Foot and ankle treatment

When pain makes standing and walking a challenge, our experts get you back on your feet with customized care. We treat a range of injuries and conditions at Aurora BayCare Medical Center.

Customized foot and ankle care: Why choose Aurora BayCare Medical Center?

Count on our orthopedic specialists for complete care to heal foot and ankle conditions. We offer nonsurgical and surgical treatments for age-related conditions, sports injuries and other injuries. Program highlights include:

• Specialized care: You’ll get care from our fellowship-trained doctors. Their extra education and training in foot and ankle anatomy ensures you get the right treatment for your specific condition.
• Convenient appointments: We offer physical therapy and follow-up care at clinics close to home. No matter where you live in Wisconsin, you’ll find an outreach clinic near you.
• Breakthrough treatments: Our regenerative medicine program uses sophisticated treatments such as plasma and stem cell therapy for orthopedic injuries and conditions. These therapies reduce pain and improve healing by helping your body replace damaged tissue with healthy cells.

Foot and ankle treatments and services

We diagnose foot and ankle problems using imaging tests, such as X-ray. Our musculoskeletal ultrasound specialist offers same-day diagnosis, so your treatment begins right away.

Our doctors treat many foot and ankle conditions with nonsurgical treatments first, such as:

Orthotics assessment and care

Our orthotics specialists use custom devices, including braces and splints, to properly align the foot and ankle bones. These devices help cushion joints and relieve pressure to reduce pain and make movement easier.

Podiatry services

Fellowship-trained doctors with extra education in treating foot and ankle problems offer advanced therapies to ease pain. Our practice providers as well as foot and ankle surgeons provide diabetes foot care and treatment for skin conditions. They also care for sports injuries and fractures.

Physical therapy

Our highly trained therapy and rehabilitation specialists design an orthopedic rehabilitation program tailored to your unique needs. We treat sprains, strains and sore muscles, often with same-day appointments.

Regenerative medicine

We use specialized treatments, including plasma and stem cells, to repair damaged ligaments (tissue that connects bones) and tendons (tissue that attaches muscle to bone). These regenerative medicine therapies, known as orthobiologics, help promote new tissue growth and preserve healthy tissue.

Foot and ankle surgery

When foot and ankle pain doesn’t respond to medication, physical therapy or other nonsurgical treatments, surgery may be the right choice for you. Surgeries we offer include:

Arthroscopic surgery

Our orthopedic surgeon uses arthroscopic surgery, a minimally invasive method that uses tiny incisions. They insert an arthroscope, a thin instrument with an attached camera, to view the area. Through other incisions, they insert miniature surgical instruments to repair damage.

Our team uses arthroscopic surgery to:

• Address early stage arthritis by removing damaged cartilage (tissue that cushions the ends of bones)
• Clean and repair damaged tendons, ligaments and bone by clearing away injured tissue
• Rebuild the ankle joint, known as ankle reconstruction, by tightening ligaments and tendons or repairing damaged cartilage
• Treat plantar fasciitis to relieve heel pain

Foot tendon transfer

Surgeons replace damaged foot tendons with healthy tendons to repair nerve damage and restore use. Doctors may use a tendon from elsewhere in your body or use a donated tendon.

Ankle fusion (arthrodesis)

During ankle fusion, surgeons join (fuse) two or more of the ankle bones with screws and plates. Joint fusion helps relieve pain but may limit function and make walking difficult.

Doctors recommend ankle fusion for people as an alternative to total ankle replacement. People may have ankle fusion because they’re overweight or have conditions such as nerve damage or frequent infections.

Total ankle replacement

For more serious injuries or arthritis, our surgeons may recommend total ankle replacement surgery. This surgery is a proven option for people with severe ankle pain and arthritis.

Foot conditions we treat

Your foot is a complex combination of 26 bones and 33 joints. More than 100 ligaments, tendons and muscles support these bones.

When injury or disease impacts the structure of the foot, pain and immobility may occur. We treat:

Arthritis and bone issues

Arthritis causes cartilage in the foot to wear away, creating painful contact between bones. We treat:

• Osteoarthritis, an age-related condition
• Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in the joints

Congenital deformities

Some people are born with foot conditions that make walking and movement difficult. Known as congenital deformities, they can impair walking into adulthood if left untreated.

Foot ligament and tendon conditions

Problems in any of the ligaments or tendons of the foot can make standing and walking painful. These conditions include:

• Flat feet (fallen arches): Tendons that hold the foot together can loosen, leading to a loss of the foot’s arch shape. This condition can make feet ache when standing or cause ankle pain.
• Plantar fasciitis: The plantar fascia, the ligament along the bottom of the foot connecting the heel bone to the toes, becomes inflamed. This inflammation causes pain.
• Sprains: Stretching or tearing in the foot’s ligaments can occur when you step or land the wrong way. This damage can make standing and walking painful.

Ankle conditions we treat

The ankle, which helps stabilize your body, includes two joints known as the true ankle joint and the subtalar joint. The true ankle joint, which moves your foot up and down, includes the:

• Tibia (shinbone): Lower leg bone that ends at the inside of the ankle
• Fibula: Bone in the lower leg at the outside of the ankle
• Talus: Bone under the tibia and fibula, known as the ankle bone

The subtalar joint, located below the true ankle joint, moves your foot from side to side. The talus bone sits at the top of the joint, with the calcaneus bone below it.

Ligaments connect the bones of the lower leg to the ankle joints. A protective layer of cartilage surrounds these ligaments.

Our orthopedic team treats ankle injuries and conditions, including:

Ankle arthritis

Over time, osteoarthritis causes cartilage in the ankle to wear down. A condition known as rheumatoid arthritis causes the immune system to attack joint tissue. Both conditions reduce cartilage that cushions the bone ends. Less cartilage means painful bone-on-bone contact.

Bone problems

Because they bear so much weight, ankle bones are prone to injuries, including:

• Dislocation: Ankle bones move out of place due to rolling the ankle, changing direction too quickly or falling.
• Fractures: Trauma such as contact during sports or a fall can break one or more ankle bones.

Ligament and tendon problems

• Achilles tendinitis: Inflammation where the Achilles tendon meets the heel bone.
• Ankle sprain: Tearing of the tendons or ligaments in the ankle. Ligaments include:
  • Anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL)
  • Calcaneofibular ligament (CFL)
  • Posterior talofibular ligament (PTFL)

Get back in the game

Whether you’re an avid exerciser or a professional athlete, our orthopedics specialists use sophisticated treatments to restore function. We work closely with our sports medicine team to get you off the sidelines as quickly as possible.

Get back on the job

Our collaborative care team works together to see and diagnose you quickly so treatment can begin the day you’re injured. We work with your employer to identify tasks you can do right away, getting you back to work while you heal.