctors: Do They Actually Work?
The honest answer: they can help how your bunion feels, and they cannot change what it is. Knowing the difference saves money and frustration.
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How to Cut Your Toenails Properly (Yes, There's a Wrong Way)
Most ingrown toenails start with a trimming decision. The correct technique takes no extra time; it just takes knowing it.
Read the article →Diabetic Foot Health →
Poor Circulation in Your Feet: Signs You Shouldn't Explain Away
Feet are the first place circulation problems show and the last place people look for them. The signs have patterns.
Read the article →Callus Care for Diabetics: Why This One's Different
On most feet a callus is cosmetic. On a diabetic foot it's a pressure gauge, and sometimes a lid over something worse.
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The Medicare Diabetic Shoe Program, Explained
Medicare pays for therapeutic shoes and inserts for qualifying diabetics every year. Most eligible patients never use it.
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Preventing Diabetic Foot Ulcers: What Actually Works
Most diabetic ulcers are predictable, which means most are preventable. Here's where they come from and how to interrupt the process.
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The Complete Diabetic Foot Care Guide
Feet are where diabetes does its quietest damage. This guide covers the daily habits that keep small problems small.
Read the article →Nerves & Joints →
Osteoarthritis vs. Rheumatoid Arthritis in Feet: Different Diseases, Different Plans
One is mechanical wear; the other is an immune system attacking its own joints. Feet often reveal which is which first.
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Morton's Neuroma or Metatarsalgia? Ball-of-Foot Pain, Decoded
Ball-of-foot pain has a crowded suspect list. Nerve or bone-and-joint is the first fork, and the treatments diverge from there.
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Early Signs of Neuropathy in Your Feet (Catch It Before It's Advanced)
Neuropathy rarely announces itself. It creeps in with signs most people explain away for years.
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Gout in the Big Toe: Why 3 A.M. Is Its Favorite Hour
Fine at bedtime, on fire by 3 a.m.: the classic gout attack has good reasons for its timing and its target.
Read the article →Morton's Neuroma: The Complete Patient Guide
The 'pebble in my shoe that isn't there' sensation has a name, a cause, and a treatment ladder that usually avoids surgery.
Read the article →Sports & Injuries →
Stress Fracture Recovery: Getting Back Without Going Back
The fracture heals in weeks. Whether it stays healed depends on what you do with them.
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Chronic Ankle Instability: When Sprains Become a Lifestyle
If your ankle rolls on flat ground and you've stopped trusting it, you've graduated from sprains to instability. It's fixable.
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Sever's Disease: A Parent's Guide to Kids' Heel Pain
Your child limps off the field holding a heel. Before you fear the worst: the most likely culprit is growth itself, and it's very manageable.
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Shin Splints vs. Stress Fracture: The Difference That Changes Everything
One is a training nuisance; the other is a cracking bone. They live on the same spectrum, and one test separates them.
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Ankle Sprain Grades: What Grade 1, 2, and 3 Actually Mean
'It's just a sprain' covers everything from two weeks of tape to a torn ligament. The grade is what actually matters.
Read the article →Everyday Foot Care →
How Custom Orthotics Are Made: From Your Foot to the Finished Device
Ever wonder what the lab actually does with that mold of your foot? Here's the journey, and why each step earns its place.
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The Best Shoes for Plantar Fasciitis (A Feature List, Not a Brand List)
Brands change yearly; the features that help a strained fascia don't. Learn the checklist and every shoe store becomes easy.
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The RICE Protocol for Foot and Ankle Injuries (And What's Changed)
RICE is still the right first move after a foot or ankle injury. What comes next has changed more than most people know.
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Night Splints for Heel Pain: Who They Help and How to Use Them
The gadget that attacks plantar fasciitis while you sleep, and the compliance trick that determines whether it works.
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Custom Orthotics vs. Store-Bought Insoles: An Honest Comparison
Sometimes the pharmacy insole is enough. Sometimes it's $50 spent learning you need the real thing. Here's how to know in advance.
Read the article →Advanced Treatments →
Laser for Toenail Fungus: Reading Past the Marketing
Laser is a real tool for fungal nails, wrapped in more hype than any treatment deserves. Here's the signal without the noise.
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Swift Microwave Therapy for Warts: The Treatment That Changed the Game
Warts persist by hiding from your immune system. Swift's trick is blowing their cover.
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PRP vs. Cortisone for Foot Pain: Choosing the Right Injection
One suppresses your biology; the other concentrates it. Choosing correctly depends on which question your foot is asking.
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How Many Shockwave Sessions Will You Need?
The standard answer is three, a week apart. The interesting part is why, and what determines whether you need more.
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Shockwave Therapy for Heel Pain: What the Evidence Says
For heel pain that outlasted rest, stretching, and good shoes, shockwave is the evidence-backed next move. Here's the honest picture.
Read the article →Surgery & Recovery →
Bunion Surgery Recovery Timeline: Month by Month
The week-by-week version gets you through recovery; the month-by-month version shows you where it's all going.
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Hammertoe Surgery: What to Expect Before, During, and After
One of foot surgery's smallest operations, explained start to finish so nothing on surgery day surprises you.
Read the article →Bunion Surgery Recovery: The Real Week-by-Week Timeline
The question every bunion patient asks first, answered honestly: week by week, from surgery day to sneakers to sport.
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Foot Surgery Recovery: 10 Tips That Make the Difference
Most recoveries go wrong the same few ways. These ten habits are how they go right instead.
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Questions to Ask Before Foot Surgery (Print This List)
Good surgeons like being asked these. The answers separate an informed decision from a hopeful one.
Read the article →Reading is good. An exam is better.
If an article made you wonder about your own feet, call (336) 342-5701.