Blog Archive

Healthy, smoothly functioning toe joints usually work so easily and efficiently that taking them for granted is easy. If your toes start bending strangely or become rigid and immobile, you might have a common condition called hammertoes. Early-stage, flexible hammertoes can develop into being rigid and nearly impossible to move,...

Weak feet and ankles are one of the biggest barriers to an active lifestyle. Sports injuries, fractures, and the aging process can all leave your feet and ankles lacking in strength and stability. Luckily, under the guidance of podiatrist Thomas Rambacher, DPM, FACFAS, FAPWCA, located at Podiatry Hotline Foot &...

When your heel bothers you, you know something is wrong with your foot. Two of the most common conditions that cause heel pain are plantar fasciitis and heel spurs. Determining the cause of your heel pain helps you receive prompt treatment that allows you to feel better quickly. Keep reading...

Diabetes is a chronic medical condition that requires more than just monitoring from your general doctor. When you have diabetes, you also need specialist podiatry care to prevent and treat foot infections. To prevent potentially serious complications of diabetes in your feet, podiatrist Thomas Rambacher, DPM, FACFAS, FAPWCA, from Podiatry...

Your feet and ankles are among the most important parts of your body. They support your body weight, get you from one place to another, and stabilize and balance the rest of you. When something goes wrong with your feet or ankles, you might need to visit a podiatrist like...

You’re experiencing the dreaded symptoms of your nail turning yellow, thickening, crumbling, or otherwise looking unwell. If you have any of these signs, there's a good chance that you have unwelcome fungal nails. A fungal nail cannot only look and feel unpleasant, but without treatment, it can also progress to...

Ingrown toenails are painful and annoying, but when treated quickly, they’re rarely serious. However, if you have diabetes, ingrown toenails require extra care to prevent complications. Thomas Rambacher, DPM, FACFAS, FAPWCA, the board-certified podiatrist at Podiatry Hotline Foot & Ankle in Mission Viejo, California, recommends all people with diabetes seek...

An active lifestyle, some medical conditions, and even just the years of your daily routine wearing on your feet can make mobility more difficult. If walking around is uncomfortable or painful, medical-grade orthotics are often all you need to fix the issue. Board-certified podiatrist Thomas Rambacher, DPM, FACFAS, FAPWCA, located...

If you have a bunion protruding from the side of your big toe, it can start as small and unintrusive. With time, though, bunions can get bigger and cause more problems. Board-certified podiatrist Thomas Rambacher, DPM, FACFAS, FAPWCA, of Podiatry Hotline Foot & Ankle in Mission Viejo, California, always recommends...

Getting the correct diagnosis is the first step in receiving the best podiatry healthcare. An accurate diagnosis helps you receive the best treatment and care available as quickly as possible. At Podiatry Hotline Foot & Ankle in Mission Viejo, California, board-certified podiatrist Thomas Rambacher, DPM, FACFAS, FAPWCA, uses his years...

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered dramatic changes throughout everyday life — and in the medical community as well. Not only are providers across the country postponing elective procedures, but many are also encouraging people to avoid in-office appointments to reduce their risk of exposure to this highly contagious coronavirus.But what...

When your toes firm up at the joints and can no longer bend, that’s a critical sign you have late-stage hammertoes. Now, all you can do to correct them is undergo surgery to restore flexibility and movement. Being told you need surgery is often an intimidating thought, but wonderfully, minimally...

As you enter your senior years, taking good care of your entire body is one of the best ways to stay healthy and active for as long as possible. Keeping your feet in top shape, and treating problems that arise quickly, keeps you active and mobile. Older adults need to...

When your child starts walking for the first time, it’s an exciting time for both of you. But issues that arise that impact your child’s mobility can quickly dampen this joyous period of life. Various foot and ankle conditions can cause your child to have an atypical walk; however, according...

When you develop ankle arthritis, over time, it can cause wear and tear on your ankle joint. If the damage gets severe enough, the only option is to perform surgery on the joint. If your ankle is severely worn down, a cutting-edge procedure called ankle joint replacement surgery can help...

