Laser Bunion Treatment
What people thought to be a normal bump found on the foot is actually a bunion. A bunion may be harmless during its mild stages but as it progresses, it can cause foot abnormalities and can be extremely painful making it impossible for people to walk. Corrective treatment or surgery may be needed to improve the person’s comfort when dealing with bunions.
- Laser surgery has not yet fully evolved to become an advantage over traditional bunion surgery.
- Laser surgery is sometimes chosen by patients because of the little advantages it gives such as minimal bleeding and lesser risk of infection.
- In laser surgery, the laser is used to make the incision but it is not effective in removing the bone deformity.
- Burning the bone, which a laser can do, is not recommended.
- Laser surgery is often chosen over traditional bunion surgery because the two does not differ much.
- Laser surgery may not be the treatment of choice for severe bunions where bone needs to be removed or vaporized.
Laser Surgery for Bunion Removal
- Laser removal of bunion offers lesser side effects such as bleeding and infection.
- Laser removal of bunion will require several sessions depending on the amount of bone the doctor has to remove or repair.
- Laser removal of bunion generally has the same recovery time compared to traditional surgery.
- Walking will be delayed after laser surgery as with traditional surgery until the soft tissue and bones have healed.
- Laser removal of bunion poses the same risks as with traditional bunion removal including numbing of the big toes, sensitivity to metal or screws placed in the big toe, overcorrection, and infection.
- One advantage that laser treatment for bunions has over traditional surgery is that the doctor can utilize the laser to remove any warts, ingrown nails, or correct any other minor soft tissue problems he or she can find during the procedure with the consent of the patient.