When you have full use of your feet and ankles, you probably don’t notice how much you use them to get around. However, if your ankle joints have been affected by arthritis, you’ve likely become keenly aware of just how much you need healthy ankles to move with ease.
Arthritis describes a wide range of conditions that cause joint inflammation, pain, and stiffness. Any of your joints can be affected by arthritis, including your ankles. As the arthritis continues to settle into your ankles, putting any sort of weight on them can become nearly impossible.
There currently isn’t a cure for arthritis, and treatment typically focuses on slowing down the progression of the disease. But even the best arthritis management plan can’t stop it completely, and you may end up with significantly limited mobility.
Our team of podiatry experts, led by Matthew Hinderland, DPM, Jordan Cameron, DPM, Trevor Whiting, DPM, and Shane Soto, DPM, at Foot and Ankle Institute of Colorado in Colorado Springs, Colorado, wants you to know that we can restore your mobility for the holiday season through our ankle surgery options, including ankle arthroscopy and ankle replacement surgery.
This month’s blog explores how ankle surgery works and if it could be a viable option for you.
At Foot and Ankle Institute of Colorado, our team never considers surgery as a first line of treatment for ankle arthritis. We start with conservative measures, including physical therapy and lifestyle modifications, to help you manage pain and maintain mobility.
If these treatments start losing their efficacy and you’ve lost a lot of mobility, our team can discuss your surgery options with you. Let’s look at two of those options in detail.
Ankle arthroscopy is a minimally invasive surgery option that allows us to repair and/or remove tissues in your ankle that have been damaged by arthritis.
During this procedure, your provider makes a few small incisions to gain access to your ankle joint. Then, they insert a thin tube attached to a camera (arthroscope) to allow them to clearly see inside the joint. Once your provider can see through the camera, they insert other surgical tools needed to thoroughly clean out your joint, which reduces pain and stiffness as a result.
Since arthroscopy doesn’t require large, open incisions, recovery is much faster than major exploratory surgery.
If your ankle is too severely damaged for arthroscopy to be effective, ankle replacement surgery might be right for you.
As the name suggests, this surgery removes your existing ankle joint and replaces it with a metal prosthetic. Your provider starts by making an incision around your joint and then cleans out all the damaged tissue. Next, they insert the new metal joint and connect it to your surrounding bones and tissues.
Though ankle replacement surgery does require more recovery time than arthroscopic surgery, the long-term mobility results are well worth it.
If your arthritis has progressed enough to significantly impact your mobility, surgery is likely the right next step. Our team can sit down with you and discuss all your options to ensure you choose the one that’s right for you.
Giving yourself the gift of mobility this holiday season could be exactly what you need to start the upcoming year strong.
To schedule an ankle surgery consultation, simply call our office, or use our online booking feature today.
