Health & Medicine
2007-05-01 13:27:00
Are my feet ‘out of alignment’?
Now offers the most up-to-date treatment for the correction of “out-of-aligned” feet. Previously, patients were told that not much could be done for this potentially painful condition. This excessive rear foot motion is caused by abnormal motion between the heel (calcaneus) and ankle (talus) bones. Symptoms can include: shin splints, growing pains, leg cramping, knee, hip, and/or lower back pain, arch pain, and not being able to stand for long periods.
Past treatments included corrective shoes, custom-molded inserts (orthotics), or extensive reconstructive foot surgery. There is a procedure (subtalar arthroeresis), in which, consists of inserting a specialized titanium stent into the foot that limits the excessive motion and restores normal motion. The surgery is performed during a brief outpatient surgery. There is no bone cutting or tendon transfers. In most cases, only a bandage is applied no casting is required.
The procedure is usually performed one foot at a time and is already covered by most insurance companies.
Normally, the stent will just stay in the foot and never has to be removed. This surgery is completely reversible. The stent can be removed and the foot will be right back to where it started. The results are immediate. The procedure can be performed on patients four (4) years old and older. Additional procedures may need to be performed to achieve the best results.
