New foot surgery textbook

According to a 2012 report in the Huffington Post, amongst all the myths surrounding surgical treatment options for bunions, some of the most common misconceptions are that it must involve painful surgery with general anesthesia, recurrence, slow recovery, and severe scarring. However, the fact remains that bunion surgery can be minimally invasive with smooth recovery and results.

This year, a new textbook entitled Minimally Invasive Forefoot Surgery in Clinical Practice, edited by orthopedic surgeons Nicola Maffulli and Mark Easley, was published by Springer press. This book features a chapter by Toronto podiatrist Sheldon Nadal, D.P.M. who presents such a solution in his chapter Minimally Invasive Modified Wilson Osteomy for the Treatment of Hallux Valgus. In this chapter, Nadal highlights how effectively this procedure can be performed for bunions on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia. This allows people  to walk immediately after surgery without the need for casts or crutches.

Other chapters include information on treatment options for people suffering from pain and inflammation at the ball of their feet due to dropped metatarsals, as well as surgical treatment for hammertoes , and claw toes. All of these conditions can be treated with Minimally Invasive Surgery outpatient procedures using local anesthetic, a specialty of Toronto podiatrist Sheldon Nadal, D.P.M.

For more information visit our home page at Toronto, Ontario Podiatrist

If you or someone you know suffers from unpleasant bunion or other foot deformities, call Our Toronto PodiatryOffices at 416-486-9917.

Source: Minimally Invasive Forefoot Surgery in Clinical Practice 

A bunion is a deformity at the side of the foot near the big toe joint, due to an enlarged bone and/or a deviated big toe joint.  This causes a bump which is unsightly and can rub in shoes and become painful.

In the opinion of Toronto podiatrist Sheldon Nadal, bunions are due to a hereditary biomechanical imbalance.  They are not caused by shoes but can be aggravated by the wrong type of shoes.

Pointed toed shoes can contribute to the development of bunions by forcing the toes out of alignment.

In addition, shoes with heels higher than two inches can cause a shifting of the body weight forward, putting extreme pressure on the ball of your feet and toes.  This extra weight contributes to the development of the bunions as well as painful calluses at the ball of the feet.  Low heeled ballet type shoes while not causing pressure at the front of the foot, can also cause problems because they tend not to have support under the arches.

Bunions can now be treated with Minimally Invasive Foot Surgery techniques along with local anesthetic in our Toronto foot surgery clinic.

If you, or someone you care about are developing bunions, please call my Toronto podiatry office at 416-486-9917 to fund out how to prevent bunions.  If you already have bunions, I will explain how I can correct them.

In an article in the National Post on March 25 2013, Dr. James Aw points out that many patients with colds, coughs and  upper respiratory infections often demand a prescription for an antibiotic from their family doctor.  In many cases, the doctor will give in, even though the doctor knows that the vast majority of coughs, colds and upper respiratory infections are due to viruses.  Antibiotics do not kill viruses.  In fact, in a reasonably healthy patient the viruses are self-limiting, which means they will resolve on their own due to the body’s natural defenses.  Unfortunately, the frequent use of antibiotics can lead to the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria which are becoming more difficult to treat since the bacteria tend to mutate faster than new drugs can be created.  This can eventually lead to a scenario where antibiotics no longer work against a disease causing bacteria.  Consequently if your family doctor says that you do not need an antibiotic, it is to everyone’s advantage to not take them unnecessarily.

In my Toronto podiatry office, when I perform Minimally Invasive Surgery for Bunions, hammertoes, corns and bone spurs with Local Anesthetic, I do not give the patient a prescription for an antibiotic prior to the surgery unless specifically indicated by the patient’s history.   In the rare case that the patient does develop a post-operative infection, I will not hesitate to prescribe the appropriate antibiotic.  In my opinion, however, patients who undergo minimally invasive surgery have a lesser chance of developing an infection after surgery because tourniquets, which are often used in conventional surgery to cut off blood flow during surgery, are not necessary with this technique.  This, along with the smaller openings used in minimally invasive surgery tends to greatly reduce the chance of post-operative infection.

If you, or someone you care about, suffer from Bunions, hammer toes, corns, calluses or, painful bone spurs, please call my Toronto foot clinic at 416-486-9917 to find out how you can be helped by minimally invasive techniques.

And remember, if your doctor says you don’t need antibiotics, don’t insist on taking them. 

According to the National Post, on Wednesday, February 27, 2013, Wendy Barringer of Halifax, Nova Scotia has been waiting eleven years to have foot surgery for her bunions.  Apparently, there is only one foot surgeon in Nova Scotia who has a waiting list of 3500 people.  The Health and Wellness minister for Nova Scotia is David Wilson who says his province's NDP government is “working hard” to make sure “that the province has a good compliment of surgeons and specialist”, yet claims there is no money to hire more surgeons.

Someone should tell Wendy and Mr. Wilson about podiatrists who perform Minimally Invasive Surgery for Bunions .  We perform surgery for bunions, hammer toes, corns, calluses and bone spurs under local anesthetic in our offices, thus keeping patients out of the hospitals and saving money for the government.

We do this with specialized instruments which allow us to work through very small openings in the skin. This results in less soft tissue trauma which usually means less post-operative pain, selling and disability. 

If you or someone you know suffers from bunions, hammer toes, or other foot problems please call my Toronto podiatry office at 416-486-9917

We will arrange a private consultation and I will tell you how I can help.  Don’t suffer for eleven years like Wendy.  

                                                                                                            CBC photo

Yesterday morning, a very lovely 65 year old lady came to my Toronto podiatrist office, from King City Ontario, to have minimally invasive surgery for her left bunion.

I had the pleasure of performing bunion surgery on her right foot 24 years ago.  Here is a Polaroid picture, taken 24 years ago, of her right foot.  Notice the bunion deformity.  The pen marks are landmarks that I draw on the foot prior to surgery.

Here is what her right foot looks like today. As you can see the bunion has not returned.  This, of course does not guarantee that your bunion will not return if you have foot surgery. However, when the correct procedure is performed, it is my experience that the vast majority of bunions will not come back.

The key is that it is not enough to just remove the bump. The first metatarsal bone, which is the long bone behind the big toe and has drifted away from the second metatarsal, must be made straighter.  This is usually done by performing an osteotomy (cutting through the bone), repositioning the metatarsal and holding the bone in the corrected position for approximately six weeks.  This can be with minimally invasive foot surgery.

I do this work with local anesthetic.  As the name suggests, podiatrists work through very small openings in the skin with specialized instrumentation.  This results in less soft tissue trauma and usually considerably less pain, swelling and disability compared to conventional foot surgery performed in the hospital with hammers, chisels and saws.

My patients may begin to walk immediately and rarely require casts, crutches or strong pain medication.

If you or a loved one suffer from bunions or any other foot problems, please contact my office at 416-486-9917. My staff will be happy to set up a private consultation for you so that you can find out how you can walk away from bunions.