Being born with structural abnormalities in your feet, serious injuries, and diseases can all cause your foot or ankle to develop problems that make it difficult to walk or maintain your quality of life. If the issues in your foot are severe enough that conservative treatment can’t help, reconstructive surgery...

Many bunions can be managed with conservative treatments, but sometimes, they get too large and painful to deal with. When this happens, it’s time to get surgery to make your bunions smaller. There are different types of minimally invasive bunion surgery, and the best surgery for you depends on multiple...

Have you been told that your foot or leg is so severely injured or deformed that you might need an amputation? Before scheduling an amputation, determine if your limb can be saved with limb salvage surgery. With the advancement of cutting-edge surgical techniques, board-certified podiatrist Thomas Rambacher, DPM, FACFAS, FAPWCA, from Podiatry Hotline...

When your diabetic ulcer or wound doesn’t go away, one of the ways to treat it for good is with a graft. Grafting covers your ulcer with a temporary or permanent substance safely. Traditionally, skin grafting uses your skin to create a covering; however, board-certified podiatrist Thomas Rambacher, DPM, FACFAS, FAPWCA, practicing at Podiatry...

Most wounds on your feet heal quickly and naturally, but the consequences can be serious when you have a wound that just won’t go away. Diabetic wounds, ulcers, and other serious foot wounds that won’t heal can have long-term consequences. If you have a foot wound or ulcer that isn’t...

Experiencing pain and swelling can be miserable in any body part. When it attacks your feet, it can make it especially difficult to be mobile or go about your daily routine. If you have agonizing swelling and pain in your big toe, you could have a type of arthritis called gout. Thomas Rambacher,...

There’s no getting around it; bunions on your feet are unsightly to look at, make it harder to find shoes you love that fit, can cause extreme pain, and sometimes limit your mobility. If you have family members or friends with bunions, you’re probably wondering how to reduce your risk...

All it takes is one misstep or fall while playing sports, running to catch up with the bus, or even going on a gentle walk. Suddenly, you experience that immediate pain and swelling that often means you have an ankle sprain. Ankle sprains aren’t always serious injuries, but without the right...

When you have diabetes, one common side effect when it’s not well managed is developing ulcers and wounds in your lower body. Without the right care, these ulcers can develop several potentially serious consequences. As an experienced podiatrist on the cutting edge of ulcer care in the ankles and feet,...

If you have pain in your foot or ankle but don’t have an obvious injury, deformity, mass, or wound, your nerves might be to blame. When the nerves in your feet or ankle get trapped, you can experience repeated, debilitating pain that interrupts your life. Nerve entrapment and neuropathy in your foot...

Has a big lump recently appeared on your foot? If it’s soft, smooth looking, and moves around when you touch it, you could have an uncomfortable soft tissue mass called a ganglion cyst. Ganglion cysts are benign, but they can cause discomfort and other problems that get in the way of your...

After accidents or trauma to your ankle, you can end up with damaged ligaments, broken bones, and soft tissue injuries. With time and rehabilitation, many ankle injuries heal under conservative care, but sometimes, this treatment isn’t enough. When your ankle isn’t healing after trauma, Thomas Rambacher, DPM, FACFAS, FAPWCA, the lead...

Do your toes bend in unexpected ways or don’t move well at all? If so, you might have hammertoes, a condition that causes pain and overly flexible toes that can eventually become locked. If you have late-stage hammertoes, podiatrist Thomas Rambacher, DPM, FACFAS, FAPWCA, at Podiatry Hotline Foot & Ankle...

When you develop arthritis in your ankle, you have a degenerative condition that can develop slowly over time and continue to worsen. Without treatment or other measures that slow or stop its progression, ankle arthritis can take over your life and make it difficult to do your favorite activities. Depending on the...

Thanks to the swimming pools, communal showers, and shared locker rooms that are a common part of childhood, warts are extremely common in children. Warts occur more often in children than adults, and they can be painful and difficult to treat. Warts are uncomfortable for children, but luckily, they are...

