At first glance, this seems like a pretty ridiculous question. I mean COVID-19 can’t really infect your feet, right? Well, that is correct, but with the stay at home order still in place for Illinois, that means fewer visits to physicians for all your foot & ankle pain unless it is absolutely necessary.
The purpose of this blog article is to answer the biggest question on most people’s minds with foot & ankle pain. The question of what qualifies to come into the office for a visit currently.
First off, physicians are still an essential service so anything that normally causes you to make an appointment at our offices is acceptable under the current stay at home order. We must exercise good judgment though. Patients that are at a higher risk we do recommend staying at home unless it can’t be avoided. Higher risk patients are anyone of advanced age with the highest risk being 80 years or older according to newer statistics. People at higher risk are also patients with lung conditions (COPD, asthma, etc.), immune deficiency conditions, or heart disease.
Currently, we are still seeing any patients at every office that deems it necessary to come in. Some conditions can’t wait to be treated and these involve injuries or trauma. Trauma includes fractures of the foot and ankle, sprains, or falls. It is safer to come to our office to get an Xray and be evaluated than the ER. We are also treating general orthopedic problems, chronic pain, surgical consults, wounds, or infections. Nail conditions are also important to not wait on because ingrown nails can cause infections which if bad enough can cause you to present to an ER. Basically anything else that can’t wait until the stay at home order is lifted we are happy to see in the office.
The point I would most like to make with this article is that If in doubt about where to go, our offices are much safer than an emergency room or urgent care.
