We’re not talking about the old Beatles song, “I am the Walrus” (goo-goo-ga-joob).   We’re actually talking about an orthopedic deformity of the foot called hallux varus.  A podiatrist friend of mine nicknamed it hallux walrus.

Hallux varus occurs when a bunion deformity is treated with excessively aggressive surgery.  This may be due to excessive removal of the bump, excessive tightening of the capsule once the bump has been removed (the capsule is the fibrous covering which surrounds a joint), or some combination of these factors. This may occur when a bunion is treated too aggressively using conventional surgical procedures.

A hallux varus is the opposite of a Bunion. With a bunion, the great toe points toward the lesser toes and there is a large bump where the great toe attaches to the foot. In this picture of a hallux varus, the bump is gone but the great toe has moved away from the lesser toes. The lesser toes then fill in the space where the great toe used to be and this is the result.

In my experience this is very unlikely to occur when performing Minimally Invasive Surgery for Bunions, because, unlike with conventional surgery,  the capsule is not tightened up with sutures with minimal incision  surgery .   This, combined with judicious remodelling of the bump, means that you are unlikely to experience this problem following minimally invasive surgery.

If you, a friend or a family member suffer from bunions or hammer toes or any other painful foot problems, please contact my office at 416-486-9917 to set up a private consultation to find out how you can walk pain free. 

According to the Daily Mail, Kate Middleton has bunions and hammer toes which, I supect, rub in some of her shoes.  The British podiatrist who wrote the article, suggests that the best she can do is to wear round toes shoes with low heels and use plasters for her corns.   Judging by the photographs, she needs more than this.  At the very least, Princess Kate requires orthotics for what appeared to be flat feet.  These are made to measure insoles which can help to improve her foot mechanics and delay the development of her various deformities.

However, if she is really serious about getting rid of her bunions and hammer toes, she will require surgery. 

In my Toronto office I do Minimally Invasive Surgery for Bunions and Hammer toes or MIS surgery.  I do this work in the comfort of my office so my patients do not have to go to the hospital.  They listen to music or watch TV while I perform the procedures painlessly with local anesthetic.  This is how I would treat Princess Kate’s feet if she decides to come to my Toronto foot clinic for her Bunions and hammertoes.

I work with specialized istruments, through very small openings in the skin.This results in less soft tissue trauma, less pain and swelling and may result in a quicker return to many activities.

Following surgery, we do not use casts, and most people do not need crutches or canes.  I use an adhesive tape dressing which I change weekly for five weeks.  During the dressing changes, I check to see that the foot is aligned properly using a mini C-arm fluoroscope.  On the sixth week Kate would be able to take the dressing off by herself.  I would then see her every three months, for a year, to make sure everything is going well.

If you or a loved one suffer from bunions, hammer toes, Ingrown Toenails, Heel Spur Pain, Plantar Fasciitis, arch pain, or require Fungal Nail Laser Treatment for Onychomycosis or Nail Fungus, please call my office at 416-486-9917 to set up a private consultation.  Find out how you can be helped with modern podiatric techniques.

For the complete article, go to     http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2190187/Kate-Middletons-feet-Experts-advice-Duchess-Cambridge-toes.html#ixzz24DaDRzEr 

This is a continuation of a previous blog Toronto podiatrist lectures at international foot surgery conference in Cleveland Ohio.

On Thursday June 21 2012 I made the five minute walk over to the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine from our hotel in Independence Ohio where I was scheduled to lecture on minimally invasive surgical treatment for Tailors' Bunions or Bunionettes, as well as  Minimally Invasive Surgery for Bunions.

My first lecture that afternoon was on how I treat tailors' bunions or bunionettes in my Toronto podiatry office.

A bunionette or tailor's bunion is a bony enlargement at the head of the fiffth metatarsal which is the bone just behind the baby toe. as opposed to a bunion , which is an enlagement of the first metatarsal, just behind the big toe. It is generally due to a splaying of the fifth metatarsal or a separating of the fifth metatarsal away from the fourth metatarsal. This causes the foot to be wider and makes shoe fitting difficult due to pressure from the shoe against the prominent fifth metatarsal head (knuckle). People with bunionettes also often have bunions on the same foot due to splaying of the first metatarsal.

Non surgical treatment for buionettes include wide, comfortable shoes, orthotics to reduce the splaying, as well as physiotherapy and antiinflammatory medication to reduce pain and swelling.These treatments can make you more comfortable but will usually not get rid of the deformity.

The only way of acheiving permanent correction of tailors' bunions is with surgery. In the old days this meant hospitalization, general anesthesia,, long incisions in the skin and soft tissues, long scars and considerable pain swelling and disability.

However, as I explained in my lecture, this does not have to be the case. Thanks to podiatrists who developed Minimally Invasive Foot Surgery, this work can be done with local anethesia, in an office, using specialized instruments which allow us to work through very small openings in the skin. This results in far less tissue trauma which means much less pain, much less swelling and a quicker return to normal activities and no expensive hospital stays.

I am pleaseed to say that my lecture was well received by the audience which inclued podiatrists and orthopedic surgeons from Canada, The United States, Latin America and Australia.

If you or a loved one suffers from Tailors' Bunions or Bunionettes, or a bunion, or any other painful foot condition, please call my office at 416-486-9917 for a private consultation in my Toronto foot clinic so that you can find out how you can walk without pain.

It is winter in Canada and while  many of us are outside enjoying our favourite winter sports, it is alwys important to use the right equiptment.

According to the website of the U.S. Figure Skating Association, improper or poorly fitting skating equiptment may lead to injuries to the low back, patella (kneecap), hip, groin, ankle and foot.

The most common foot problems, according to the artticle, include Bunion deformities, found in 57 percent of skaters. The navicular bone in the arch was found to be enlarged 31 percent of the time. These problems may be due to improper fit or uncorrected pronation problems.

Pump bumps at the back of the heel may be due to the heel slipping in the boot, and are found in 49 percent of skaters. Hammer toes are found in 18 percent of skaters and may also be aggravated by heel slippage. Other problems include ankle bursitis as well as skin irritation and lace bite.

if you suffer from these or other foot problems and they are not solved with improved or adjusted equiptment, please call our Toronto foot clinic at 416-486-9917 for a private consultation to find out how you may benefit from consevative treatments such as Laser Pain Treatment, or, if surgery is necessary, from Minimally Invasive Surgery