Reasons You May NOT be a Candidate for Foot Surgery | Nagy Footcare

Reasons You May NOT be a Candidate for Foot Surgery

| April 24th, 2018

Posted In: Foot Surgery

Do you think you need foot surgery? Before you start making plans to have a major operation on your foot, you should know that you might not be a good candidate for foot surgery. Plus, you might not even need to head to the operating room.

What Might Make You Ineligible for Foot Surgery?

Foot surgery is typically considered a last resort solution for your foot problem and is sometimes not an option. This can be due to the nature of your problem or because you are not a good candidate for surgery. Before you can have foot surgery, your podiatrist will need to properly diagnose you and assess your risk as a surgical candidate. According to the National Institutes of Health, you may be ineligible for surgery if you have, or have previously had, cardiovascular and respiratory problems such as heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These conditions put you at high risk for undergoing a major foot surgery.

Another reason you might not be a good candidate for foot surgery is your age. Older patients with limited mobility and lack of support from family or medical staff have a hard time sticking to post-surgery follow up care. This includes showing up for follow up visits, doing rehabilitation exercises and following nutritional requirements. Another risk factor for older patients is pre-existing medical conditions that weaken the immune system.

On the other hand, the Mayo Clinic advises against some foot surgeries such as ankle replacement if you are younger than 50. This is true especially if you have weak ankle ligaments, misaligned ankle bones, are active in a high-impact sport, are obese, smoke heavily on a regular basis, or your type or place of work demands high impact on your feet. What can you do? Consult your New Hampshire podiatrist about non-surgical options.

Are There Non-Surgical Solutions Available to You?

Because surgery is a last resort, your podiatrist will first treat you with conservative methods if possible. These may include physical therapy, injections, splints, casts, and custom orthotics. At Nagy FootCare we will exhaust all the non-surgical options first before deciding to perform an operation. We want to do what’s best for our patients and gets them back on their feet.

Minimally Invasive Surgery Instead of Traditional Surgery

People tend to think of foot surgery as this extremely painful process that takes months to heal from. However, with advancements in minimally invasive surgical techniques we are able to do less tissue damage during surgery and drastically reduce the healing time. Many patients will walk out of the office in a surgical boot, after about 2 weeks they transition to a surgical shoe and ideally another 2 weeks after that they are back to wearing regular tennis shoes.

One great example of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is HyProCure® treatment. In fact, MIS can often be the solution that’s best for you even if you are eligible for traditional foot surgery. HyProCure® treatment does not require you to be put under, is performed in your podiatrist’s office, involves only a tiny incision, and gets you back on your feet in as little as two weeks. There are many conditions that can be helped by HyProCure® including pain in the ankles, knees, hips, and back; foot pain due to bunions, hammertoes, and overpronation; dropped metatarsals with or without accompanying pinched nerves; ankle injury; and other problems associated with misalignment.

Additional benefits to having MIS instead of major foot surgery include less trauma to your foot, fewer complications such as infection or splitting of the wound, less pain and swelling, minimal bleeding, and no visible scarring.

Nagy Footcare is Ready to Help You!

If you end up needing foot surgery, go to a podiatrist like Dr. Brian Nagy who does minimally invasive surgery. HyProCure® treatment can only be performed by a certified  HyProCure® Specialist. Dr. Nagy has successfully completed the training required to become a qualified HyProCure® surgeon and has performed many of these procedures. At Nagy Footcare, our doctors and staff are experienced and compassionate, and we want to help you. We believe you should not have to suffer from foot pain. We believe you deserve to be listened to. We believe you deserve to understand your diagnosis and treatment options. At Nagy Footcare, we make it our mission to exceed your expectations. Contact Nagy Footcare today to find out how we can help you. At Nagy Footcare, our best day is when you wake up with no foot pain!

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