Foot and ankle pain can disrupt your ability to walk. As a result, your day-to-day activities may be more challenging. Fortunately, when you find the right orthopedic clinic in Kansas City, you receive accurate diagnoses and treatments to steer you toward long-term recovery.
KCOA offers a variety of services, including those dedicated to the foot and ankle. While you should never try to self diagnose, we have compiled a list of common foot and ankle conditions.
Learn about hand and wrist conditions.
Accessory Navicular Syndrome
An accessory navicular is an extra bony growth in the foot. During infancy and early childhood, bones haven’t fully developed. They begin as less durable cartilage that hasn’t been calcified, so the accessory navicular doesn’t usually cause issues early on. Once the calcification process begins, the accessory navicular hardens into a bone that sits on the inner center arch. This typically happens around adolescence, and many people confuse the pain as a sprain.
Treatment: An accessory navicular excision removes the excess bone to alleviate pain and discomfort.
Tarsal Coalitions
A tarsal coalition is an abnormal connection between the bones in the back of the foot (tarsal bones). Similar to Accessory Navicular Syndrome, this connection doesn’t often cause issues until adolescence. Tarsal coalitions can lead to pain, stiffness, and severe flatfoot.
Treatment: Depending on the severity, your physician may remove the connection (bar) or fuse the joints together.
Ankle Fractures
An ankle fracture occurs when one or more of the ankle bones break and can range in severity. When you have an ankle fracture, you must remain non-weight bearing for an extended time frame. Broken ankle bones may also cause ligament damage that could further destabilize the joint.
Treatment: A brace and/or cast is usually enough to help the ankle joint heal. You may also need physical therapy or surgical intervention.
Tendon Tears
Tendon tears arise from trauma or repetitive motions that increase pressure on the ankle. Many older patients suffer from chronic inflammation at the insertion of their achilles. This can make maneuvering through daily tasks difficult.
Treatment: The severity of the tear plays a huge role in the treatment options. Some recover with bracing and injections while others require surgical intervention.
Chronic Ankle Sprains
Ankle sprains are a tear of one or two ligaments. About 95% of the time, people recover from ankle sprains and return to their normal activities. However, there are cases where someone has a chronic ankle sprain. Chronic ankle sprains result from neglecting treatment or failure to rehab the joint. As a result, the joint isn’t protected enough for ligaments to repair themselves. This leads to instability that makes you more susceptible to sprains.
Treatment: A Brostrum-Gould lateral ligament reconstruction procedure repairs the two ligaments around the ankle to improve stability.
Get the best treatment for common foot and ankle conditions at KCOA Orthopedics
The core of our success lies in proper diagnosis. An appointment with one of our providers includes the highest quality technology to pinpoint a patient’s underlying musculoskeletal conditions. From there, we can better understand which treatment will work best for you.
KCOA’s private practice model ensures our physicians can provide patients with the most value that doesn’t involve hidden fees or outlandish pricing.
For a thorough evaluation, call us at 913.319.7600 or schedule an appointment today.
