“I’ve always had a problem with hammertoes,” says George Horan. “The toe next to the big toe on my left foot had a red dot on top of it from the time I was a young boy, but it never gave me any trouble until I was an adult.

“It used to bother me once in a while, then go away,” he says. “Then it would bother me again, and go away again.”

Misalignment of the joint of the great toe can result in unequal distribution of pressure on the foot when walking, and can also lead to the formation of calluses and the development of the sometimes painful condition called hammertoe.

In George’s case, the hammertoe began to give him trouble during a trip to Las Vegas.

“As long as I wore sneakers, I could do anything I wanted,” he clarifies. “But if I put on dress shoes, that foot was very uncomfortable. My toe was aching. I thought, Well, there’s no sense in putting up with this .”

Hammertoe correction

When he returned from Vegas, George contacted board-certified podiatrist Keith J. Kalish, DPM.

Dr. Kalish is one of a select group of podiatric surgeons who hold dual certifications from the American Board of Podiatric Surgery and the American Board of Podiatric Orthopedics. He explains that in his practice, he offers comprehensive treatment for podiatric problems.

“We treat all painful conditions,” he says, “from plantar fasciitis to bunions, hammertoes, heel spurs, neuromas, diabetic wounds, and skin, bone, and muscle problems.”

Dr. Kalish recommended conservative care to alleviate George’s pain.

“Everyone receives conservative treatment before we consider a surgical solution,” emphasizes the doctor. “In fact, patients with hammertoes often do well if we just use a little medicine in the office, trim the corn or callus down, and provide some padding or strapping.”

A small group of patients, however, are best served by an outpatient procedure, and George was one such example.

“A callus or corn can actually go on to form an ulceration,” explains Dr. Kalish. “Because the bone is prominent, the toe is contracted, and the skin is really reacting to the underlying bone structure. By changing that, we provide a long-term solution.

“For the last several months, we have been using a new digital implant,” adds Dr. Kalish, “which is what we did for George. It’s a metal implant that is actually placed inside the joint. What’s nice about the digital implant in this location is that it tends to maintain the correction over a longer period of time than traditional hammertoe correction surgery.”

“Perfect” result

George was surprised and pleased by the ease of the digital implant procedure.

“There was very little discomfort,” he reports. “I was able to walk right away afterwards; I just had to wear that surgical boot that they give you.

“I limited myself to a degree, but all in all, I did what I wanted to do.”

And the results?

“They’re perfect! The foot is back to normal, I have no pain with it, and I can wear those dress shoes now,” says George. “In fact, I had them on yesterday.”

He thanks the doctor for helping him, noting that he would recommend him to anyone with a similar problem.

“Dr. Kalish is very well organized, and he knows exactly what he’s doing,” George assures. “Everything went perfect.”

FHCN – Michael J. Sahno