Dr. Michael J. Cornelison is owner of Cupertino Podiatry Inc.
As owner of Cupertino Podiatry Inc., Dr. Michael J. Cornelison has been serving patients in Santa Clara County for more than 15 years. We took a few minutes to speak with Dr. Cornelison to learn more about his field of expertise and gain some helpful knowledge. Here’s the interview:
Q: What is a podiatrist, exactly?
A: A podiatrist, also known as a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM), is a health care specialist who deals exclusively with problems pertaining to the foot and ankle, including injuries, diseases and disorders.
Q: Can a podiatrist do things like prescribe medications or perform surgery?
A: Yes. We can prescribe medications for pain, infections and other issues, and we’re able to perform surgical procedures to correct deformities and treat injuries like bone fractures. In addition to treating patients at a private practice, we can visit and treat them at a hospital, if needed.
Q: Is there a primary demographic of people who experience foot problems?
A: It’s more accurate to say that different demographics experience particular issues. For instance, younger patients often experience “growing pains” as their growth plates start to fuse, as well as pain or injuries arising from sports-related activities. Older patients, on the other hand, tend to have issues related to wear-and-tear over the years, such as pain from progressive foot deformities or diminished padding on the undersides of feet. We also see an increase in fractures and dislocations as bones start to weaken and balance begins to diminish. There are, however, certain issues that are experienced by young and old patients alike, such as warts and ingrown toenails.
Q: Why should I pay attention to the health of my feet?
A: Often, things that don’t seem significant at first can cause problems in the long run. For instance, a common thing people experience is heel or arch pain for the first few steps after they get up and start walking. This issue is easy to overlook because it goes away quickly, but the underlying condition progressively gets worse and can result in mobility issues later in life.
Additionally, like many parts of the body, your feet can serve as a window into the state of your general health. A feeling of numbness or tingling in the toes can be a precursor to diabetes; changes in toenails may indicate pulmonary disease, rheumatoid arthritis or psoriasis; and a new mole that appears on the bottom of your foot can be a sign of skin cancer or another issue. In most cases, you can take proactive steps to treat and control these problems before the symptoms become too severe.
Q: What are the best ways to preventatively care for my feet?
A: First, it’s important to make sure your shoe gear is appropriate for your foot shape and the kinds of activities you engage in on a regular basis. If you have a family history of foot problems, make sure your shoes proactively address this, whether by ensuring adequate arch support or other considerations.
Another way to care for your feet is to stay fit and active. The “use it or lose it” idiom certainly applies here, even for those who are developing arthritis. In fact, one of the best medicines for arthritis is to keep those joints moving. Walking at least 20 minutes a day is good for maintaining your muscle and bone strength in the lower extremities. Body weight is also an important consideration, as heavier individuals have a lot more wear and tear on their feet over the long term.
Last but not least, go see a podiatrist on a recurrent basis. Just as you make it a point to have your eyes, teeth and general health assessed routinely, you should do the same for your feet.
12 Responses
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Thanks for posting this! Dr. Michael J. Cronelison provided some really great tips for preventative foot care. That’s something that I really need to know more about since I’ve been experiencing a lot of foot pain for the past few weeks. Knowing whether certain foot problems runs in your family and wearing the right kind of shoes to address these problems is a really great tip. I know that most people in my family have high arches, so it seems like my feet should get better by wearing shoes with proper arch support from now on.
My family just seems to have the worst genes when it comes to anything! I have been having feet pains as well and have been wanting to go to a foot doctor for quite some time but for one reason or another just have never gotten around to it. I would love to hear about some peoples experiences if they have seen a podiatrist before as I had not even heard of the term before seeing an add somewhere recently. Thank you again for the article Dr Micheal.
Thanks for discussing how proper shoe shape is important for foot care. A friend of mine recently got a condition in a tendon under her foot from running too much too often. I’m not sure if she tried to get the right shoe shape. I’ll have to share a copy of this article with her.
I’ve noticed that people don’t really tend to their feet as often as they should. They think that a little blister won’t lead to a larger problem, and at times it won’t but it could. The part where you talked about preventative care was the most important to me. It is better to treat something before it becomes a larger problem.
I think it’s good for people to ask a lot of questions of podiatrists. That way they have a good idea of what they do and how they can help. It’s good to go to a specialist, because feet are really quite complicated. It would be best to go to someone trained in that specific area.
I like how you said, ” It’s more accurate to say that different demographics experience particular issues”. Pretty much anyone that walks is going to have pain in their feet every once in a while. That is just the nature of being on your feet. Different groups of people will also deal with different problems.
I am considering several different careers in the medical field, and I found this blog to be very beneficial for me. I used to run a lot, and I always had bad pain in my feet. I think it would be cool to work to help relieve people’s pain and foot problems. Thanks for sharing this with me, and this will now be on my list of top considerations as a profession!
This is a great question and answer article! I learned a lot from reading it. I never knew that podiatrists could prescribe medications or perform surgery. That makes me feel a lot more comfortable going and seeing one.
I’d never thought about using my feet specifically to keep them healthy. I would almost be afraid to use them for fear of making them wear out faster, so it’s good to know that using them may actually help prevent problems instead of the other way around. One more reason to stay active!
I agree that I should be proactive about trying to prevent foot injuries by wearing the proper foot equipment and exercising. However, I have always struggled with figuring out what kind of shoes to get. I often end up with shoes that feel good in the store, but hurt my feet after a few hours of wearing them. Is this normal, or should I just work harder at finding good shoes?
I’ve actually been considering a career as a podiatrist. This article was super helpful, and the Q and A was nice because some of these were questions that I had previously had. I didn’t realize that podiatrists could perform surgical procedures. Thanks for sharing this.
I like what you said about how it’s good to be aware of and proactive about little issues because they can end up causing a lot of damage over time. I like to stay fit and exercise for an hour or so every day, but for the past several years I’ve had terrible foot cramps and pains that will happen whenever I use my feet a lot while exercising (anything cardio, usually). I should probably get that checked out. Does that sound like any issues you see people for?