Bunions are a common foot condition, particularly among women, and even though they may not require medical attention, there are a variety of treatments available to relieve the discomfort they cause. Surgery can help solve the problems people suffer as a result of bunions, but an innovative treatment like extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) can resolve your foot irritation, without the invasiveness and required recovery of surgical procedures.
Your podiatrist will be able to tell you if you have a bunion — a bony bump in the inside of your foot, at the base of your big toe — and help you choose a treatment option best suited for the specifics of your condition and lifestyle. The East Texas Foot and Ankle Centers, with podiatrists in Tyler, TX, offer cutting-edge treatments, like shockwave therapy, designed to help you quickly get back to comfortably walking around.
If simple approaches like changing your footwear to shoes that are roomier, adding padded inserts to your shoes, taking medications, icing your bunion or padding your foot to alleviate pressure on your bunion don't satisfy your needs, it's time to discuss alternative treatments with your podiatrist.
With shockwave therapy, your podiatrist applies a conductive gel to your skin, then uses a probe to send high-energy waves through the skin to the affected area. This outpatient procedure can help break up the calcium deposit and scar tissue on the side of your big toe, as well as stretch surrounding muscles and ligaments. You may experience sensitivity at the site of contact following the treatment, but those symptoms should fade with time. You may require multiple sessions, and even though shockwave therapy may help you avoid surgery, you and your podiatrist should discuss potential treatment options, should the shockwave therapy not be successful.
There are a handful of risks associated with treating bunions with shockwave therapy: Patients who are pregnant, have open sores on the affected area, suffer from heart conditions or have a tendency toward seizures should not undergo shockwave therapy treatment. To best know if you're a good candidate for shockwave therapy and to explore other options for bunion treatment, schedule an appointment with your podiatrist. Patients in the Tyler, TX, area can contact The East Texas Foot and Ankle Centers by calling (903) 939-3668.