Here at the Washington Bunion Center, Dr. Brandon Nelson and Dr. Timothy Young, one of our biggest goals during the postoperative healing phase is to do everything possible to speed-up the healing process, and especially the bone healing process. This starts out by effective protection for the foot and ankle and leg during this timeframe. Initially the patient is in a splint. Then we placed the patient in the special fiberglass cast. The fiberglass cast typically will have a walking heel as far back as possible. This allows for full weightbearing on the heel without any pressure in the forefoot. To make this more comfortable for the patient we will split the fiberglass cast (bivalve) and tape the seems. This allows for better access for physical therapy and for bathing. This special fiberglass cast has been fine-tuned in our clinic to make our patient’s as comfortable as possible and to help maximize healing. Another component for healing is the bone healing itself. It is critical to take supplements to help maximize bone healing. This includes calcium and vitamin D magnesium and vitamin K 2. We recommend Orthotic Pro Bono supplement and it is available at our clinic for our patients. In addition to the supplements, there is some studies the taking arginine supplements can be beneficial. Some of our patient’s may require a bone stimulation unit also. There are several different technologies available. One utilizes a pulsed ultrasound unit (Exogen), and the other major technology utilizes a pulsed electronegative magnetic field (PEMF). To summarize, proper bone healing during the postoperative phase of bunion surgery includes proper immobilization, nutrition, and even physiology such as bone stimulation units. Here at the Washington Bunion Center, for both Dr. Brandon Nelson and Dr. Timothy Young, our goal is to speed up the postoperative bone healing so that our patients can fully and quickly recover from bunion surgery.
