Foot & Ankle Care

Struggling with foot and ankle pain can transform simple activities into daunting tasks, deeply affecting your overall well-being. The foot, a complex structure with 26 bones, myriad joints, and a network of muscles, tendons, and ligaments, plays a pivotal role in how we move, balance, and carry ourselves through life. Similarly, the ankle acts as a crucial hinge, facilitating essential actions like running, jumping, and even pedaling a bike. Here at the North Country Orthopaedic Group, our orthopedic experts are committed to recognizing and addressing the nuances of foot and ankle health, aiming to elevate your quality of life by restoring your natural movement and comfort.

Common Conditions: Navigating Foot & Ankle Challenges

The foot and ankle bear the brunt of daily activities like walking and running, making them prone to a variety of problems. Issues such as arthritis in the foot or ankle, bunions causing painful bumps, and hammertoes with their bent joints, are just some of the common conditions that can disrupt your daily life. These conditions highlight the need for proper care and attention to keep you moving comfortably and without pain.

Common foot and ankle conditions include:

• Acquired deformities, such as Arthritis (foot, ankle, great toe), Bunions and Hammertoes;
• Structural conditions such as Flatfeet and High-Arched Feet;
• Injuries and trauma such as sprains, fractures, and cartilage lesions; and
• Ligament and tendon pain and instability, such as Achilles Tendon tears and ruptures.

Expert Care at NCOG: Your Path to Recovery

At NCOG, we specialize in diagnosing and treating a wide array of foot and ankle conditions, from ligament and tendon pain and instability, including Achilles tendon tears and ruptures, to addressing the root causes of your discomfort. Our approach combines advanced medical treatments with personalized care plans designed to target your specific needs, ensuring a recovery path that's tailored just for you. Whether your condition requires conservative management or surgical intervention, our skilled orthopedic doctors are committed to helping you regain your strength, mobility, and quality of life.

Take the Next Step: Find Relief for Foot & Ankle Pain with NCOG

If foot and ankle issues are limiting your mobility and affecting your daily life, it's crucial to seek expert care. At NCOG, we specialize in addressing and treating a wide range of foot and ankle conditions, ensuring you get back to your active lifestyle without discomfort. If you are suffering from foot and ankle pain and disability, give us a call at (315) 782-1650 or request an appointment online now.

NCOG Foot & Ankle Procedures

Forefoot

• Cheilectomy/Moberg: A surgical procedure to remove bone spurs from the big toe, relieving pain and improving movement.
• 1st MTP fusion: A surgery to permanently join the bones at the base of the big toe to relieve severe pain and improve stability, often due to arthritis.
• Cartiva implants: A synthetic cartilage implant used to treat arthritis in the big toe, helping to reduce pain and maintain more natural foot movement.
• Bunion (Lapidus or Scarf): Surgical procedures to correct the alignment of the big toe; Lapidus focuses on the joint at the base of the toe, while Scarf addresses the bone directly.
• Hammertoe: A condition where a toe bends unnaturally at the middle joint, often corrected with surgery to straighten the toe and relieve discomfort.
• Neuroma: A painful condition often felt between the toes, caused by thickened nerve tissue; treatment can range from shoe inserts to surgery for relief.
• Metatarsal fractures: Breaks in the long bones of the foot, often treated with rest, protective footwear, or surgery depending on the fracture's severity.
• Sesamoid excision: The removal of one or both of the small bones (sesamoids) beneath the big toe joint, usually due to pain or arthritis.

Midfoot

• Midfoot fusions for arthritis: A surgical procedure that joins together bones in the middle part of the foot to relieve pain and improve stability, often recommended for severe arthritis.
• Lisfranc fractures: Injuries to the bones or ligaments in the midfoot region, where the long bones leading to the toes connect to the rest of the foot, often requiring immobilization or surgery to heal properly.

Hindfoot

• Flatfoot reconstruction: A surgery to correct the arch in a foot that has collapsed, improving its structure and function to relieve pain and restore mobility.
• Triple Arthrodesis: A surgical procedure that fuses three key joints in the hindfoot to alleviate pain, correct deformity, and improve stability, often used for severe arthritis or flatfoot deformity.
• Subtalar fusion: This procedure involves joining the bones in the subtalar joint, located below the ankle, to eliminate painful movement, typically due to arthritis or injury.
• Cavus foot reconstruction: A surgical intervention aimed at correcting a foot with an abnormally high arch, which can lead to pain and instability, by realigning and sometimes fusing certain bones.
• Calcaneus fractures: Breaks in the heel bone, often resulting from a high-impact injury, and treatment can range from wearing a cast or boot to undergoing surgery to realign the bones.

Ankle

• Achilles rupture: A tear in the Achilles tendon, the strong band of tissue connecting the calf muscle to the heel, often requiring surgery to repair and a significant recovery period.
• Achilles tendinosis: A condition characterized by pain, swelling, and stiffness of the Achilles tendon due to overuse, typically treated with physical therapy, rest, and sometimes surgery.
• Ankle Fusion: A surgery to permanently join the bones of the ankle joint, eliminating painful movement caused by arthritis or injury, but limiting ankle flexibility.
• Ankle replacement: Replacing the damaged surfaces of the ankle joint with artificial components, aimed at reducing pain and preserving more natural movement compared to fusion.
• OATS (talus): A surgical procedure (Osteochondral Autograft Transfer System) that transfers healthy cartilage to a damaged area of the talus bone in the ankle to repair cartilage defects.
• Ankle fractures: Breaks in one or more bones that make up the ankle joint, with treatment ranging from casting to surgery, depending on the severity of the fracture.
• Peroneal tendon injury: Damage to the tendons running alongside the outer ankle, leading to pain, swelling, and instability, treated with rest, physical therapy, or surgery.
• Ankle arthroscopy: A minimally invasive surgery using a camera and small instruments to diagnose and treat problems inside the ankle joint, such as removing loose fragments or repairing tissue.
• Talus microfracture/biocartilage: A technique to stimulate the growth of new cartilage in the talus bone of the ankle through creating small fractures, sometimes combined with biocartilage to enhance repair.
• Brostrom: A surgical procedure to repair ligaments on the outer side of the ankle to correct chronic instability, tightening the ligaments for improved support.
• Gastrocnemius recession: A surgery to lengthen the calf muscles (specifically the gastrocnemius muscle) to relieve tension and improve mobility in patients with difficulty flexing their feet upwards.