Taylor Caldwell – Health trends in Minnesota

I talked to Dr. Dan Ryssman who is a foot and ankle surgeon in at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. One thing that they have noticed in working and through talking with his coworkers is the abundance of illnesses and sickness coming from the water. Minnesota has lots of lakes and a lot of them get contaminated because there it is a large job to go and make sure all of them are up and safe. They see illness and a lot of infections come in, that started as little cuts, but after being in the water they have something happen.

He sees and is apart of a lot of sports injuries. Through different sports there are a lot of people who are being active and twisting and injuring themselves. Lots of ACL injuries and rolled ankles that he works with. The people that are having this happen are getting younger and younger, which means these serious injuries are happening during their growing years which can end up causing a lot more damage. So they have placed age limits for participating in city league sports and restrictions like that.

Dr. Ryssman talked a lot about ingrown toenails. It might be because he works with a lot of missionaries in the area. But the biggest thing they are trying to do is educate the public on the proper way of cutting your toe nails. Then after you cut them wrong being active and stubbing your toe normally creates this problem, and it's really avoidable. Simple things like using toenail clippers rather than finger nail clippers. Don't cut them to short or round them.

The last thing he was able to talk to me about was plantar factitious. With more people wanting to be out running the shoes they are coming out with are great. A lot of the times people's feet aren't strong enough, they are used to supports and being in shoes that make them week. The plantar facia will actually strain itself because they are not used to it. We need to go slow and ease our feet into the shoes. Especially before going bear foot running which is becoming more popular. Stretch it out by rolling it over a golf ball or other round object.

I was also able to talk to Dr. Foote who is head of the radiology and oncology research department at Mayo Clinic. There is an increasing abundance of skin cancer patients. Lots of people are spending more time in the sun increasing this risk. He encouraged to pay attention to sunscreens and what is in them. Places on the face are where they notice it the most, make sure to get those places covered.