Traditional Vs. Minimally Invasive Bunion Surgery

Traditional Vs. Minimally Invasive Bunion Surgery

In many cases, a bunion can be a mild inconvenience, but some bunions begin to grow out of control and cause a lot of pain and suffering in the foot. When a bunion causes so much pain and suffering in the foot that a person can not function regularly, then it is time to consider foot surgery.

What Is a Bunion?

A bunion develops when excess bone growth occurs outside of the joint of your big toe. In many cases, this causes your big toe to turn inward toward your other toes and creates a bump on the side of the big toe. Other symptoms a bunion can produce are inflammation, swelling, pain and problems moving around. Bunions develop in many cases due to improperly fitting shoes that place pressure on the toe and move it out of place, or because of poor genetics.

In many cases, bunions can be treated without surgery by changing footwear and using orthotics. If the bunion is too severe surgery may be the best option.

Types of Surgeries

Osteotomy is a procedure where the foot surgeon makes small cuts into the bones. The surgeon does this to make space so that he or she can realign the foot properly.  He or she may use pins to hold the bones in the corrected position while you heal. These pins can be removed later on at the recommendation of the foot surgeon.

Exostectomy is a procedure where the foot surgeon extracts the extra bone that makes up the bunion on the joint of the toe. Exostectomy is often used in conjunction with an osteotomy to correct the alignment of the toe.

Traditional surgeries call for large incisions that open up the entire foot for the foot doctor to view. With new modern technologies, there are many minimally invasive options available that only require small incisions to be made in the foot. In most cases, a foot surgeon or podiatrist will recommend a surgery that is minimally invasive as it also has a shorter recuperation window and patients tend to heal better with these types of surgeries.

If you have a bunion that is out of control, call Dr. Alan J. Discont and Dr. Krahn of Family Foot & Ankle Care, PC located in Chandler, Arizona. The number is 480-732-0033 or make an appointment online today.