South Florida Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine

Foot & Ankle Center

Get relief from Foot & Ankle pain

Foot and ankle issues can keep you from enjoying your day-­to­-day life no matter your age and activity level. The muscles, tendons, bones and joints of the foot and ankle work together to help you walk, run, balance and jump; and if one element is not functioning properly the entire body can be affected, even the hips and spine. Left untreated, damage can become worse and lead to long-term loss of function.

Injuries to the foot and ankle can occur from overuse, age or trauma and treatment methods often range from noninvasive options such as bracing and physical therapy to reconstructive surgery when deemed necessary by our board certified surgeons.

If you’re dealing with pain or loss of functionality, call (772) 288-2400 or click the button below to request your appointment with one of our foot and ankle specialists to take the first step toward getting back to your life without pain.

Meet Our Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Experts

Foot & Ankle FAQs

The foot and ankle contain: 26 bones (one-quarter of the bones in the human body are in the feet!); 33 joints; more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments.

Everyday activities can cause foot and ankle complications. Wearing the wrong shoes (like high heels), overuse of accessory muscles that control foot and ankle function, as well as repetitive jarring movements can trigger a variety of injuries.

Pain, swelling, numbness and tingling can all be signs of an injury. Some medical conditions like gout, arthritis and diabetes can also affect your joint health. Heel pain, inflammation of the tendons (tendonitis), sprains and fractures are among the most common complications.

The Achilles tendon is the most powerful tendon in the human body. Tendons are strong tissues that connect muscles to bone. The Achilles tendon is located in the lower back part of the leg and works with the calf muscles to provide forceful foot movements.

Customized orthotics can reduce the biomechanical strain on your feet and body. They can also relieve alignment problems that lead to foot, ankle, leg, hip, and lower back pain. Medications or injections, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or steroids can also help ease pain.

Physical therapy can restore function, strength, and movement.

Podiatry FAQs

A podiatrist, also called a doctor of podiatric medicine, is a specialist who provides medical and surgical treatment of foot and ankle problems, including, but not limited to ankle arthritis and achilles tendon ruptures, sprains and fractures, bunions, heel pain/spurs, hammertoes, and neuromas.

After four years of undergraduate, pre-med studies, a podiatric surgeon attends four years of medical school followed by three years of surgical residency.

Bunions develop when the pressures of bearing and shifting your weight fall unevenly on the joints and tendons in your feet. This imbalance in pressure makes your big toe joint unstable, eventually molding the parts of the joint into a hard knob that juts out beyond the normal shape of your foot. Other causes include: inherited foot type, foot injuries, and deformities present at birth (congenital).

A hammertoe occurs from a muscle and ligament imbalance around the toe joint which causes the middle joint of the toe to bend and become stuck in this position. The most common complaint with hammertoes is rubbing and irritation on the top of the bent toe.
Toes that may curl rather than buckle — most commonly the baby toe — are also considered hammertoes. It can happen to any toe. Women are more likely to get pain associated with hammertoes than men because of shoe gear.

Hammertoes can be classified in two ways: flexible hammertoes or rigid hammertoes. The muscles of each toe work in pairs. When the toe muscles get out of balance, a hammertoe can form. Muscle imbalance puts a lot of pressure on the toe’s tendons and joints. This pressure forces the toe into a hammerhead shape. The are generally the result of genes, arthritis, or an injury to the toe.

Common Foot & Ankle Conditions

Common Foot & Ankle Procedures

A minimal incision ankle fracture repair or ORIF surgery is frequently accomplished with the use of several modern techniques including Fibulock Nail (Arthrex), minimal incision surgery percutaneous plating where ankle fracture plates are inserted through one or two small incisions instead of a single, very long incision and percutaneous screw fixation where bones are held with screws inserted using small nicks in the skin.

The type of treatment you will receive at South Florida Orthopaedics will be based entirely on your individual assessment. Our orthopaedic surgeons are experts at evaluating your injury and creating a plan that’s right for you. Whether it’s a simple break or a complex fracture that requires reduction, many types of fractures or breaks may be stabilized for healing with a cast, which can be done in our office. Click here for more.

This minimally invasive surgery is done through a small 1-1.5″ incision instead of the traditional long incision down the back of the leg. Advantages include less pain, lower risk of wound healing problems, quicker time to weight-bearing and activities as well as lower re-rupture rates.

The Mini-Bunion (Crossroads Extremity, TM) is a new bunion surgery technique that is performed through a small, approximately 2.0 cm incision on the side of the foot. It is carried out as an outpatient procedure and also affords less pain and swelling compared to other techniques. The Mini-Bunion allows immediate weight-bearing.

A Lapidus bunionectomy is performed through an approximately 3.0 cm incision on the side of the foot and is indicated for more advanced bunion deformities and/or those patients with an excessively flexible arch. It has been commonly performed for many decades but has recently been re-popularized by a company promoting its own plates and screws coined Lapiplasty (Treace).

Minimal incision hammertoe repair is frequently performed in the office under local anesthesia only. In many cases, a crooked smaller toe, called a hammertoe, can be straightened using one or two small nicks in the skin.

Endoscopic surgery for plantar fasciitis (heel pain) and Achilles tendonitis. These procedures are done through one or two very small incisions in a brief 10-15 minute outpatient procedure. This allows immediate weight-bearing and minimal pain, swelling, and bruising.
Minimal incision arthroscopic ankle surgery is used to treat ankle pain, injuries, arthritis, and ligament problems through two very small incisions and inserting a small camera into the ankle joint. This is performed in an outpatient setting. This provides for minimal pain, swelling, and bruising associated with traditional open surgeries and allows for an abbreviated recovery. Arthroscopic ankle fusion is another advanced technique offered.

Foot & Ankle Videos

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Patient Video Testimonials

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