When bumps start appearing on the side of one or both of your big toe joints, it means you’ve begun to develop bunions. Sometimes bunions stay small and don’t interfere with your life, but as they keep growing, they can cause pain, make mobility more difficult, and change the alignment of...

After a severe fracture or suffering from serious side effects of certain medical conditions, your foot might be in a state where an amputation is a possible option. Fortunately, with recent medical advances, you can now often get limb salvage surgery instead of amputating your foot. At Podiatry Hotline Foot...

If you have diabetes, it means you need to live a lifestyle that keeps you healthy and from developing complications from this chronic condition. One part of your body that needs special attention and care is your feet. With good foot care at home and regular check-ins with Thomas Rambacher, DPM,...

Chronic pain, burning, tingling, and tingling in the ball of your foot might mean you have a painful medical condition called Morton’s neuroma. Unmanaged, Morton’s neuroma makes it difficult to play sports and can cause so much discomfort it limits your mobility. While Morton’s neuroma can be debilitating, double board-certified...

For many active athletes, an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury can stop them right in their tracks. If you’ve gone through or been told you need surgery for your ACL, you’re likely eager to know when you can return to your favorite sports. ACL surgery recovery requires time and a...

Initially, getting an ingrown toenail might not seem like a big deal. With it might cause a bit of pain and redness, it might seem like more of a nuisance, similar to getting a minor ingrown hair, but sometimes, further trouble can occur. Ingrown toenails aren’t usually serious, but according...

When your bunions have gotten extremely painful or so large you struggle to find shoes, it might be time to consider surgery to remove them. These days, there are a number of minimally invasive bunions removal procedures that permanently get rid of your bunions, with significantly less pain, correction of...

Fractures and soft tissue injuries are a fairly common occurrence in our regularly exercised feet and ankles. Sometimes, these injuries heal easily, with minimal or no treatment, but other times, these types of problems fail to heal and cause debilitating chronic pain in the process. If you’re experiencing a foot...

If your toes bend in a manner that is unusual or strange, you might have a hammertoe. Hammertoes can be very painful and sometimes progress to the point of severity where you aren’t able to move your impacted toe. That might not sound like good news for your feet, but...

It can be frustrating when it feels like you’ve done everything you can to heal your ankle, and nothing you do seems to be bringing the improvement necessary for a full recovery. When your ankle has structural abnormalities that can’t be fixed by nonsurgical methods, board-certified podiatrist, Dr. Thomas Rambacher...

If you’ve been experiencing pain in your heel when you walk, you might assume you’re suffering from plantar fasciitis. Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common conditions that causes heel pain. However, experiencing heel pain doesn’t always mean you have plantar fasciitis. According to Dr. Thomas Rambacher and Dr....

Having an injury in your ankle can leave you out of commission for a period of time and in a significant amount of pain. Ankle sprains, fractures, and other ankle injuries can all present with similar symptoms. It can be hard to tell the difference between the different types of...

Needing to get your foot amputated is a life-changing prospect. Although amputations are sometimes medically necessary, thankfully, it’s now often possible to avoid limb amputations with sophisticated limb salvage surgery. If your foot is at risk of needing to be amputated, our board-certified podiatrists, Dr. Thomas Rambacher and Dr. Michael...

Bunions can be excruciatingly painful and make it difficult to walk, and sometimes, getting surgery is the only solution. Having heard bunion surgery causes pain and requires a long recovery period, many people who would benefit from having bunions removed avoid surgery. The exciting news is, with the advent of...

Your feet and ankles are vulnerable from supporting your body weight, and sometimes, they need a little extra help to do their job well. Wearing medical-grade custom orthotics can decrease your pain, correct alignment issues, and generally support your feet. Our podiatrists at Podiatry Hotline Foot & Ankle in Mission...

Foot and ankle fractures are common injuries that can occur in anyone, no matter how old you are or what your lifestyle looks like. If you experience pain in your foot while you walk, it’s possible you have an undiagnosed fracture. Worse yet, if your foot pain has gone on...

Getting a wound on your foot can lead to serious problems, especially if you have diabetes. Diabetic foot ulcers can cause serious problems if they remain untreated, including requiring amputation of your foot. If you’re prone to diabetic foot ulcers and looking for a solution, stem cell grafts just might...

