Blog Archive

Every day, our team at Dan Preece, DPM, & Darren Groberg, DPM, a branch of Utah Musculoskeletal Specialists in Salt Lake City, Utah, sees how diabetes wreaks havoc on nerves, and we want to help as many people as possible prevent this common consequence of unmanaged high blood sugar. Here’s...

Plantar warts crop up on the soles of the feet. They’re not cancerous; they stem from the human papillomavirus (HPV). This virus finds its way into your skin through tiny cuts or abrasions, especially if you walk barefoot in communal areas like swimming pools or locker rooms. These annoying foot...

Your kids have their eyes on the prize, and the countdown is on. Halloween is almost here, and it can be a magical time for kids — but it’s also potentially dangerous.  In addition to teaching your children about stranger danger, traffic rules, and candy safety, it’s a good idea...

Dealing with an ingrown toenail can be painful and frustrating, but how do you know when to seek professional help?   As partners of Utah Musculoskeletal Specialists, we’ve seen our fair share of ingrown toenails at Dan Preece, DPM, & Darren Groberg, DPM, in Salt Lake City. Some are minor problems...

Whether you’re an elite athlete, a weekend warrior, or an avid shopper and errand runner, a sprained ankle keeps you from doing what you love. While most sprained ankles heal within a few weeks and become a thing of the past, some haunt you for months or years. Even a...

Life is good when all your body parts work as designed, like when your toes all point forward and support each step. However, when your big toe turns toward the others due to a bunion, a chain reaction of pain and instability ensues. Don’t panic — bunions are common and...

Summer in Salt Lake City means hiking, biking, and barbeques. It also means lots of foot injuries, as the board-certified podiatrists at Utah Musculoskeletal Specialists know well. When an impromptu ballgame starts, and you’re not wearing the right shoes, you’re at risk for all sorts of foot traumas — ditto...

One day your foot was fine, and the next, you had a tender spot where your toenail meets your skin. Today, it’s a mere annoyance, but if you ignore it, it can progress into a painful foot problem. What you have is an ingrown toenail, and how you got it depends...

Typically, the solution to weakness is to increase weight-bearing exercises to tear down and build up muscle tissue. But when neuropathy is at play, working out harder isn’t the answer. If you’re experiencing unexplained muscle weakness, come see us at Dan Preece, DPM, & Darren Groberg, DPM, a branch of Utah Musculoskeletal Specialists...

One of the more than 100 types of arthritis, gout settles into the joint on your big toe and causes excruciating pain. It used to be called the “disease of kings” because it often attacked the wealthy. Of course, gout can’t respond to your bank balance, but it can and does respond to...

An ingrown toenail is one of the most common causes of toe pain, and it can happen to anyone at any age. In fact, whenever people seek medical care for a foot problem, an ingrown toenail is the culprit about 20% of the time.  But just because it’s common, doesn’t...

The high blood glucose that goes hand in hand with diabetes wreaks havoc on your nervous system, destroying the nerve fibers throughout your body. Depending on the type of nerves it targets and where they’re located, you may suffer from numbness and tingling, pain, or organ dysfunction. To help you...

Whether you tumbled off your high heels, stumbled down a flight of stairs, or planted and pivoted in a pick-up game of hoops, your twisted ankle doesn’t care what caused the injury, it just wants immediate relief. That’s where the RICE method comes in. The acronym stands for rest, ice,...

When your body breaks down the naturally occurring chemical purine, you produce uric acid. Under normal circumstances, the excess uric acid dissolves in your bloodstream, passes through your kidneys, then exits through your urine.  But when that process doesn’t work as designed, uric acid builds up, crystalizes, and settles in...

You can blame arthritis, genetics, a medical condition, or your weight, but whatever caused your bunion, you’ll be dealing with the pain, redness, inflammation, and limited mobility until you take steps to treat it. As part of the Utah Musculoskeletal Specialists in Salt Lake City, Utah, Dr. Dan Preece and...

All warts stem from the same human papillomavirus (HPV), but they don’t all look and feel the same. Common warts can be small or large, round or oval, rough or smooth, and they most often appear on the hand and fingers, but you might also notice them on your knees,...

A wrong step off a curb, a bad pivot in a game of basketball, or a sudden twist can overstretch the ligaments in your foot or ankle and cause a sprain.  At Dan Preece, DPM & Darren Groberg, DPM, in Salt Lake City, a branch of Utah Musculoskeletal Specialists, our...

There’s a long band of shock-absorbing tissue on the bottom of your foot called plantar fascia. It’s a pretty tough part of your anatomy, and it can take a fair amount of pressure. After all, it was designed to keep the spring in your step despite supporting the weight of...

