Is It Time to Consider Foot and Ankle Surgery?

Are your foot symptoms bad enough to warrant surgical interventions?

Have you been trying every treatment possible to help manage your foot problem? Are you not experiencing the relief you thought you would even after months of dedicated care? Are your foot or ankle problems affecting your day-to-day activities? If you said, “yes” to these questions, then it might be time to consider getting foot or ankle surgery. While surgery is often the last thing someone wants to think about it, here are some reasons why it might be needed.

What are the most common types of foot surgeries?

You might be surprised to learn about all the seemingly common conditions that could benefit from surgery. While these conditions don’t always warrant this kind of aggressive treatment, there are some cases in which it will. Here are some of the most common foot surgeries to consider:

• Bunions
• Hammertoes
• Arthritis (of the foot and/or ankle)
• Ankle replacement
• Plantar fasciitis
• Morton’s neuroma
• Achilles tendon rupture or injury
• Tibialis posterior dysfunction

Why is surgery needed?

Most people with these issues above won’t require surgery to get a handle on their symptoms. Whether you do actually need to get foot surgery will really depend on several factors such as:

• The severity of the pain
• How long you’ve been experiencing pain
• Whether or not you are responding to treatments
• Your quality of life
• Your personal needs

What are the advantages of foot surgery?

For those patients not finding relief through non-surgical methods, you may find that getting surgery could provide you with all the benefits you were hoping for including:

• Reduced or completely eliminated pain
• Improved mobility, function, and range-of-motion
• The ability to wear shoes without discomfort or irritation
• Improvement in the shape and appearance of your feet

Sometimes surgery is able to provide the quality of life that other nonsurgical options just can’t. You can always talk to your podiatric specialist to learn more about the treatments that are right for you.