A bunion can cause pain, sometimes even leading to difficulty walking. At Hudson Valley Foot Associates, with offices in Kingston, New Windsor, Wappingers Falls, Hudson, and West Coxsackie, New York, the esteemed board-certified podiatric foot and ankle surgeons understand that you’re anxious to eliminate your bunion and get back to normal quickly. They offer the cutting-edge Lapiplasty® bunion correction procedure to remove your bunion, and this approach also facilitates early weight-bearing. Call the office nearest you or click on the online booking tool to arrange your consultation now.
Bunions are a foot deformity in which the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint at the base of the big toe drifts out of position. This causes a hard bump on the side of that joint, which can be uncomfortable and even painful. Many people are also embarrassed by bunions.
You can also develop much smaller bunions (bunionettes or tailor’s bunions) in the same position in the little toe. But most bunions are in the big toe.
In addition to the discomfort or pain, bunions can also cause:
Bunions that grow quite large can alter the way your foot touches the ground and even your weight distribution. This can disrupt your balance and increase the risk of stumbling and falling. Eventually, these changes can also affect your knees, hips, and other parts of your body to cause additional issues.
Your midfoot bones work like a foundation for your upper foot and toe bones. When that foundation is unstable, the MTP joint rotates abnormally and also moves out of vertical and horizontal alignment.
So, a bunion is a three-dimensional deformity, and all three of these issues need correction for good results. For this reason, Hudson Valley Foot Associates offers Lapiplasty®, a minimally invasive surgical procedure that corrects all three of these problems and establishes a secure foundation for your foot.
Lapiplasty not only removes the bunion but also stabilizes the midfoot where the bunion originated to prevent its return. This approach yields more reliable long-term results than traditional bunion surgery, which only removes the bony bump.
Lapiplasty also offers a fast return to weight-bearing with a walking boot. Most patients can get back to their normal activities within three months.
If you’re not ready for bunion surgery yet, there are effective strategies to keep the bunion from growing larger, such as custom orthotics and changing your shoes. However, you don’t have to wait until your bunion symptoms are severe to have Lapiplasty.
Having surgery earlier means that you may be able to avoid the long-term issues that a severe bunion can cause, such as arthritis.
To learn more about bunion correction, call Hudson Valley Foot Associates or use the online scheduling feature now.