Every day, our experienced podiatrists, Dan Preece, DPM, and Darren Groberg, DPM, part of the Utah Musculoskeletal Specialists in Salt Lake City, see the damage caused by diabetic neuropathy. Sustained high levels of blood sugar wreak havoc on the nerves throughout your body, but especially in your feet. The classic...

Whoever coined the saying, “You are what you eat,” was certainly on to something. Everything you put in your mouth causes ripple effects in your health status. Your diet impacts every part of your body, including your heart, gut, blood, and even your toes — particularly your big toe.  Gout...

You can blame hammertoe on any of several possible culprits, from genetics to chronic disease and from trauma to unfortunate shoe choices, but there are only a few ways to treat it.  Here to discuss your options, Dr. Daniel Preece and Dr. Darren Groberg, our podiatrists at Utah Musculoskeletal Specialists...

Whether the clippers slipped and you trimmed your toenails too short or at an angle, or you injured your nail (including simple toe-stubbing or wearing tight-fitting shoes), your toenail may follow a different path as it grows. And that path may lead down into the skin at the edge of...

Greek mythology tells the tale of a great warrior named Achilles whose mother dipped him into the River Styx to make him invincible. But she held him by the heel, so that portion didn’t touch the magical waters and remained his only vulnerability. Ironically, contrary to the lore, your Achilles...

Some viruses attack your upper respiratory tract, like colds and flu, others cause gastrointestinal problems like rotavirus, but some affect your skin, like the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes warts. Although most warts aren’t considered a serious medical condition, some can be a symptom of problems that need medical attention,...

Your toenails are meant to protect your toes and the skin beneath, but even though they appear hard and tough, they do have a few vulnerabilities.  Several different nail disorders can attack your toenails and make them look or feel awful. At Utah Musculoskeletal Specialists in Salt Lake City, Utah,...

Pain is the body’s way of making you stop, assess an injury, protect it, and get help if necessary. But there are many reasons people choose to ignore that defense mechanism and push past the pain. For some it’s pride, for others it’s a sense of duty and responsibility to...

Your feet bear the weight of your entire body with every step, and even more so if you run or jump, so it’s a good thing they’re equipped with built-in shock absorbers.  Called plantar fascia, these long, thick bands of tissue run the length of the bottom of your feet,...

Neuropathy is a complicated — and often misunderstood — condition affecting millions of people. In fact, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes estimates that 20 million people have some form of neuropathy, often brought on by diabetes. At Utah Musculoskeletal Specialists, Dr. Daniel Preece and Dr. Darren Groberg...

The arch of your foot has a tough job: It needs to be strong, yet flexible, as it distributes your weight evenly across your feet and up your legs and gives you a spring in your step. If your arches are too high, too low, or nonexistent, it triggers a...

You shove your feet in shoes, pound them on the pavement, stand on them all day, and then wonder why they hurt all the time. The truth is, there could be any number of reasons why your foot pain never seems to go away. We’re here to help you figure...

It’s easy to let toenail care slip down to the bottom of your priority list. For the most part, they seem to need little more than a trim now and then. But if you use the wrong tools or use them the wrong way, you could be doing more harm...

If you drop something on the floor and your hands are full, you might try picking it up with your toes. Although we don’t typically rely on our toes for the same dexterity of our fingers, they’ll do in a pinch. But if your toe or toes seem to be...

Arthritis is an umbrella term for a wide array of inflammatory joint diseases. You may have heard of the most common types, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, but gout doesn’t seem to get the same attention. But just because you don’t hear about it often doesn’t mean it isn’t a prevalent...

Just like a lawyer studies to take the bar exam, chefs go to culinary school, and astronauts know more about space flight than the average citizen, podiatrists know your feet inside and out. And that really comes in handy when you have diabetes. Dr. Dan Preece and Dr. Darren Groberg...

From athletic injuries to clumsy falls off the curb, many everyday activities can lead to a sprained ankle. And the severity can range from grade 1 (stretched ligaments) to grade 2 (stretched and partially torn ligaments) to grade 3 (severed ligaments). They all involve pain and swelling, but some might...

Joint pain is typically blamed on arthritis, but if it occurs particularly in your big toe, it’s likely gout, a condition caused by too much uric acid in your body. With nowhere to go, the uric acid forms hard deposits in your joint that causes pain, redness, and swelling. Your...

After a long night’s sleep, you pull back the covers, swing your legs over the side of the bed, and take your first step of the day. This simple act that most people take for granted is an excruciating step into the painful reality of plantar fasciitis for you. You’re...