In particular, what’s great about cosmetic foot surgery are the stories behind some of the outcomes and some of the patients who’ve had great results (when they were not experiencing foot pain, but instead where experiencing psychological pain, often much worse than physical foot problems).

One of which was a young lady who came into the office and was very embarrassed about her feet and as a man, you just don’t think about these things. She was not only nervous but a little bit weepy eyed and her mom was there and I could feel the stress in the room.

And I just asked “what are you here for, what would you like and how can I help you with your feet?”

She went on to talk about how thought she had ugly feet and toes.

“What do you mean? Is it the way your toes are curled up or the way this bump is over here?”

And, she just started crying. She said “I can’t even go to the pool with my friends. I’m 17 and I’m about to go to college and just I’m so embarrassed that I don’t even want to wear open toed shoes.” It was moving and as a foot specialist, I was determined to help this patient. And, by the time, we actually discussed the foot surgery and had it scheduled, she was a little bit more confident. But, more importantly, we talked through everything to the point where she felt like “ok, this is going to be a new start for me”. Those are the kinds of things that make being a cosmetic foot surgeon and Houston podiatrist a fantastic vocation.

But, even the aftermath with taking the stitches out and the whole visits with the family and the mom. We got to know each other. It was a neat feeling that when the scar tissue finally regressed and her toes did look normal, she came into the office and gave me a big hug and said just how happy she was to be able to wear sandals and go to the beach and not be embarrassed and it’s those types of things you never forget.

Cosmetic Foot Surgery is a specialty within a specialty and is not offered by most podiatrists or foot surgeons. Instead, you must find a foot specialist that has experience with this area of podiatry. And, when patients come in for Cosmetic Foot Surgery, I first ask “what do you want done, what displeases you, what is painful?”

Once we get through all that, I can explain to them that Cosmetic Foot Surgery has a few areas that are the most common that we can fix very easily and others can vary in their complexity.

So For example, the patient comes in for the big toe joint or bunion treatment.  That’s when the bump on the first big toe joint is prominent, it’s pushed over and crowding the second toe or rubbing on the shoe or discoloring. Often, there is also toe pain associated with the visual deformity.

The second type of surgery are digital surgeries and that’s everything from a long second toe or the toe is getting pushed up in the shoe or the quintessential hammertoe or claw toe, some of which are associated with foot pain.

Different types of foot corn deformities or discolorations in the skin from rubbing or pressing on the shoe and we might recommend a corn removal procedure.

Pain of course. The 5th toe is another real common one besides the second toe, pressing in against the shoe and creating toe pain on the fifth toe when any type of slim type of shoe that is enclosed. The most common is the female dress shoe or pump, if you will.

And, speaking of pump, there is something that we’ve coined the “pump bump” and that is the bump on the back of the heel from rubbing on the shoe. This area back here will become raised and painful but also discolored and not too attractive. Those are also very, very easy to fix.

Other procedures include treatments for Hallux Valgus or, bunionette treatment  and other very simple procedures.