Whenever we cut skin, the body heals the wound by forming scar tissue.  Scars around the foot and ankle tend to heal nicely, but occasionally you may be left with noticeable scars.  This tends to happen if something interferes with the skin healing, such as infection or excessive swelling.  Moisturising and massaging healed scars, as well as avoid sun burn on them, will help soften any scar. There is also deep scar in the wound that can make a joint stiff. Our surgeons use “Minimally Invasive Techniques” which creates the smallest possible scar.

Around the foot and ankle there are many large and small nerves that supply feeling to the skin.  Our surgeons are experts in the anatomy of the foot but occasionally nerves do get damaged during surgery.  Damage to a nerve can cause an area of numbness which most patients are not too troubled by. Occasionally nerve damage can also lead to troublesome pain or a tender scar.  Most nerve symptoms improve over time but some can be permanent. Rarely the nerve damage can be bizarre and complex, with pain, stiffness, abnormal sweating and over sensitivity on a small area or region.

Any surgery that slows down your walking probably carrys a risk of the development of  a blood clot in your leg, known as deep vein thrombosis or DVT.   In exceptionally rare situations a blood clot can spread to the lungs and be fatal.  Thankfully the risk of blood clots in your leg following most foot surgery is very low.  To reduce this chance, we recommend measures such as a stocking on your other leg and getting you up and moving straight after surgery. However, in certain larger procedures, especially those requiring a plaster cast afterwards, or if you have had a clot before, the risk is enough to warrant using a drug to reduce that risk.  This mostly takes the form of a daily injection that you will be taught to give yourself.

To achieve the best possible outcome a further operation may be required, especially if you have had a complication. Once an operation has successfully relieved the problem that you first came to see us about, unfortunately a new problem can arise in one of the many structures nearby in the foot, which may need  further treatment. The commonest second operation we do is to remove a little screw, which  has become noticeable under the skin after the swelling has gone down. The screw was needed to help the bone heal correctly, but  one year after surgery it can be removed in a small operation as a day case.