ALTON, IL – Dr. Krista Nelson, a podiatrist recently added to the staff at Alton Memorial Hospital’s Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine, thinks that treating foot wounds is more of a marathon instead of a sprint.
That’s not an unlikely analogy for Dr. Nelson, who ran cross country and track during her high school and college years. She is in the Wound Care Center on Thursday afternoons, while spending the rest of her week in private practice with Next Step Podiatry in Edwardsville and St. Louis, where she lives.
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“Podiatry is become a more extensive field,” Dr. Nelson said. “With the rise of diabetes and also so many sports-related injuries, there is quite a need for excellent treatment. Then you have conditions such as ulcers and bunions. Those are conditions that can really make patients miserable and affect their quality of life.
“Completing the correct treatment can take some time. But the good thing about that is you can develop a relationship with patients and it’s that much more satisfying when they are healed.”
Dr. Nelson said one of her college advisors led her toward podiatry, but she also had an interest in the field from her running career as many of her teammates had foot injuries.
Dr. Nelson is a native of Northfield, Minn., known mostly for the botched bank robbery that all but ended the careers of notorious outlaws Jesse and Frank James. Dr. Nelson then earned her undergraduate degree in Biology from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, in 2005, and her medical degree in Podiatry from Des Moines University in 2009. She recently completed a residency at DePaul Hospital in St. Louis.
“So I’ve been moving a little farther south all my life,” she said. “I like the winters here a little bit better than up north, but not too sure about the summers yet.”
Dr. Nelson is excited to be a part of Alton Memorial Hospital’s Wound Care Center.
“This is a wonderful staff,” she said. “All of them are very committed to their patients. You can see right away how they develop that relationship, and that’s what I enjoy doing.”
Dr. Krista Nelson
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