Your feet work hard every day to support your body and safely move you when you walk around. The amount of work your feet put in on a regular basis makes them especially susceptible to developing arthritis. Arthritis in your feet can be painful and uncomfortable, but with proper treatment,...

Your feet take thousands of steps every day, many of them barefoot or only wearing socks. With the amount of contact your bare feet can have with the ground, it’s no wonder getting foreign bodies, like splinters, glass, and thorns, stuck in your feet is a common problem. Often, you...

As you go about your life, you can develop irritating growths on your feet and ankles that cause you discomfort or pain. These growths can have different causes, but frequently they’re non-cancerous soft-tissue masses. According to board-certified podiatrist Thomas Rambacher, DPM of Mission Viejo, California-based Podiatry Hotline Foot & Ankle,...

Thanks to their high levels of activity and the moisture that can get caught in socks and shoes, your feet are especially vulnerable to becoming infected. Foot infections are a common ailment that can cause your feet to hurt and even make walking more challenging.  When you develop a foot...

Getting a large growth on the bottom of your foot can be uncomfortable and feel downright unpleasant. If you have a callus or wart on the bottom of your foot, you’ll want to take steps eliminate it right away. There’s just one problem: you’re not sure if what you have...

When you injure your ankle, most of the time it can be treated through conservative measures. Sometimes, though, you’ll need to get surgery on your ankle to make a full recovery. After spraining or otherwise injuring your ankle, always seek a medical opinion from a podiatrist in case your ankle...

Experiencing chronic pain in your foot that feels like a burning sensation can be uncomfortable, frustrating, and make it difficult to go about your day. Getting burning pain in one or both feet can have multiple causes, but one of the most common reasons for this symptom is peripheral neuropathy....

Having five toes, or metatarsals, of similar length is something the vast majority of us take for granted. However, a few of us have one metatarsal that’s significantly shorter than the rest of our toes. This condition is called brachymetatarsia. If you have brachymetatarsia, you might have difficulties with the...

If you’ve discovered you need surgery to correct your bunions, you might be imagining a long recovery period where you spend months off your feet. Thankfully, because of cutting-edge surgical techniques, you no longer have to choose between living with the severe pain bunions cause and a lengthy, disruptive recovery...

Finding out you need major surgery or another significant procedure on your feet can feel scary. Understandably, you might want to talk to another specialist before committing to undergoing the treatment.   It turns out, getting a second opinion isn’t only personally reassuring, it’s also a smart medical choice. Research...

Gout, a painful type of arthritis that strikes your big toe, has the potential to literally stop you in your tracks. A chronic condition, gout flare-ups can come on suddenly, causing severe pain and a swollen, inflamed, and irritated big toe joint. The good news is, it’s possible to prevent...

If your child is complaining of pain and redness in a toe, he or she might have an ingrown toenail. An ingrown toenail, a condition where the toenail grows into the skin of your toe, commonly occurs in children. Ingrown toenails are extremely painful and have the potential to become...

When your big toe swells and becomes painful, it’s possible you’re having a gout flare-up. Gout is a type of arthritis that most often aggravates the joint of your big toe. As a board-certified podiatrist, Thomas Rambacher, DPM, is highly skilled in diagnosing gout and helping you manage your condition...

Living with plantar fasciitis often means that most days when you first step out of bed, you feel immediate, stabbing pain in your heel. Typically, as you continue to move around, the pain subsides. However, if you sit at a desk for a few hours or stand on your feet...

Are you recovering from a sprained ankle? Is it bothering you even though you’ve been using ice and getting plenty of rest? You may have injured the ligaments that connect your Achilles tendon to your calf and heel muscles. This can make any kind of movement, such as walking or...

You’re looking at the bump on the side of your big toe; it’s likely you’ve developed a bunion.  Bunions are bony protrusions sticking out from the joint at the base of your big toe. Your big toe has gradually been pushing against your second toe, causing the big toe joint...

