When you sprain or fracture your ankle, injure your Achilles tendon, or deal with ankle arthritis, ankle pain can become a very real and consistent part of your everyday life. While there are many conservative and less-invasive ways to treat these ankle-related issues, sometimes surgery becomes a necessity to provide you with pain relief.
If chronic ankle pain is affecting your quality of life and other treatments haven’t been effective, our podiatry team led by Matthew Hinderland, DPM, Jordan Cameron, DPM, and Trevor Whiting, DPM, at the Foot and Ankle Institute of Colorado in Colorado Springs, Colorado, wants you to know that we offer a variety of surgical techniques, one of which could be the right solution for your ongoing ankle pain.
In this month’s blog, we highlight the different types of ankle surgery and explain when each one is used, to help you better understand if it could be the answer you need for ankle pain.
Ankle arthroscopy is a minor surgery that allows us to examine your ankle joint up close, so we can either diagnose or treat the problem.
During the procedure, your provider makes a very small incision to allow access for a thin tube attached to a camera (arthroscope). The camera gives us the necessary imaging and information needed to know how to best treat your ankle.
Once we have a better idea of what’s causing your ankle pain, we make additional incisions to insert other necessary surgical tools. If anything like ankle arthritis, instability, fractures, or impingement is causing pain, stiffness, or mobility issues, we can clean out damaged tissues and bones and make necessary repairs to get you back on your feet.
A huge perk of ankle arthroscopy is that it’s minimally invasive, meaning there are fewer risks, and there’s a shorter recovery window.
The goal of ankle replacement surgery is to replace your damaged ankle joint with a metal prosthetic to restore ankle function and mobility. A new ankle joint can address pain and mobility issues that come with ankle arthritis and haven’t been reduced with other first lines of treatment.
During ankle replacement surgery, your provider makes an incision around the joint so they can begin cleaning out the damaged material. Then they place the new metal joint and join it with the rest of your surrounding bones and tissues.
Recovery time can take several weeks as your new joint heals and fuses, and the swelling subsides. But it should be an effective long-term solution to your ankle pain.
When you fracture your ankle, tear your Achilles tendon, or severely injure any other portion of your ankle due to a sports injury or other type of trauma, surgery may be necessary to repair the damage if conservative treatments such as rest, wearing a splint, or physical therapy aren’t effective.
For ankle trauma surgery, your provider starts by making an incision around the affected area. Then, they remove any debris and repair whatever is injured, whether it’s a tendon, bone, or the entire joint itself.
If your ankle injury, ankle arthritis, or chronic ankle pain isn’t healing or getting any better through conservative treatments, surgery is the probable next step. Even though it takes time, in many cases, it’s what’s needed for optimal healing and pain relief.
To learn if any of our ankle surgery options could be the solution for your persistent ankle pain, schedule a consultation by calling our office or using our online booking feature today.
