Kathie, 69, of Columbia, South Carolina knew she needed to see a doctor after she was forced to cover her right foot with an entire box of bandages to try and alleviate the serious pain caused by a growing bunion and painful hammertoe. That incident happened while Kathie was visiting one of her 11 grandchildren who recently enrolled in a culinary university in Colorado. “My granddaughter wanted to show me her favorite shops and restaurants. I was so overjoyed with the invitation to come along, that the thought of missing a single moment was more unbearable than the pain in my foot,” she explained. So, Kathie did what she had done for years— she wore extra-wide shoes, iced her foot when she could, and pushed past the pain until she returned home. But, after that experience, she started looking into options for treatment.

Kathie’s first visit was to a doctor she had seen in the past for a torn ligament in the same foot. He recommended a traditional osteotomy approach to treat her bunion, which is a 2D procedure that would involve shaving her bone to remove the painful bump on her foot. He also told her that, on a scale of 1 to 10, her bunion was a 12 and among the worst he had seen. He told her there would be a high risk that her bunion could return over time should she opt for the 2D correction. “That just didn’t sit right with me,” Kathie explained. “I was already fearful of the surgery and hearing that my bunion could come back just made me immediately think – no way!” She decided to seek out another opinion from Dr. Daniel Methuselah at Columbia Podiatry.

Dr. Methuselah explained that a traditional 2D osteotomy does not fix the root cause of a bunion, which is an unstable joint in the middle of the foot. Instead, he suggested Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction^™. With this procedure, surgeons can correct all three dimensions of the deformity without the need to create an artificial break in a straight bone. Instead of cutting and shifting the bone, it can be rotated back into a natural, anatomic position again. Using patented titanium plates, surgeons permanently secure the previously unstable joint in place which can significantly reduce the chance of the bunion returning. Feeling encouraged, Kathie went home to conduct her own research before making a final decision.

She looked through the Treace Medical website www.AlignMyToe.com and read some of the patient reviews about Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction^™. She even found some helpful Facebook posts about the procedure. “There were several other women from all over the country who were struggling with the same kind of pain I was.” Kathie continued, “We had each heard horror stories about the long and painful recovery associated with traditional osteotomy bunion surgery.” Getting that support and additional perspective helped Kathie decide she was ready to move forward with the Lapiplasty® Procedure and get back to living her life without pain.

Kathie had her right foot corrected with the Lapiplasty® Procedure in January 2019 and was walking in a boot within just a few weeks. “I thought I would have been in severe pain for a long time, but that simply was not the case,” she explained. “I made sure to share my experience with the women I met on Facebook and many of them have since opted for the same procedure too.”
Happy with her results, Kathie continues to share her story with others who are struggling with bunion pain. “You should see my before and after x-rays! You will not believe the difference,” she likes to tell others. She now feels there is nothing holding her back from enjoying every moment to the absolute fullest with her husband and growing family.

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 and malunion.