Foot & Ankle Care

Take steps toward a more active life with complete care for your heels, toes and ankles at Torrance Memorial Lundquist Orthopedic Institute. You’ll have access to an orthopedic surgeon who completed a foot care fellowship—highly specialized training. Whether you need surgical or nonsurgical treatment, look forward to the help you need to enjoy more freedom of movement.

Conditions Treated

Torrance Memorial’s orthopedic specialists can diagnose and treat almost any foot condition you have.

Heel & Ankle

Achilles tendonitis – Inflammation or tears in the tendon on the back of your ankle and calf
Osteoarthritis – Breakdown of cartilage (soft cushioning) in your ankle
Peroneal tendonitis – Pain in the tendon on the outside of the ankle
Plantar fasciitis – Heel pain due to an inflamed ligament
Sprained ankle – Ligament that stretches too much after you roll or twist your ankle
Talus injury – Damage to your ankle’s bottom bone

Foot

Cavus foot – Very high arches
Charcot foot – Weak foot bones due to nerve damage
Extensor tendonitis – Inflammation of tendons that lift your ankle and toes
Flatfoot – Low, fallen arches, sometimes due to posterior tibial tendonitis (inflammation in the tendon that supports your foot’s arch)
Jones fracture – Broken bone along the outside of your foot
Lisfranc injury – Damage to the bones or ligaments in the middle of your foot
Metatarsal fracture – Break or crack in the foot’s long bones
Sesamoiditis – Pain in the ball of the foot
Stress fractures in the foot – Tiny cracks in a bone due to overuse or repetitive force

Toes

Bunion – Bony bump at the base of your big toe
Hammertoe, claw toe, and crossover toe – Toes that don’t lie in the right position
Turf toe – Sprain to your big toe’s main joint

Conservative, Nonsurgical Treatments

Your treatment will likely start with nonsurgical options that fit easily into your daily routine. Depending on your symptoms, lifestyle, and goals, your care plan may include:

Physical therapy exercises that retrain injured muscles and other tissue to work together correctly
Biologics, natural substances that support your body’s healing process
Custom orthotic devices (shoe inserts designed for you) to support your foot
Cast, brace, or walking boot to support your foot or ankle as it heals
Injections of cortisone, a pain-relieving steroid
Diabetes care and wound care if your injury happened due partly to loss of feeling in your feet
Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT), which uses high- or low-energy shock waves to relieve pain from plantar fasciitis
Radiofrequency ablation, which inserts a thin needle into your heel to deliver energy that stops nerves from sending pain signals to your brain

Sports Medicine

Need to get back in the game after a foot injury? Work toward your goals with care from sports medicine specialists at Torrance Memorial. They’ll take a personalized approach to helping you return to athletic activity safely and stronger than ever.

Foot & Ankle Surgery

If conservative approaches don’t offer enough relief, you may benefit from a surgical procedure, such as:

Achilles tendon repair – Fixes a torn tendon through an incision no longer than a staple, a minimally invasive technique that shortens healing time and lowers the risk of infection
Ankle fusion – Joins two bones in the ankle to prevent painful movement and swelling
Ankle replacement – Resurfaces the ends of arthritic bones to let your joint move with less pain
Bunion correction – Repositions bones in the big toe to remove the bump
Foot correction surgery – Realigns bones to make your foot work, look, and feel more like normal
Plantar fasciotomy – Releases a tense, painful ligament to treat plantar fasciitis
Toe correction surgery – Straightens a bent toe

Less Invasive Surgery

Your orthopedic surgeon will take the least invasive approach—using small incisions whenever possible. Minimally invasive procedures affect less tissue, so they lead to: