At the San Roman Podiatric Medical Clinic we care about the health of your feet, so we will explain the benefits of minimally invasive surgery to treat bunions and claw or hammer toes.
We have 40 years of experience performing minimally invasive surgery and specializing in the treatment of foot deformities, especially bunions and hammertoes.
We have a medical and podiatric team headed by Dr. San Roman, pioneers in percutaneous foot surgery in Europe. We can speak properly about the subject.
Benefits of having minimally invasive surgery
In every medical center in the world, patients are the mainstay. In our case, the effort is directed so that you receive an optimal integral service, with the quality you deserve and in a personalized way.
Our medical team is prepared to detail the future results of each treatment that requires surgery, taking into account that, depending on the medical condition, it may vary from one patient to another.
Our minimally invasive surgical treatments have the following advantages:
- As it is an outpatient surgery, you can perfectly well walk out, without any support.
- During the postoperative period you will feel minimal discomfort.
- The common complications of general anesthesia are not felt with local anesthesia.
- Recovery is faster thanks to a millimetric incision that also produces very little postoperative pain since it does not touch the soft tissues or joints.
- Our surgeries do not require screw fixation or needle fixation.
- The risk of infection is minimal, but tissue healing is much better and faster.
- Long-term results are excellent
What are bunions and how do they develop?
Toe deformities, especially bunions, are very common, which is why a high percentage of the population of Spain has this type of imperfection.
At the San Roman Podiatric Medical Clinic, bunions are the main reason why patients come to see our podiatrists.
Bunions are a deformity that deviates the first toe causing the other toes to also suffer deformities. There are cases in which claw toes or bunions develop independently.
In other words, the bunion causes the big toe to deviate toward the second toe, putting pressure on it and causing the second toe to become deformed as well.
You should know that the big toe is composed of two phalanges while the rest has three bones the proximal, middle and distal.
Bones join together and form joints and tendons make the fingers move, these are called extensors and flexors.
What can cause this type of deformation:
- The type of footwear you wear.
- The structure of your foot
- Previous injuries
- Inflammatory diseases
It should be noted that the impact of bunions is directed to the other toes, causing deformities. For this reason, at the San Roman Podiatric Medical Clinic we recommend correcting bunions to avoid deforming the toes.
With prevention you will also be avoiding more complex and painful surgical treatments.
Claw or hammer toes
In the case of claw or hammertoes, the deformity is caused by an imbalance in the structure of the tendons, ligaments and muscles of the fingers. This specific deformity is known as claw, gooseneck or hammer.
This imbalance is caused by: constant pressure, anatomical alterations or neurological disorders. It is produced by posterior flexion of the phalanx above the metatarsophalangeal joint and flexion of the proximal and distal joints.
What can cause this type of deformation:
- Type of footwear, especially those with narrow toes and high heels
- Bunions cause instability and deform the other toes.
- Previous injuries, e.g. surgery that has caused damage to the joints
- Inheritance of muscle structure.
- Age is another factor, with time you are more at risk of finger deformation.
- Females are more likely to have claw toes.
- The size of their fingers. If your second toe is longer than your first toe you are prone to claw toes.
- Some diseases, such as diabetes, can cause claw toes.
In the early stages of the condition, deformities often go unnoticed, and if the deformity is mild you can still fit your toes into any shoe without discomfort or pain.
But over time, claw toes become aggravated to the point of dislocation, making the joints stiff and causing discomfort and a lot of pain.
In order for you to identify the stage of your claw toe, we will define the degrees of stiffness:
Flexible: The toes may be deformed but when the foot rests on a flat surface, the toe or toes are corrected.
Semirigid: At this stage the deformation is present but is not corrected when you rest your foot on a flat surface or apply manual pressure.
Stiff: Claw toes when stiff are severely deformed. This stage is painful and uncomfortable when you wear shoes.
It is the podiatrist’s job, after performing a physical examination of the foot, to diagnose the stage of deformity. When the deformity does not disappear during the evaluation and the expert determines that it is in the rigid stage, the immediate treatment is minimally invasive surgery.
Minimally invasive surgery for the treatment of bunions and claw toes
The recommendation in case of bunions is to perform minimally invasive surgery to correct the deformity and thus avoid claw toes. This deviation, known as bunions, can be mild, moderate or severe cases.
If your case is severe, the bony protrusion in the big toe is sure to be prominent and this in the short term will affect the second toe causing a deformity as well.
It is then when we recommend surgery to correct this protrusion and take care of the health of your feet. At the San Roman podiatric medical clinic we evaluate your case to determine if you require surgery with minimally invasive technique. This will depend on the degree of deformity of your big toe.
The San Roman Podiatric Medical Clinic is located in the center of Alicante, we have multiple service options aimed at preventive medicine and comprehensive treatments for foot conditions.
We have for you a qualified, specialized, efficient and expert staff that will provide care in Spanish, German, French, English; but we also have an interpreter service for Russian and Arab patients.
After a thorough physical evaluation, our podiatric doctors will tell you if you need minimally invasive surgery to treat bunions and hammertoes.
