Podiatrist London
A podiatrist's surgical services may be required to treat and perform
surgery to ease severe cases of foot pain. The foot bears all the human
body weight and is more exposed and subjected to stresses, painful
injuries and deformities. Healthy feet allow you to engage comfortably
and easily in activities and have a healthy life style suited to your
personality. However, ignored or uncared for feet can lead to many foot
problems including bunion pain, painful toenails or fungal toenail
infection. A podiatrist surgeon has studied and trained how to diagnose
and prescribe treatment for disorders, diseases, and injuries of the
foot and lower leg.
Some foot problems may not necessarily need surgery, such as calluses,
foot corns, or even flat feet. However, for problems that cause severe
pain and great discomfort to patients, surgery may be best solution
recommended by a podiatrist surgeon. Some of the more common foot
surgery procedures performed by podiatrists are for arthritic joins,
ankle sprains and ingrown toenails. The American Podiatric Medical
Association (APMA) reported that most women suffer from bunion pain
through wearing high-heeled, narrow toed shoes; bunion surgery is
performed to treat this bone enlargement at the base of the big toe.
In addition, surgery is usually also prescribed by a podiatrist surgeon
for foot infections that are difficult to treat because of the
biochemical complexities of the extremity and underlying circumstances
causing the infections. Fungal toenail infection, for example, is quite
common and causes the nails to deform, discolor, soften, peel and even
cause the loss of a toenail. When fungus has found its way underneath
the nail, the condition is hard to treat and when this happens, a
podiatry surgeon may perform laser treatment. Advances in laser
treatment for fungal toenail infection mean this is now an effective
procedure showing promising results. Usually, a new healthy nail begins
to develop after a couple of sessions.
With cases of ingrown toenail, patients often complain of a painful
toenail that worsens when wearing tight footwear and becomes more
sensitive to pressure of any kind. In the worst cases of ingrown
toenails, a podiatrist does the Vandenbos procedure to ease the pain in
the toenail without touching the affected nail. This procedure includes
incision from the base of the nail for about 5 mm then extended toward
the side of the toe in an oval sweep stopping under the tip of the nail,
about 3 mm in from the edge.
Most podiatrist surgeon pursues additional training and regularly
attends seminars and workshops to broaden and update their knowledge on
the latest treatments and procedures available in foot care. Some foot
surgery requires cosmetic surgery and some podiatry surgeons have also
studied in this field so that this surgery is also available within the
podiatry profession.
As technology advances, conditions such as bunion pain, painful
toenails, or even fungal toenail infections, can be treated quite
successfully by qualified podiatrist surgeon. Nonetheless,
self-awareness, health consciousness and proper footwear are always the
key to preventing serious and painful foot and toenail problems.
podiatrist London