|
Conservative
Care
In some instances, treatment
only requires wider or modified shoes. Some acute
problems benefit from ice or physical therapy and/or
injection therapy. Using a bunion shield often protects
the area and eliminates pain.
Biomechanical
Care
For some patients, an abnormal imbalance in their
foot affects the way they walk and produces misalignment
of joints and tendons, causing bunions.
If this is the problem, a doctor may make a special
shoe insert called a “functional orthosis”. Based
on a mold of your foot, this insert corrects your
walk, restoring stability to joints and tendons.
However, if a bunion has progressed too far, surgery
may be required.
Surgical Care
With
the recent advances in surgical care and equipment,
bunion procedures can be performed with minimal disability
for the patient. Procedures are performed on an outpatient
basis at St. Mary's Medical Center usually under
IV sedation without the risk of a general anesthetic.
While no single procedure can correct every type
of bunion, by using very rigid criteria, we can now
select the appropriate
surgical procedure for a specific
bunion and anticipate good results. The
procedures fall into four general categories > |
