Flat Feet Fix
Reported September 04, 2008
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — About 25 percent of the population has a condition called “flatfoot” — a collapse in the arch of the foot. It can cause pain in the ankle, heel or leg and eventually the knees, hips and back. Thanks to a new procedure, doctors can relieve the pain by putting a lift back in your step.
Golfer Brian Horn shoots in the 70’s, and it feels good. From his feet, all the way up to his neck. A first — after years of pain.
“If you take a red hot ice pick and stick it in your knee; every step, every step. Pain in the feet, toes, hips, low back, neck. Everything was just not working for me,” Horn told Ivanhoe.
Chalk it up to flat feet. With no arch, Brian’s weight fell on the “inside” of his foot — throwing off his body’s alignment.
Doctor Ivar Roth rebuilt Brian’s arch with a titanium stent. Through an incision in the ankle, the stent is placed inside the foot. It forms an arch by holding the bones in place and keeping the space open.
“It’s instantaneous,” Ivar Roth, D.P.M., M.P.H., a podiatric surgeon in Newport Beach, Calif., told Ivanhoe. “So, as soon as the implant is put in — the first step down — they notice that their knee pain has gone away because it corrects the position.”
Brian’s weight shifted from the inside of his foot to straight down — relieving knee and back pain.
Foot and ankle specialist Kenneth Jung, M.D., says this surgery is one option he’d consider; but only if conservative treatments like orthotics, medication, bracing or physical therapy fail.
“The long-term studies are not yet available,” Dr. Jung told Ivanhoe.
The implant can be removed if it causes pain.
Nearly two years post-surgery, Brian has no regrets.
“I don’t feel it,” Horn said. “I don’t know it’s there. What I do know — knee pain, hip pain, low back, neck — everything’s starting to calm down.”
The surgery takes about 15 minutes per foot. The patient is sent home with a brace or removable cast for three to four weeks. About 30 doctors in the country are now performing this procedure.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
The Office of Dr. Ivar Roth
Newport Beach, CA
(949) 650-1147
http://www.drroths.com
http://www.ocfootdr.com