When someone thinks of serious, chronic health issues, feet isn’t usually what they have in mind. The reality is though that millions of people are afflicted with orthopedic conditions and injuries that frequently end up becoming debilitating, life-altering problems. If proper treatment isn’t received in a timely manner, the results could be disastrous.

1- The Development of Other Bodily Problems

The feet are the structures that the rest of your body depends on when you’re standing up. As such, they’re not only important in and of themselves, but they can severely impact how the rest of your body functions. This is especially the case for other parts of the body that are involved in propping the body upright, including leg joints, hips, and back muscles.

Conditions which cause severe inflammation and pain, such as plantar fasciitis, make it very difficult for people to place their full weight onto their feet as they normally would. As a result, they need to compensate for this by contorting their body into unnatural positions that place too much pressure on body parts that can’t handle it. Orthopedic injuries can cause people to hunch over or sway their legs and hips into unusual directions for extended periods of time.

This ultimately causes chronic pain to spread from the feet to other parts of the body and can potentially cause other problems like arthritis to arise.

2- Nerve Damage

Pain isn’t just inconvenient or irritating, it’s indicative of serious issues that your body is trying to tell you about. Orthopedic injuries can result in inflammation and physical damage that wreaks havoc on your body beyond the initial injury.

If a piece of broken bone or inflamed tissue is pressing up against a nerve, it not only causes pain, but if left without treatment, it can result in nerve death or permanent damage; meaning even if an initial injury is resolved, the effects will be long-lasting.

3- Infections

Any chronic damage to your feet leads to an increased infection risk. When everything isn’t working correctly and inflammation is rampant, it can compromise your immune system. This is especially the case when it comes to foot fractures, which often see an increased risk for the development of bacterial pockets to form, requiring pus drainage and potentially even antibiotic treatment.

In severe cases, untreated foot fractures might also cause chronic bacterial infections to occur, requiring significant medical intervention.

4- Disability

If an orthopedic injury is severe enough, the end result could be permanent disability. Chronic untreated conditions that cause pain, inflammation, muscle strain, and bone damage might have irreversible long-lasting effects.

Foot deformities or muscle atrophy could arise that make normal usage of feet impossible, requiring the use of canes, crutches, or potentially even wheelchairs in the most severe of cases.

Getting the Help You Need

While chronic orthopedic injuries are uncomfortable at best and life-altering at worst, that doesn’t mean you just have to deal with the consequences. There are numerous specialists and surgeons available that can provide you with the help you need to resolve your orthopedic injuries with minimal invasiveness.