Guide 6 Most Common Foot Surgeries

With 26 bones, 33 joints and a whole bunch of tendons, ligaments and muscles, your feet have any number of ways that they can cause you pain, discomfort, and other problems.

Many of these issues can usually be addressed through non-surgical treatments, including medication, lifestyle adjustments, or changes in footwear.

Avoid Runner Foot Ankle Injuries

Sometimes, however, when problems are severe or other treatments have not effectively resolved the problem, surgery may be necessary to get you back on your feet.

As with other surgical procedures, foot and ankle surgery can be either inpatient or outpatient, involve local or general anesthetic, and take anywhere from hours to weeks to recover from.

While the following is not a complete list of podiatric surgical procedures, these are some of the most common:

  • Bunion Surgery – A bunion develops in a crooked joint that sticks out at the base of the big toe. Bunion surgery involves removing or realigning the soft tissue and bone in the area to bring the joint back into its correct alignment. In order to keep the bones in place, small screws, plates, or wires may inserted as part of the surgery.
  • Hammer Toe Surgery – The contraction of joints in our lesser toes (all toes except the big toe) that lead to hammer toe can usually be treated by changing footwear, using protective padding, and reducing calluses. If those measures don’t work, your podiatrist may recommend removing a small portion of the impacted toe bone to realign it or may fuse the toe joint.
  • Heel Surgery – Plantar fasciitis can lead to extremely painful heel spurs, which are calcium deposits that cause a bony protrusion on the underside of the heel bone. Spurs can often be treated with exercise, custom-made orthotics, anti-inflammatory medications or cortisone injections, but surgery, usually involving plantar fascia release with or without heel spur excision can relieve the pain and restore full mobility.
  • Metatarsal Surgery – Metatarsal surgery is most often performed on the first metatarsal in order to correct bunion deformities. Problems with the bottom or ball of the foot may sometimes be addressed by surgery on the lesser metatarsals which can redistribute the weight bearing on the ball of the foot.
  • Neuroma Surgery – Neuroma surgery involves the removal of a benign enlargement of a nerve, usually between the metatarsal heads in the ball of the foot. The nerves between our toes can sometimes become inflamed and painful, either because of genetics or external factors such as improper footwear or excessive pressure. Neuroma surgery can be performed to remove benign enlargements of those nerves.
  • Fusion Treatments – Painful arthritic conditions can be relieved with a fusion procedure. Cartilage and any diseased bone is removed, exposing the underlying bone on both sides of the effected joint. These joint surfaces are then compressed together to create the fusion. This procedure can include the use of screws, plates or pins.

Call Our Foot and Ankle Specialists Today

These are just a few of the podiatric surgical procedures we perform at JAWS Podiatry.

We know that no one wants to undergo surgery if they don’t have to, so our foot and ankle specialists will explore all possible alternatives to see if a non-surgical solution can address your problem.

If we do recommend surgery, our experienced podiatrist will perform your procedure with the utmost care and precision, using the most advanced technology and methods.

Please contact us today at (954) 922-7333 or send us a message to schedule a consultation.

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