A bunion forms at the bottom of the big toe on the side of the foot; this bony protuberance is quite painful and may have to be removed surgically by a podiatrist in Chicago IL. There are numerous surgical procedures that the podiatrist can elect to use, some will resort to removing bone, other procedures realign tissue; there is no one way that works for all cases.
Depending on the particulars of the situation the podiatric surgeon may elect to remove that protuberance of bone that grows out of the side of the foot. This procedure, known as a “bunionectomy” eliminates the bulging bone but it does nothing to repair the misalignment of the patient’s big toe. At other times it may be necessary to remove sections of the toe bone, this particular procedure is called an “osteotomy” and is used to straighten and align the toe in question. During an osteotomy the podiatrist in Chicago IL may utilize screws or wires which stabilize the bone during the healing process.
In many cases the ligaments around the patients toe are realigned during the surgery, this is often required because the ligaments have either become too tight or too loose. When the ligament is incorrectly tensioned the big toe becomes misaligned, pushing the big toe in the direction of the other four toes, this problem is corrected by ligament realignment.
There are cases where it is necessary to actually remove bone from the end of the first metatarsal bone. The metatarsal is a long bone in the foot; the first metatarsal is connected directly to the joint at the bottom of the big toe. Once the proper amount of bone has been excised the podiatrist in Chicago IL can then go about reshaping other bones which have been affected, including the bone of the big toe.
Depending on the complexity of the problem it may be necessary for the podiatric surgeon to actually remove a piece of the big toe joint, fusing the remainder into one. In still other cases a full or partial artificial tow joint may have to be used in lieu of a joint which is damaged beyond repair, these artificial joints are made from medical grade plastic.
Regardless of the surgical procedure the patient will be faced with a rather lengthy period to fully recover. Some surgery involves soft tissue which adds to the recovery time. Depending on the procedure that the podiatrist in Chicago IL had to perform the recovery period can last from 6 weeks to 6 months.
If you notice that your big toe is red, swollen and quite painful then chances are that you have a bunion. Depending on the stage of development a podiatrist in Chicago IL may have to perform surgery to correct the problem.
