Do I Really Need Foot Surgery?

Are you considering foot surgery? Or, perhaps, are you starting to fear that surgery is going to be your only choice for a foot or ankle problem that’s been disrupting your life for months—if not years?

We hear you. In fact, we hear from people in your situation almost every day.

It’s always a little bit scary when you’re facing the unknown. However, there is some good news you should know: You don’t have to be scared!

At Waco Foot & Ankle, P.A., we do everything we can to help our patients avoid surgery, if at all possible. That includes offering some amazing, advanced conservative procedures that can get you results even when “conventional” strategies like rest and physical therapy fail.

And if you do ultimately need surgery, you can rely on our experienced, highly trained and collaborative team of surgeons to recommend (and perform) a surgical procedure that’s been precisely tailored to your condition and your lifetime.

The sooner you come see us, the more likely we can help you without resorting to surgery!

Surgery Is a Last Resort

Unfortunately, in many podiatric practices, physicians tend to recommend surgery early and often—whether that’s due to lack of training, lack of nonsurgical treatment alternatives, or any other reason.

Not here. We see surgery as a last resort.

That doesn’t mean surgery has low chances of success! In fact, most of our surgical procedures have very high success and patient satisfaction rates. It’s just that avoiding surgery is even better in most cases.

Generally speaking, surgery for a foot or ankle problem is usually only considered if:

The symptoms you are experiencing are having a noteworthy negative impact on your quality of life. This usually means you’re experiencing pain on a daily basis with normal activity. However, if normal activities are generally fine but your condition is preventing you from participating in specific activities that are important to you, such as running or playing sports, that might also qualify.
All potentially applicable non-surgical treatment options have already been attempted without success, or ruled out from the start due to your unique circumstances. Typically, we will recommend you try conservative treatments for at least a few months before moving on to surgical alternatives.

Possible Alternatives to Surgery

Calling surgery a “last resort” is all well and good, but that doesn’t mean much if it’s the only treatment that a practice is able to provide for foot pain beyond the “rest, ice, new shoes and wait and see” approach.

We’ve made it our mission to bring some of the most cutting-edge non-surgical treatment options to Waco, and have seen firsthand how they’ve been able to trigger rapid pain relief and accelerated healing for patients that weren’t responding to “conventional” treatments.

Some of these treatment options include:

MLS laser therapy. This drug-free and completely safe therapy harnesses light energy to stimulate natural anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, and tissue regeneration activities in your body’s cells. Several brief sessions (less than 30 minutes) are conducted over the course of a few weeks. For more than 90 percent of patients, substantial (and lasting) improvement is achieved.
Amniotic tissue injection therapy. The injection is made from ethically donated amniotic and placental tissues, and is packed with vital components (cytokines, growth factors, etc.) critical for tissue regeneration. One injection can lead to significant healing.

Custom orthotics. Unlike prefabricated drugstore insoles, custom orthotics are shoe inserts specially made to fit the exact specifications of your feet. The right pair of custom orthotics will provide your feet with the tailored cushioning and support necessary to eliminate hot spots and pressure points, and even improve your biomechanics.

Expect Excellence from Your Foot Surgeon

While the conservative treatments listed above (as well as others) are able to adequately address foot and ankle pain in many cases, sometimes surgery truly is necessary. And if that’s the situation you find yourself in, naturally you want to know that your surgery will be performed by an expert who has your best interests in mind.

At Waco Foot & Ankle, we have a collaborative team of foot and ankle surgeons who are all exceptionally trained and highly experienced. Through residency training and private practice, each doctor has performed thousands of successful surgeries in their career.

And because each doctor has his or her own unique specialties and training background, our team can cover an exceptionally wide range of advanced procedures, and tailor our recommendations to your specific and unique needs. There are no “one size fits all” solutions!

From deformity reconstruction to limb salvage, joint replacement, ligament and tendon repair, and so much more, our experts can ensure you get the right procedure at the right time for your condition and your lifestyle.

So Do I Really Need Foot Surgery?

Obviously, we can’t answer that for you in a blog post. Each case is different, so to get the true answer you’ll need to schedule an appointment with our team.

That being said, we can promise you that we’ll examine you thoroughly, talk with you extensively, and consider all alternatives before making a treatment recommendation that we feel will offer you the maximum benefit with the minimum disruption to your life. And the sooner you see us, the more likely we can do this without scheduling a surgery!

Call us today at (254) 776-6995 or reach out online to request your appointment.