Nicholas Campitelli, DPM | Akron Podiatrist | Foot and Ankle Surgeon
The Foot Doc Blog – Leading Blog on foot and ankle pain
Providing information on foot, toes, and ankle pain or deformities. Questions? Please ask them in the comments section below. Check out our Youtube and Instagram sites as well.
Depending on the procedure performed to correct the deformity, recovery from bunion surgery can take anywhere from 3-6 weeks to 6-8 weeks to recover from. The recovery period is really dependent upon what the patients expectations are or their activity level after surgery. It is important to remember the surgery involves cutting bone to realign a deformed joint and it takes bone 6-8 weeks to repair itself. Your foot will be swollen for several months after surgery but again this is dependent on the activity level as well as the procedure that is needed to fix the deformity. Click here to see before and after images of bunion surgery.
Ankle pain can be very difficult for a patient to describe to their physician. It is also very difficult for general practitioners to adequately diagnose ankle arthritis if they are not proficient in performing an ankle and foot examination. Ankle arthritis will cause pain with dorsiflexion (moving foot upwards) and plantar flexion (moving foot downwards) due to the bone spurs that form around the ankle joint. The more severe the arthritis becomes, the more cartilage will erode and you will end up with “bone on bone”. When cartilage is destroyed, it cannot be “repaired” and bone articulating on bone will create more pain and inflammation. The longer this occurs the more irreversible the damage to the joint becomes.
Normal ankle joint
Arthritic ankle joint
Early treatment can consist of cortisone injections into the joint to reduce the soft tissue inflammation that occurs in the initial stages of arthritis. If injections fail and the condition continues to worsen, ankle arthroscopy to clean out the soft tissue inflammation and synovitis as well as any bony fragments that may be within the joint.
When conservative treatment fails, fusing the ankle joint is the next step. This is performed to stop motion to the ankle joint and reduce pain. While one would think the motion is needed to walk normal, pain from the grinding and limited mobility will be worse in regards to trying to walk normal. Many patients resume normal walking after the joint is fused compared to how they were walking prior to the surgery with pain and limping from the arthritis.
A bunion is a dislocated big toe joint that results in the head of the metatarsal becoming prominent appearing as bump on inside of the big toe.
While shoes and activity can aggravate a bunion, the cause is mostly genetic. So if your mom or dad had a bunion that’s most likely where yours came from.
Initial treatment consists of wearing wider shoes to help reduce pressure on the bump and toe spacers to realign the big toe while walking. Bunion splints can realign the toe while wearing it but the joint will return to it’s dislocated state when the splint is removed. A splint can NOT fix a bunion.
The only way to reduce a bunion deformity is through surgical correction. This involves cutting the metatarsal bone to realign the joint which reduces the bump. Depending on the type of procedure performed the recovery period can be 3-6 weeks or 6-9 weeks.
Plantar fasciitis (formally referred to as heel spur syndrome) is a painful overuse condition of the soft tissue and muscle that originates on heel bone and extends out into the arch. The pain typically is worse in the morning or upon arising after sitting for a period of rest.
Plantar fasciitis is an inflammatory condition that causes extreme pain to the bottom or plantar surface of the heel. The plantar fascia is a thick band of tissue arising on the heel bone and extends out into the arch of the foot.Plantar fasciitis used to be referred to as heel spurs but it is now known that the spur is an incidental finding and is not the cause of pain and does not need to be surgically removed.
When conservative treatment (stretching,night splints, anti-inflammatories,orthotics, and shoe gear modifications) fail,surgical release of the plantar fascia is indicated.This is a simple outpatient surgical procedure, when performed endoscopically, that takes approximately 5 minutes to perform and has a relatively fast recovery being that only two tiny incisions are performed.
Immediately after surgery the patient is placed into a walking boot and given crutches.The crutches are typically only needed for the first 24-48 hours. After 1-2 days the patient is then allowed to walk in the walking boot as tolerated. The sutures are removed in 10-14 days and the patient is able to return to activity as tolerated at this point.
This procedure as dramatically decreased the recovery time for those patients who previously would have had an open plantar fascia release. Endoscopic plantar fascial release is reserved for those who have failed conservative treatment for plantar fasciitis for several months.
See Video below on how the technique is performed.
What exactly is an ingrown toenail? It is when the sides of the toenail grow into the toenail borders and break the skin and create an infection. This can occur from chronic tight fitting shoes, picking or tearing at your toenails, or simply genetic predisposition.
The number one surgical procedure that I perform (everyday) in the office is surgical removal of an ingrown toenail. If you think you have an ingrown toenail, it is crucial to have this treated to prevent a more severe infection from occurring.
The image below shows how the punch biopsy is performed. An injection is administered to numb the skin. A sterile instrument is used to take a 3mm portion of skin from the involved area. The skin is then sent to pathology where it is examined under a microscope to diagnose the condition.
A nerve injury as a result of an accident left this patient with a drop foot and contracted ankle making it difficult for her to even do simple tasks. After two years of limping and trying to function with braces, she elected to attempt a surgical reconstruction. Our team was able to reconstruct her ankle allowing her to walk normal again. Watch Audrey’s story below!
Is it a good idea to keep having your ingrown toenail fixed while getting your pedicure done? Probably not. The risk of developing a toenail fungus or even a severely infected ingrown toenail greatly increases by having someone pick at the side of your toenail.
