Cross Country Barefoot Encounter

Did you hear about the guy walking across the country barefoot?? Yes, you heard me correctly. Ron Zaleski is trudging across the US - BAREFOOT - to raise awareness about the need for mental counseling for all military personnel.

As a former military man himself, he is attempting to collect 1 million signatures for his petition along his back roads route to the west coast. The petition calls on Congress to mandate mental counseling for all military personnel.

Tuesday August 10 (just last week!) he passed through good ole' Buchanan, VA. Such a huge cause trampling right through our back yards. Our very own Roanoke Times had a chance to catch up with Mr. Zaleski and get an update on his journey.

Ron is giving everything he has to this cause including the health of his poor tootsies! Rex Bowman from the Roanoke Times reported that his feet were a "mess of broken skin and calluses." Not exactly the prettiest of mental pictures. He should definitely have stopped by to see us while he was in town. ;-)

Well, I just wanted to share with you a little about the barefoot walker's journey. If you'd like to follow him on his cross country trek, check out his website www.thelongwalkhome.org.

For more information visit our website www.roanokefoot.com

VT Foot Fumble

It was grim news for VT Football fans when they heard Nick Becton, starting left tackle, sprained one of his right toes. He is going to be on the sidelines for an undetermined amount of time and there is no guarantee he will be able to be back on the field for Sept. 6th - the big season opener against Boise State.

For those of you thinking - "Toe sprain? He's seriously out for that? Walk it off man!" Here's the definition of a "sprained toe" according to Aurora Health Care. "A toe sprain is caused by a partial tear of the ligaments that support a toe. Ligaments are strong bands of tissue that connect bones to each other." Now it sounds a little more serious than you thought, huh?

Toe sprains can be caused by any number of things, from stubbing your toe to suddenly stopping a run and causing your toe to jam into the front of your shoe. And people MOST at risk for this type of injury are people playing sports, dancing, moving on rough ground, or people with poor coordination or the tendency to be clumsy.

If you think there is any possibility that you may have a sprain of any kind, you need to immediately see a doctor. They will need to run tests and determine a course of treatment which will definitely include rest from whatever activity lead to the injury.

Check out this site for more info on this particular injury. Toe Sprain

You can also check our our website if you are not sure what is causing your foot discomfort or pain. We have some great info on several different common ailments that may be the culprits. Shenandoah Podiatry