As a mom of a tween and two teens, April is always on the go. Along with attending school events for her children, the 39-year-old Phoenix resident also stays active practicing yoga and hiking. But, once her foot pain worsened and started to impinge on these activities, she turned to the Internet to see what her options were for relief.

April had an increasingly painful bunion; a bone deformity caused by an unstable joint that allows the big toe to drift out of alignment and progressively worsens over time. To her dismay, she couldn’t wear many of her shoes. The bunion limited her shoe choices to flats and wearing wide shoes so the pressure from the bunion wouldn’t hurt.

While she works from home in the medical field, she sometimes found herself at medical conferences having to stand all day. Her footwear options were also a concern when dressing for conferences and meetings.

After April researched bunion surgery online, she chose to meet with Dr. Jeffrey McAlister of Phoenix Foot and Ankle Institute. She “found it intriguing” that he worked in sports medicine because “those are people who need to get back on their feet as soon as possible.”

Dr. McAlister talked with April about options for bunion surgery and talked with her about Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction^™. He explained that the procedure would correct the bunion in all three dimensions and use special titanium plates to permanently secure the unstable joint. He also showed her a video from the Treace website. “The video helped me understand how the procedure was performed.” she says. “The Lapiplasty® Procedure seemed like a newer improvement designed to fix the problem. I wanted to get back to being active and hoped to never have to do bunion surgery again.”

April had the Lapiplasty® Procedure done on her left foot in May 2019. She was non-weight bearing for two weeks. “I kept my foot elevated a lot and did work while in bed. I really didn’t have pain.” April wore an ice boot that helped with the swelling. She went to school events and stayed busy around the house with the help of her scooter and walking boot. Six weeks after surgery, April was back in normal shoes.

So happy with her first experience with Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion^™ Correction, April underwent the procedure again in August to correct the bunion on her right foot. After being non-weight bearing for a week, she wore a boot for four weeks. Four weeks post-surgery, April also got the green light to gently walk in the pool in order to keep mobile. A week later, she was back in regular shoe.

April now wears all the shoes she owns and has gone back to all activities. “I thought it would be more painful. Online, some patients talked about pain after bunion surgery but, in my experience, the pain after the Lapiplasty® [Procedure] was not bad at all,” she explains.

April still monitors online sites that talk about bunion surgery and often she refers people to the Treace website to learn more – www.AlignMyToe.com. When they ask her about the pain and activity level she experienced after hearing she is a Lapiplasty® patient. “In my opinion, Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction^™ is a way better option for bunion surgery. I would tell everyone considering the Lapiplasty® Procedure: ‘this is the way to go’” April said.

Pain after surgery is subjective and can be influenced by a wide variety of factors including: how your individual doctor assists in managing that post-operatively (some doctors inject a pain control method at the surgical site, some prescribe pain medication) to personal tolerance to pain.

Only a surgeon can tell if Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction^™ is right for you. As with any medical treatment, individual results may vary and this experience is unique and specific to this patient only. There are potential risks with surgery and recovery takes time. Potential risks include, but are not limited to: infection, discomfort from the presence of the implant, loosening of the implant, and loss of correction with nonunion or malunion.