Ski season is starting, and with it a familiar pattern: an ankle injury on the slopes is diagnosed as a sprain, the X-ray is normal, and six weeks later it still has not settled. One fracture in particular, a break of the lateral process of the talus known as “snowboarder’s ankle”, accounts for around 15%...
Category: Medical Research
Post
Big Toe Pain: Is It Gout or Arthritis?
A red, swollen, painful big toe joint is often assumed to be gout, but it is not always. In one primary care study, GPs diagnosed gout in 98% of people with an inflamed big toe joint, yet only 77% turned out to have it. A uric acid blood test cannot settle the question on its...
Post
Are High Heels Bad for Your Feet? What the Evidence Actually Says
Between now and the new year, many people will spend more time in heels than they have all year — and every January we see the results in clinic. The research on heels is clearer than for most shoe questions: a review of 18 studies linked them to bunions, aches and pains and injuries, but...
Post
Are Carbon Plate Running Shoes Bad for Your Feet?
Carbon-plated “super shoes” started out as elite racing shoes and are now a common sight at parkrun — and running patients often ask me whether the thing that made them faster could be what is making their foot hurt. The research shows the performance benefit is real and well measured, while the injury concern rests...
Post
Why Is My Foot and Ankle Pain Worse in Winter?
The clocks go back this weekend, and winter is coming. Every year at this point I start to see patients whose foot or ankle has been fine for months but has suddenly become harder to live with — and they nearly always ask whether it is the cold or whether something is getting worse. The...
Post
Weight-Loss Injections and Foot & Ankle Surgery: What You Need to Know in 2026
Many people now take a weight-loss or diabetes injection such as Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro, and two questions come up in clinic: will it help my foot, and do I need to stop it before my operation? The first studies looking at the foot and ankle, published in 2025 and 2026, are largely reassuring –...
Post
Ankle Replacement in the UK: What the 2026 National Joint Registry Shows
The latest National Joint Registry report looks at nearly 13,000 ankle replacements carried out in England and Wales between 2010 and 2025. More are being done each year, the typical patient is around 69, and about 9 in 10 had not needed further surgery 10 years later. Younger patients, particularly younger women, are more likely...
Post
Pain Relief After Foot and Ankle Surgery: Is it going to really hurt?
Worry about pain is one of the most common reasons people put off foot and ankle surgery. Pain relief has changed a great deal, and for most operations a nerve block keeps the foot numb for around 24 to 36 hours — covering the period when pain would normally be at its worst. This guide...
Post
What Is the Right Age to Have an Ankle Replacement?
If you’ve been offered an ankle replacement — or been told you’re too young for one — it’s worth knowing what the evidence actually shows. No UK or international guideline sets a minimum age; the “over 50” rule many patients hear is a habit rather than a rule, based on results from implants no longer...
Post
Injections for Ankle Arthritis: A Guide for Patients
If you’ve been offered an injection for ankle arthritis — or seen one advertised — it’s worth knowing what the evidence actually shows. In careful trials, people often improve by about the same amount whether they receive the real treatment or a dummy salt-water injection, which makes it hard to know which treatments genuinely help....
- 1
- 2