Foot Surgery Procedures

Our feet help us to stay active all through the day. They are constantly under a lot of stress, as they have to bear the entire weight of our body. When there is some problem in the feet, then our lifestyle gets badly affected. There are several reasons which give rise to foot problems. It could be congenital or because of some injury or diseases like arthritis. A poorly fitted footwear can lead to some serious foot problems as well. Some of the problems can be cured by non-surgical treatments. When the problems gives a lot of pain and discomfort, then surgery is a must. Foot surgery procedures are done by a podiatrist surgeon who has special training in carrying out these surgeries.

Foot Surgery for Arthritis Joints
The toes and the ankle joints are under maximum pressure owing to our body weight. For this reason, the feet are more prone to arthritis. It leads to joint pain, swelling and stiffening of joints and sometimes foot deformity. There are three different foot surgery procedures for arthritis joints. One is exostectomy where the bone spur is removed and thus providing relief to the painful joint. Second one is arthroplasty, in which a section of the joint is taken out. It could be one of the two bones that forms the foot joint or a part of the cartilage. In certain cases, where the joint has turned stiff and painful, an artificial joint or a joint spacer is inserted. As a result, the patient gets relief from the pain and at the same time mobility of the joint also improves. The third procedure is known as fusion. It is performed on those where due to erosion of the cartilage, two bones of the joint are constantly pressing against each other, making the joint movement painful. As it is not possible to create new cartilage, the joints are fused together.

Foot Surgery for Bunions
Bunion is a kind of foot deformity, where a bump is formed on the connecting bone between the big toe and the first bone of the foot (or metatarsal). Due to the abnormal turn of the toe, the ligament and tendon of the toe region become tight on one side and loose on the other. The bum consists of soft tissue and bone. It is formed mainly due to ill fitting shoes. Other causes are diseases like polio or arthritis and sometimes its hereditary. If the bunion is not painful, then some non-surgical measures can take care of it. Or else, it is rectified with the help of different kinds of foot surgery procedures for bunions. One method is osteotomy where ligaments of the toe joint are realigned by the means of surgical cutting. As a result, the loose ligament becomes tight and the tight ones are loosened up. If the toe joint is badly damaged then it is removed by a surgery called arthrodesis. When the toe bone gets enlarged then the bump of the toe joint is removed by a surgery called exostectomy. However, it is not a very effective surgical method to rectify bunion. To know more read tailor's bunion: surgery & treatment.

Foot Surgery for Ankle Sprains
Ankle sprains occur due to a tear in the ligament. The function of the ligament is to join two adjacent bones of the ankle joint. Thus, the ligament prevents the bones from moving in any wrong direction. Any injury or sprain makes the ligament loose, which results in repeated sprains. As a result, the alignment of the bones get affected and surgery is required to straighten the bones and stabilize the ankle. There are different forms of foot surgery procedures which are used to correct this problem and are collectively known as lateral ankle stabilization. For this, a piece of tendon is taken from anywhere near the ankle area and is used to create an extended ankle ligament. In case, there is some bone deformity, which is responsible for frequent ankle sprains, then surgical removal of the wedge of the heel bone is needed. In this way, the foot gets straightened. Read more on ankle sprain.

Foot Surgery for Ingrown Toenail
When the toenail grows into the flesh of the toe, it is known as ingrown toenail. It could be hereditary or due to some deformities of toe. It can also be acquired because of wearing ill-fitted foot wears. As a result of ingrown toenail, the toe swells up and becomes painful. The surgery for removal of the ingrown nail is known as partial nail avulsion with matrixectomy. The surgical procedure is carried out with local anesthesia. In this method, the ingrown part of the toenail is surgically removed after splitting the affected nail vertically. In order to stop the regrowth of the corner of the operated nail, a chemical substance like sodium hydroxide is applied. This will make the nail matrix dead. Patients can resume work immediately after the surgery. There could be some occasional minor drainage which can be managed by putting a band aid on the affected area. Read more on:

• Ingrown Toenails
• Home Treatment for Ingrown Toenails

Foot Surgery for Flat Feet
Flat foot is a type of deformity of foot, in which, the arch of the feet is closed up and the entire sole of the foot touches the ground. This results in foot pain, making the joints unstable and walking becomes difficult. With the help of muscle training and exercises, one should try to rectify it. If those measures fail to show any results, then only the option of surgery should be availed. Surgery can permanently correct the problem. It is usually done in the adolescent age. The procedure involves creation of an arch in that area of the foot, where it should be. Surgery should be the last resort because it takes a long time to recover and the cost of surgery is also very high. To know more read flat feet problems.

Foot Surgery for Warts
Warts are elevated blemishes on the skin surface that occur due to viral infection. People want to remove warts either to prevent it from getting spread or for cosmetic reasons. The surgery procedure is not very complicated and is carried out with local anesthesia, but it can leave behind a painful scar which requires a long time to heal up. After the surgery, there is a high risk of the scar getting infected and hence, one has to keep the foot in dry condition for several weeks which means no showers. If the size of the wart is big or there are a number of warts then surgery may not be the best option, as skin may look defective. Moreover, surgery cannot stop future recurrence of warts. For these reasons, warts should be first treated with medicines and acid treatment. If these non surgical procedures fail to show any results, then surgery is done. To know more read on warts.

Foot Surgery for Hammertoes
Hammertoes is a type of deformity which makes the toe look like a hammer or claw, due to abnormal bending of the toe. Hammertoes develop because of wearing of ill fitting shoes like shoes with high heels or if the size of the shoes is less than the length of the feet. This condition leads to unbearable pain in the toes, which can be relieved by the means of surgery. It involves making a narrow incision in the toe area and removing a section of the bone of the toe joint to make it straight. Sometimes, the length of the tendon of the toe joint is increased with similar surgical procedure.

Most of the foot surgery procedures can be carried out in the doctor's office and do not require hospitalization. In some cases, for proper foot surgery recovery, a surgical footwear needs to be worn. The time required for the recovery from the surgery, depends on the seriousness of the foot problems. Foot surgery complications may arise when it is done on elderly patients or those patients who are suffering from diabetes. Hence, it is important that the foot surgery is done by some experienced podiatrist surgeon.