Sweating occasionally is normal. It could be a particularly hot day or you could simply be hitting your workout hard. In these instances, sweating isn’t just normal, it’s expected; however, if you find yourself sweating excessively, particularly in your feet, and for no reason whatsoever you may be wondering what’s going on.

Your Sweaty Feet Could be Hyperhidrosis

Hyperhidrosis is the medical term for excessive sweating. Plantar hyperhidrosis is when people experience excessive sweating of the feet. Men are often more likely than women to develop this issue. The good news is that if your podiatrist determines that you have plantar hyperhidrosis there are ways to several ways to treat it.

Your Hyperhidrosis May Be Secondary

Okay, so what does this mean exactly? This means that you may have an underlying condition that could have brought about hyperhidrosis. So by finding and treating the underlying cause we can often alleviate hyperhidrosis. Secondary hyperhidrosis may be caused by:

As is the way for treating most health conditions, your podiatrist will often recommend certain lifestyle changes and simple treatment options first to see if these are effective enough against excessive sweatiness. Only if these treatment options don’t work will your podiatrist turn to more aggressive options. Conservative options include:

While a podiatrist can recommend a variety of options to help you manage your sweaty feet, there are instances where you may need to turn to a foot and ankle specialist for more aggressive treatment. One way that a podiatrist treats sweaty feet is with iontophoresis, a painless device that passes mild electrical currents through the feet to temporarily stop sweat glands from producing sweat. Along with iontophoresis, a podiatrist may also recommend Botox injections, which can also temporarily stop excessive sweating for anywhere from 6-9 months.

If you are dealing with sweaty feet and it’s impacting your daily routine or making you uncomfortable, a podiatrist can evaluate your issue and figure out how to get your sweating under control.

Getting splinters in the feet is fairly common. Of course, some people wonder if they can simply leave a splinter in their foot and let it work itself out. Others may not know how to safely remove a splinter, which can cause more harm than good. A podiatrist can help you remove splinters from your feet, particularly in children who may be squeamish about having parents remove them.

Why Splinters Need to be Removed

Regardless of whether the splinter is wood, glass, or even a plant thorn, you must remove it from the foot as soon as possible. Why? Because these foreign objects also contain germs, which can lead to an infection if the splinter isn’t promptly and fully removed.

How to Remove a Splinter Yourself

You probably have all the tools you need at home to remove a splinter safely. Of course, it’s important to go over the basics of safe splinter removal. Here are tips for safely removing the splinter:

While a splinter often isn’t a big deal there will be situations in which turning to a podiatric physician will be the best option. You should turn to one if:

If there is a foreign body in your foot or your child’s foot, or if there are symptoms of an infection present, it’s important that you turn to your podiatrist right away to have the splinter removed and the area properly treated.