Sheila Buehler has met many feet over the years. As a nurse practitioner and certified foot specialist, she saw a big need for better foot care. She founded Foot Care Professionals with the goal of providing accessible services in Rochester and the surrounding communities.

Routine foot care is extremely important to prevent infection. “The foot, acting like a spring, takes an incredible amount of force over a lifetime, and the ligaments that hold all those bones in place can get more lax, like a rubber band that is stretched over and over,” Buehler explains.

Preventative medical foot care is vital to easing pain and complications. With age-related vision issues, hand dexterity problems or medical conditions such as diabetic neuropathy, it becomes difficult to care for feet. Proper care not only provides comfort but also minimizes thickened and ingrown toenails, painful calluses, ulcerations and trauma to adjacent toes. Shoes that are sized appropriately prevent trauma to the toes that can result in corns and pressure blisters. Aching arches could also benefit from a supportive foundation from inserts.

“Painful calluses affect mobility and quality of life. They can literally cause people to fall as they avoid walking on them, resulting in imbalance,” Buehler says. She adds, “Unfortunately, painful calluses can lead to foot ulcers, so preventing pain is paramount, particularly for high-risk patients. Additionally, 25% of the bones in our body are in our feet, all lined up per our genetic predisposition and always changing over time, balancing our bodies as we perform our daily activities.”

Foot Care Professionals provides toenail and callus care plus patient assessment in a safe medical environment with disinfected and sterilized instruments. Patient education is also key so people can learn about pressure points and bone structure issues. The team also offers recommendations on shoe gear and inserts. Services offered include onsite and in-home mobile foot care.

Regular foot care is usually not covered by health insurance or Medicare unless certain criteria are present such as issues with neurovascular disease or pain. However, maintaining healthy feet is extremely important to prevent infection. Appointments with Foot Care Professionals can be scheduled by calling or texting 507-269-7827 or emailing footcareprofessionalsllc@gmail.com.

“I want to help people live well with their feet,” Buehler stresses. She adds, “People feel better when their feet feel better.” 

Thanks to Foot Care Professionals, there are now many happy feet!