You probably have no idea how much your feet and ankles are doing for you. Your feet, in particular, help to support the weight of your entire body as it stands on them all day long. Therefore, when things go wrong with these two areas of our lower extremities, we can suddenly find ourselves unable to do anything at all; even standing up straight becomes almost impossible because our balance is off. In Arizona, there are experts ready to assist you whenever you experience foot and ankle trauma. The Scottsdale foot and ankle trauma specialists use advanced techniques and technology in offering a remedy. What should anyone understand about foot and ankle trauma?
Categories of Foot and Ankle Trauma
There are many foot and ankle trauma categories, ranging from the most common to the least likely.
The most common injury is a sprain or tears in one or both ligaments that support our ankles. This often happens after you’ve turned your ankle, making it difficult to walk easily. The pain is generally sharp but not too bad at the beginning but becomes worse as time goes on because you’re not letting it heal correctly.
A second category includes fractures, which may be simple or very complex depending on what happened to cause them. Suppose you fall off a ladder and break your ankle, for example. In that case, this type of fracture might be considered “simple” because everything can move appropriately, even if there’s an obvious deformity in the area. Severe fractures result from a high-energy injury, such as a car accident or assault.
A third category includes damage to your ankle ligaments, which may be caused by direct injuries such as stepping on something sharp, or indirect injury such as twisting your leg. A fourth category involves deformities. This is where issues like hammertoes come in and where arthritis can cause problems affecting bones and joints.
How are These Various Types of Foot and Ankle Trauma Treated?
The answer is, it depends on the specific injury, but in general, it’s about restoring function to the area so you can get back to normal. Sometimes this is done through surgery, but not always because many people can get back to normal without surgery.
Advanced centers are using minimally invasive arthroscopic techniques, which brings high accuracy in what they do.
Other conventional treatments bring positive results, such as physical therapies and PRP therapies. In addition, there are many other cutting-edge treatments, including stem cell therapies, that help initiate quick healing. If you suffer any damage to your feet or ankles, you must seek help without delay.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, each year, more than 300,000 people are admitted to hospitals because of foot-related trauma. The earlier the treatment, the higher the efficiency in the treatment.
If you suffer from foot or ankle trauma, it is vital to seek treatment as soon as possible.
Foot and ankle trauma can range in severity depending on the type of injury sustained. The more severe injuries may require surgery, while less serious ones might only need physical therapy. Regardless of how minor your injury seems at first, if pain increases over time, then it is likely that something else has caused the problem and needs attention immediately.