City Desk
How Healthy Feet Can Reduce Your Risk of Falling
(StatePoint) Among older Americans, falls are the number one cause of injuries and death from injury, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Not only are seniors more at risk for falls, when they do so, it poses a greater risk for injuries, hospitalization and complications. For a ground-up approach to fall prevention, seniors should start by examining the health of their feet.
“Painful foot conditions, such as osteoarthritis, corns, bunions, hammertoes and diabetes complications, can make it difficult for seniors to maintain balance and coordination when walking or standing,” says Michael Ambroziak, DPM, FACFAS, a board-certified foot and ankle surgeon and Fellow Member of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgery (ACFAS). “Compounding the issue is that the very exercises intended to correct risk factors for falls, such as lower-body weakness, as well as gait and balance problems, are made difficult to perform when one is suffering from painful foot and ankle conditions.”
While the factors causing falls are numerous, experts say that seniors, and everybody for that matter, can take steps to reduce their risk by minimizing or even eliminating foot pain. Doing so will improve balance, coordination and stability when walking or standing.
Foot and ankle surgeons recommend the following ways to help keep feet and ankles healthy:
• Don’t ignore pain: Foot pain is not just a normal consequence of growing older, so don’t resign yourself to aching and suffering. You likely have a treatable condition. For a proper diagnosis and intervention, be sure to pay attention to your feet and see a foot and ankle surgeon if and when you experience pain.
• Examine your feet: You are the gatekeeper of your own health, making regular at-home foot examinations critical. At the sign of bumps, lumps or other changes in your feet, make an appointment with your foot and ankle surgeon.
• Exercise: Simple stretching exercises can help you maintain strength and mobility in your feet and ankles, as well as provide pain relief. Talk to your physician about appropriate exercises for you.
• Protect: Use padding, insoles or whatever special footwear you are prescribed. Be sure to wear these, along with comfortable, sensible shoes, every day.
• Be flexible: Know that at times, surgery is the most appropriate treatment for a given condition. Fortunately, many simple surgical techniques allow foot surgery to be performed on an outpatient basis.
For more ways for to keep feet and ankles healthy, prevent falls or to find a foot and ankle surgeon near you, visit FootHealthFacts.org, the patient education website for ACFAS. Foot and ankle surgeons are experts in providing both conservative care as well as surgical approaches to foot and ankle healthcare.
Remember, just one fall can permanently rob seniors of their independence and dramatically reduce their quality of life. Taking good care of feet and ankles however can reduce the risk of a life-altering slip, trip or fall.
PHOTO SOURCE: (c) skynesher - iStock.com
Top news stories for February 20, 2019

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ACLU Sues Border Patrol for Detaining MT Women
Big Sky Connection
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Eric Tegethoff
Febryary 15, 2019
HAVRE, Montana - Two women who were detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection after an agent overheard them speaking Spanish are suing the agency.
Martha Hernandez and Ana Suda were questioned last year outside a convenience store in Havre, near the Canadian border. Both women are U.S. citizens, but were held for 40 minutes while the Border Patrol agent questioned them and called for backup.
The ACLU of Montana filed the lawsuit on their behalf in a U.S. District Court on Thursday, claiming the agent violated their constitutional right against unreasonable searches.
Caitlin Borgmann, executive director of the ACLU of Montana says the agent had no justification for stopping them.
"There was no reason to believe that either them had violated the law," says Borgmann. "It was frightening and humiliating for these two women, who are now left feeling unsafe in their own community. And they know that it's also threatening for anybody else who speaks a different language or is a person of color in Montana."
In video taken by Suda, the agent says he detained them because speaking Spanish is "very unheard of up here." Suda later asks the agent's supervisor if they would've been detained if they were speaking French and he says no.
The Border Patrol says it doesn't comment on pending litigation.
Suda and Hernandez say they and their kids have been harassed since this incident. Borgmann calls the women brave for standing up for themselves, and cites similar situations across the country because of the Trump administration's ramped-up immigration policies.
"We're talking about two U.S. citizens, but everybody with brown skin or who sounds like they have a Spanish accent perhaps, or who is heard speaking Spanish immediately becomes suspect," says Borgmann. "And so, it reaches far beyond undocumented individuals."
The ACLU is calling on Border Patrol agents to stop detaining people based on their race, accent or the language they speak.