Wanda Ward had a closet full of shoes she couldn’t wear.
“It was just too painful for me to wear closed-toe shoes,”
admits the 81-year-old great-grandma. “For years and years, I have been dealing
with this corn on my left foot. I would have it treated, and three weeks later
it would be back. It was very, very painful.
“Then one day, I saw an article called “A Stitch in Time”
about Dr. Starrett. I thought,
There’s my
podiatrist, right there
.”
Wanda scheduled an appointment with Clare H. Starrett,
DPM, a board-certified podiatrist with offices in Bradenton and on Anna Maria
Island.
“Wanda had a chronic lesion [area of abnormal tissue] on
the side of her toe that caused pain and difficulty wearing most shoes,”
remembers Dr. Starrett, “so we took an x-ray.”
Dr. Starrett explains that she uses an x-ray machine
designed specifically for podiatrists: “It is important that we can see our
patients’ feet while they are bearing weight. When people stand, their foot
flattens out and changes shape, so our weight-bearing x-ray [also called a
functional x-ray], can detect a bone lesion. Oftentimes, corns and calluses are
not skin problems at all but are actually caused by sharp edges or spurs of the
bone.”
That was the case for Wanda.
“The x-ray revealed a little piece of bone projecting
directly under the point where Wanda’s corn developed,” says Dr. Starrett, “so
we found the cause of the pain.”
One-stitch surgery
Dr. Starrett offers a one-stitch surgical procedure for
the relief of minor but annoying and painful foot problems such as corns,
hammertoes, ingrown toenails, and chronic shoe irritation caused by bone spurs.
Using specifically designed instruments and a tiny incision, she quickly
removes the cause of the problem in the relaxed comfort of her office.
“The advantages of the one-stitch procedure are less
tissue trauma, less pain, and no need for rehabilitation,” spells out Dr.
Starrett. “Not every patient is a candidate for this type of surgery. For
instance, it is not indicated for severely deformed or misshapen feet that
require more extensive surgery. However, patients who find themselves going
regularly to have ingrown toenails trimmed or corns removed may be good
candidates for this type of procedure. Also, diabetic patients may be good
candidates because bone spurs can be future sites of ulcerations and it is
important they avoid foot infections.
“For patients with contracted toes, one-stitch surgery is
a quick, easy method to correct the problem.”
Dr. Starrett explains the convenient office procedure she
used for Wanda’s corn: “Once the area is numbed with a small amount of local
anesthetic, a one-centimeter incision is made on the top of the toe rather than
between the toes in the tender skin. Using a tiny instrument, I smooth off the
rough projection of bone, then close with a single stitch.”
“It was an instant relief,” marvels Wanda, “and Dr.
Starrett couldn’t be sweeter. Between her and her staff, I couldn’t be happier
with the treatment I received.
“I can’t wait to wear all of my shoes. I’m just thrilled
to pieces.”