FAQ

Your Questions Answered

What is Minimally Invasive Foot Surgery?

Minimally Invasive Foot Surgery is a relatively new way to correct foot problems in which the skin incision (usually less than 1/8 inch in length) is only large enough to introduce special instruments into the offending area.

What Types of Foot Problems Can be Corrected by Minimally Invasive Foot Surgery?

The most common problems are: Bunions, Hammer Toe, Callouses, Tailor’s Bunions, Heel Pain, Soft Corn. Other foot problems, such as ingrown and infected toenails, can be corrected without making any skin incision at all.

What are some of the advantages of minimally invasive foot surgery?

  • Since the skin incision is so small (usually requires only a one stitch closure), scarring is greatly reduced.
  • Because of the lack of surgical tissue dissection in this type of surgery, post-operative pain may be greatly reduced.
  • Since minimally invasive foot surgery can be performed in the doctor’s office rather than a hospital or surgery center, there are
  • Several advantages:
  • It is more convenient
  • It is less expensive
  • There is a smaller chance for certain post-operative complications
  • Since minimally invasive surgery causes less trauma to the tissues of the foot, no pins, wires, screws, or cast are generally required post operatively.
  • After the surgery is completed, a gauze and tape bandage is usually applied to the foot, and the patient is given a special post-surgery shoe to wear. Many patients are surprised to find that they can return to work and normal activities in no time at all!
What is a Laser?

A Laser is a device that generates an intense beam of light—light that’s man-made and not known to occur in nature. The word Laser is an acronym which stands for: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

What Does a Surgical Laser Do?

A surgical Laser beam can cut or vaporize tissue almost instantaneously. It is so precise that the surrounding tissue is hardly affected. And the beam sterilizes and seals blood vessels as it cuts so there’s generally less bleeding, less post-operative pain and less chance of post-operative infection than with conventional surgical instruments.

Is Laser Surgery a New Technique?

Not at all. Lasers have been used for everything from removal of tonsils to treatment of infertility. More recently, Lasers have been used to remove tattoos and facial skin wrinkles and even to treat disc problems in the spine. Laser use in podiatry is now quite common, although not every podiatrist owns a Laser.

Does it Hurt?

Many patients have reported that Laser surgery is far less painful than conventional techniques. Depending on the nature of your problem, Dr. Cowin will probably numb the area with a local anesthetic before using the Laser.

Is Laser Like an X-ray?

No. There is no ionizing radiation present in the Laser beam.