Walking Towards a Pain-Free Future

When should I see a podiatrist?

Many injuries will get better with rest, ice, anti-inflammatories, and activity modification. But if you’re still experiencing pain or limitations even after these measures, it’s time to see a podiatrist. Podiatrists are experienced in problems and pathologies of the ankle as well as the foot including diabetic foot exams, fractures, heel pain, foot pain, ankle sprains, wounds, bunions, hammertoe, plantar fasciitis, ingrown toenails, and more.

What’s the most common problem you see in your clinic?

Heel pain is more common than most people realize. It could be caused by several factors. Most often, it’s plantar fasciitis, but it could also be a stress fracture or tarsal tunnel syndrome (TTS). Basically, TTS is like carpal tunnel syndrome but in your ankle. All of these scenarios are easily treatable in-clinic. Other problems include bunions, hammer toes, and Achilles pain.

When should I consider having a bunion treated?

I recommend an evaluation at any point but when the bunion becomes painful you should see a podiatrist.

How is a Bunion Treated?

There are a few conservative measures you can take to help reduce the pain caused by a bunion. Unfortunately, there are no reliable, scientifically tested measures to prevent a bunion from forming or worsening. Some conservative measures include, wider shoes, different shoes, padding, injections, and activity modification. In general, conservative measures are taken to reduce symptoms.

There are literally over 100 surgical procedures to correct a bunion. However, in recent years we have learned that a bunion is formed in three different planes and actually, is a deformity of a joint more in the midfoot rather than a deformity next to the big toe. The medial prominence by the big toe is simply the clinical manifestation of the joint deformity.

With older bunion procedures, up to 50% of bunions can return. With the new procedure called Lapiplasty, there’s a significant reduction in the number of bunions that fall out of correction. The reason there’s a reduced reoccurrence of bunions with Lapiplasty is that the new procedure treats the deformity by correcting the cause of the deformity, not simply trimming the bump off of the protruding bone.

Another advantage of the new technique is that a patient can walk the day of surgery. The advancements in bunion correction technology have allowed for superior stability of the bunion correction. This is also another benefit that reduces the recurrence of bunion deformities.

Sometimes in the past, patients had a bunion procedure and the bunion deformity returned. This is because older procedures were not aimed at addressing the underlying cause of the bunion. Lapiplasty bunion correction can repair even bunion deformities that have returned.