When you first come to us we will be asking questions about your medical history and what medicines that you might be taking. Periodically when you come to see us, we will update this information. Sometimes you may wonder why this information is relevant and what it might have to do with your foot and what we do. It is relevant and important as it might impact on what is the cause of your foot problem and it may impact on how and what we do to treat your foot problem.
The obvious one is diabetes. Diabetes increases the risk for a lot of foot problems due to its effect on the nerves and blood vessels. Not only does diabetes increase the risk for foot problem, it also affects how problems with the foot heal up. We really do need to know if you have diabetes and how things are going with it so we can assess how it affects your feet.
It may not seem relevant, but thyroid disease is another one. Over and under activity of the thyroid glad can cause issues with the feet. For example, under-activity can lead to dryer skin that can lead to painful cracks around the heel.n
Coeliac disease is another one that you might well wonder what it would have to do with the foot when the disease is a problem with gluten damaging the villi in the gastrointestinal tract. Coeliac disease does affect the foot. There have been a number of case reports of chilblains in those with celiac disease and it can also cause an enthesopathy in the foot and affect the nerves to the foot. This means that something that may seem to be so unrelated to the foot and problems with the foot may need to be considered when assessing a foot problem.
When you get asked about your medical history and symptoms and the drugs or medicines that you might be taking, then there is a good reason why we might need that information. It may not seem relevant to you, but it could well be a factor in your foot problem and may be a factor that needs to be taken into account when we recommend the best approach to treat your problem.
