Foot & Ankle Care

The experts at EvergreenHealth Orthopedic & Sports Care are a comprehensive team that delivers effective, personalized care for every type of foot and ankle injury.

Ankle & Heel

The ankle and heel are responsible for supporting your foot health in a variety of ways. However, there are numerous conditions that cause discomfort and pain:

• Achilles Tendon Disorders: These can range from inflammation to tears in the tendon located at the back of your ankle.
• Chronic lateral ankle instability: These can range from inflammation to tears in the tendon located at the back of your ankle.
• Plantar Fasciitis: When the ligament in your health becomes inflamed, it can cause significant pain.
• Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome: When the ligament in your health becomes inflamed, it can cause significant pain.

Foot

It's easy to forget just how much work your feet do in a given day. But there are many different conditions that can develop, which can cause pain and make it difficult for you to depend on your feet:

• Calluses: Often caused by activity, these are hard, thick areas of skin on your foot that can cause pain.
• Cavus foot: This oftentimes genetic condition involves very high arches in your feet which can cause significant pain.
• Flatfoot: This condition involves very low arches, which can be passed down through genetics and cause pain.
• Peripheral Neuropathy: When nerves are damaged in the peripheral nervous system, it can lead to a number of symptoms including weakness, pain and numbness mostly in the hands and feet.
• Sesamoid Injuries: Injuries to the sesamoid bone in your foot, often referred to as the ball of your foot, can cause persistent pain and discomfort.

Toes

Your toes are helpful not only for mobility but for your balance and to help you remain active. Some conditions that could negatively impact your toes include:

• Bunion: This common condition involves a bony bump forming at the base of your big toe.
• Hammer Toe, Claw Toe, and Crossover Toe: These are a variety of conditions that involve your toes in incorrect positions.

Treatments for Painful Feet

Your EvergreenHealth foot and ankle specialist will listen carefully to your concerns, answer your questions, and recommend the right services for your symptoms and goals. Take advantage of nonsurgical treatments that ease your pain with as little downtime as possible. Or explore surgical procedures available from skilled surgeons with years of experience helping patients get back to a better quality of life.

Nonsurgical Treatments

There are many nonsurgical, conservative treatments for orthopedic conditions. Your provider will go over every option with you, but a nonsurgical approach often involves a variety of strategies, like:

• Rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE) method right after your injury
• Lifestyle changes, such as reducing your activity level, switching to a different type of exercise, or getting a job that puts less stress on your feet
• Physical therapy, which may use exercise, stretches, and hands-on techniques to improve strength and flexibility while reducing pain
• Medications you take by mouth or receive via injection to relieve pain and inflammation

There is also an option called Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT), which uses sound waves to reduce your pain and promote healing, most often for the heel condition plantar fasciitis.

Surgical Treatments

If your condition requires foot or ankle surgery, the expert surgeons at EvergreenHealth will help you through the entire process, from preparing for the procedure through recovery. Together, you and your doctor will discuss why surgery may be your best treatment option and what the benefits and risks are. Usually doctors recommend surgery:

• As a preventive measure to keep your condition from getting worse
• When nonsurgical treatments do not provide you with the desired pain relief or ability to continue your day-to-day activities

The entire Orthopedic team at EvergreenHealth works collaboratively across departments, to ensure you have the support you need for the best possible outcomes.