Did you know that the average person has walked 75,000 miles by the time they are 50? That is a lot of work for your feet! It also stresses the importance of taking good care of your feet, keeping them healthy and addressing any issues that may cause pain or deformity.
Each foot is made up of 26 bones, 30 joints and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments, all of which work together to provide support, balance and mobility. The podiatrists at Premier Surgery Center are specialists in the medical and surgical treatment of the foot and the toes. While podiatrists treat general aches and pain caused by daily and recreational activities and provide education on preventive medicine, including proper shoe wear and foot care for diabetic patients, they are also skilled surgeons who treat foot injuries, fractures and common deformities such as bunions and hammertoes.
While many conditions that cause foot pain can be addressed and treated non-surgically with physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medications, braces, pads or orthotics. In other cases, a podiatric surgeon will recommend surgery to relieve pain and restore proper function of the foot. Which surgery is necessary, most podiatric surgeries can be performed at Premier Surgery Center surgery in a comfortable setting without admission to a hospital. Podiatric surgery is usually able to be completed with local numbing medication, in addition to a light monitored anesthesia that will keep you comfortable during the procedure. General anesthesia is not typically needed. Therefore, your recovery in the surgery center is quicker.
Some of the most common podiatric procedures performed at Premier Surgery Center include:
Bunions
Bunions are common. In fact, 1 in every 3 people suffers from bunions. It was once thought that bunions were caused by a poor choice of footwear; we now know that while that can be a contributing factor, the propensity to get bunions is often hereditary in nature. A bunion is a condition in which the joint of the big toe becomes more prominent or displaced. It is often recognized as a bump that bulges out from the base of the big toe and causes the big toe to bend inward toward the other toes. This, in turn, causes pain and limited movement of the toe. Bunions can be treated with a variety of surgical techniques, but all techniques aim to reposition the big toe by reshaping the bone and repositioning the joint.
Hammertoe
Hammertoe describes a toe where the middle joint curves upward and this curls the tip of the toe downward. Hammertoe often develops from hereditary factors, trauma, arthritis, diabetes, or wearing shoes that don’t fit properly or support the feet. Hammertoe can be painful and often rubs the toe when wearing shoes. This rubbing can cause corns or calluses to form. Surgery to correct hammertoe is typically successful and is aimed at removing the bump on your toe by aligning the joint so that your toes lay flat once again.
Foot Fractures
Foot fractures are common. Often caused by sports injuries or accidents, fractures can also be the result of a fall or simply walking on uneven footing. While open fractures, where the bone is visible, would be treated in an ER or emergent setting, most other types of foot or toe fractures can be easily treated by a podiatrist in a surgery center setting. Surgery to repair a fracture is usually minimally invasive and requires only small incisions to realign the bone.
Following a podiatric surgery at Premier Surgery Center, you are taken to a recovery room, where our team of nurses remains with you for an hour or two until you are feeling awake, alert, and we determine it is safe to leave. The entire team at Premier Surgery Center takes pride in offering you a quick and easy recovery and our podiatrists are committed to providing the best care and most advanced options for treatment so that you can get back to all of the activities you love!