September has started off a little sluggish regarding my postings. But I am starting the month off with some very exciting information.
I have been reading recently about a new product that some Podiatrist's across the country are using to help reduce pain to the balls of the feet due to the loss of fat pad. The product is called Sculptra and is a bioabsorbable product that is injected just under the skin to replace the fact pad that is lost.
Sculptra, also called New-fill, is made of poly-L-lactic acid. The product has been used safely outside of the U.S. since 1999 and was recently approved by the FDA to be used on people who have fat pad loss to their face due to complications associated with HIV. However, as I mentioned, there are a few Podiatrists across the country who are using it to treat fat pad loss to the feet.
We lose fat pad to our feet naturally due to aging. But we can also lose this fat from participating in ballistic sports (mainly running long distances/jogging), wearing high heels and people who have diabetes.
Loss of this fat pad causes pain to the bones in the front of the foot (called metatarsalgia), can lead to nerve pain (called neuromas), thick callouses, and ulcers (especially those with diabetic neuropathy). Injection of Sculptra replaces this lost fat 'cushion' to the feet and has shown a high success rate in reducing these problems.
The side effects seem to be very minimal and are those associated with receiving a 'shot' in general. The only two negatives to this procedure is 1) the Sculptra can break down just like our natural fat from to much pressure and additional injections may be required and 2) since the use of this product is not approved for the feet, insurances will not cover the procedure so it is an out-of-pocket expense.
This is very exciting news and is something I am going to explore and may be offering my patients very soon.
"The journey of life is taken one step at a time... none of them should be painful." G.M. Barclay, DPM, AACFAS
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