When many people think of arthritis they imagine pain in the hands, hips, and knees, but it can affect any joint in the body — including the toes, feet, and ankles. Fortunately, there are a variety of treatment options available. Here at Podiatry Hotline Foot & Ankle in Mission Viejo,...

Here at Podiatry Hotline Foot & Ankle in Mission Viejo, California, our patients keep asking Dr. Thomas Rambacher what all the buzz is about stem cell therapy. If you’ve been wondering why stem cell therapy is a trending topic, read on for the top five reasons why stem cell therapy...

For the 30.3 million Americans living with diabetes, it is vital to check your glucose levels daily. If left unchecked, high blood sugar can cause complications throughout your body. This includes your feet.  Dr. Thomas Rambacher and his team at Podiatry Hotline Foot & Ankle want you to have the...

Are you finding it harder to put your heel down to the ground when walking without feeling pain? Heel spurs, bony growths on the bottom of your heel caused by calcium deposits, can make getting through your day difficult, but there are treatment options available to help you return to...

The Achilles heel isn’t synonymous with a weak spot for nothing: Despite being the strongest and thickest tendon in your body, it’s also vulnerable to tendinitis. Achilles tendinitis is the name for a common condition where your Achilles tendon, which connects your calf muscles to your heel, becomes inflamed and...

Are you suffering from heel pain? One of the most common causes of heel pain is plantar fasciitis. The plantar fascia is a strong band of tissue that runs along the bottom of your foot, from your heel to your toes. It supports the arch of your foot and absorbs...

If you stubbed your toe and felt a snap, you may wonder if it’s broken, and you might think that the “wait and see” approach is the best course of action. However, a fracture that goes undetected and untreated can lead to complications. While not an emergency, it is vital...

Your feet absorb force that’s nearly three times your body weight when you run. That’s a lot of strain, especially if you’re a longtime runner or you participate in other high-impact sports. Running and sports like soccer, tennis, basketball, and football put your feet and ankles at risk for damage....

Toes are underrated appendages, to say the least. Unless you’ve spent the day in ill-fitting shoes or made contact with a table leg, you probably don’t think too much about your toes. But once your toes suffer injury, you need to give them some attention. If you’ve injured your toe,...

Arthritis is a condition that causes inflammation in your joints. Inflammation can lead to swelling, stiffness, and pain across your body, making it uncomfortable to perform everyday tasks. Arthritis in your feet can be especially difficult, as it can decrease mobility and severely impact your quality of life. However, several...

Ingrown toenails can develop for several reasons. Some people get ingrown toenails because they wear tight shoes. Other people get ingrown toenails because their toes get injured, they cut their nails too short, or they cut their nails at an angle. If you have an ingrown toenail, then you probably...

If you’re frequently on your feet, you may be familiar with calluses and corns on your feet. These are areas of thick, tough skin that develop to protect you from the pressure and friction your feet endure. For many people, calluses and corns are simply an inconvenience. Changing footwear or...

Many people love running. It is a favorite way to keep fit. It also gets us out in the open, fresh air. Upwards of 64 million people a year go running and the benefits are obvious. Running is good for the heart, it keeps us fit, it improves the capacity...

Bunions affect your appearance and make it difficult, sometimes impossible, to find shoes that fit, but they also cause physical problems. When bunions go untreated, they lead to progressive foot damage.Here at Podiatry Hotline Inc., in Mission Viejo, California, we encourage you to come in at the first sign of...

Do you feel unexplained, intense pain in your big toe? Does even the weight of your sheets against your toe cause pain? If so, you may be one of the 8 million Americans who suffer from gout. While this form of arthritis often seems to come and go at random,...

From comprehensive assessments to cutting-edge therapies, innovations in diabetic wound care are changing the way podiatrists treat foot ulcers and other wounds. At Podiatry Hotline, Inc., we strive to stay up-to-date on the most innovative trends and treatments in diabetic wound care, allowing us to provide the best treatments in...

When it comes to selecting running shoes, function trumps fashion. The right shoe protects you from injury, maximizes your effort, and keeps you coming back to the track or trail day after day.The best running shoes are not the style and brand recommended by your friend. Though their shoes may...