Minimally Invasive Bunion Surgery: All Your Questions Answered

If you’ve discovered you need surgery to correct your bunions, you might be imagining a long recovery period where you spend months off your feet. Thankfully, because of cutting-edge surgical techniques, you no longer have to choose between living with the severe pain bunions cause and a lengthy, disruptive recovery period.

Thomas Rambacher DPM FACFAS, FAPWCA, the primary podiatrist at Podiatry Hotline Foot and Ankle in Mission Viejo, CA, is a board-certified podiatrist and specially trained in performing minimally invasive bunion surgery. Learn more about the benefits of PROstep™ Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS), and how it decreases your pain and post-operative recovery period.

What are bunions?

Bunions are painful, swollen deformities that usually occur in some people by the big toe joint. As they swell, bunions cause a large bump on the outside of your big toe. As the bunion gets worse, your big toe can turn inward, pressing into or even overlapping your second toe.

Bunions alter the way your feet are structured and can cause foot pain, redness, swelling, tenderness, and reduce your big toe’s mobility. In milder cases, Dr. Rambacher treats bunions using conservative measures, but if your bunions are severe, surgery is the best option to preserve your foot’s functioning and health.

What is PROstep MIS?

PROstep MIS is a minimally invasive bunion surgery only offered by board-certified podiatrists specially trained in the procedure. As a Fellow of the American Board of Podiatric Surgery trained in this PROstep MIS, Dr. Rambacher offers this revolutionary technique to his patients.

If you have bunions causing severe pain or disruption to activities, PROstep MIS can restore your quality of life without needing a long recovery time. PROstep MIS patients enjoy reduced pain, smaller post-operative scars, and a quicker return to foot functionality.

What makes PROstep MIS minimally invasive?

Your PROstep MIS surgery is minimally invasive thanks to the specialized techniques Dr. Rambacher uses during the procedure. Unlike traditional open bunion surgery, the minimally invasive techniques use tiny surgical tools to make micro incisions that correct your bunions.

The percutaneous micro incisions Dr. Rambacher makes are only 0.3 to 0.5 cm long. As a result, your soft tissues are less disrupted during the procedure, allowing you to get back on your feet quickly, experiencing less swelling, pain, and significantly lowering your risk of post-operative infections.

What results can I expect from PROstep MIS?

After surgery, most of Dr. Rambacher’s patients who’ve undergone PROstep MIS are back on their feet in days and enjoying many of their usual activities. At first, you’ll wear a walking boot while going about your typical day. You’ll be back to wearing regular shoes in six weeks.

With the minimal swelling and scarring, you experience after surgery, your feet will have an aesthetically pleasing appearance, with little to no evidence surgery took place. You can look forward to living a pain-free, active lifestyle shortly after getting PROstep MIS surgery.

Thanks to PROstep MIS and other minimally invasive bunion surgeries, you can regain pain-free, bunion-free feet with a minimal recovery period. To learn more about minimally invasive bunion surgery and determine if you’re a candidate for the procedure, contact the Podiatry Hotline Foot and Ankle team by calling us or using the online booking tool.

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