Sports Medicine for Foot and Ankle

People involved in virtually every type of athletic activity have a high prevalence of foot and ankle problems, from injuries to chronic conditions. Foot and ankle concerns can make it difficult to train, and they can even make daily tasks like driving or working challenging.

If you have sports-related foot and ankle problems, you’re not alone. Fortunately, Core Medical & Wellness has many options for the treatment of lower extremities. You can relieve pain, improve your range of motion, and get back to working out with our menu of therapies that are safe, innovative, and minimally invasive.

Foot and ankle injuries incurred during sports activities make up a significant portion of overall sports traumas. For instance, among collegiate student athletes at PAC-12 institutions, foot and ankle injuries comprised one-fifth of all sports injuries. A meta study revealed that for Olympic athletes, foot and ankle injuries represented nearly 17 percent of injuries.

Foot and ankle problems are even more common among elite dancers, particularly in ballet (more than half of all injuries in one study). We can assume that statistics like these are common across other athlete demographics, and our experience at Core Medical & Wellness reflects this as well.

There are certain types of foot and ankle concerns we see repeatedly in our sports medicine programs at Core Medical & Wellness. Have you struggled with one of these sports injuries or conditions?

• Tendonitis
• Tendon rupture
• Shin splints
• Plantar fasciitis
• Strains
• Sprains
• Fractures
• Stress fractures
• Neuromas
• Heel spurs
• Bunions
• Sesamoiditis
• Arthritis

You may have a recent injury that’s causing you pain, or an old trauma from years ago rearing its head from time to time, perhaps when you overdo training or even when the weather gets cold and damp. Most of the time, there’s no need to suffer through discomfort or give up your favorite activity, though, thanks to a range of new treatment options in sports medicine.

Athletes make up a large percentage of our patients here at Core Medical & Wellness. We’re pleased to offer you many choices for sports-related foot and ankle care that are at the cutting edge of healthcare today.

We recently welcomed Dr. Efe Ozturk, DPM to our team. Dr. Ozturk is a podiatric specialist who provides the latest in foot and ankle care for athletes. He performs minimally invasive foot and ankle surgery, which has many advantages:

• Usually no anesthesia required
• Same-day surgery and return to home
• Minimal downtime for recovery
• Small incision area (less scarring and risk of infection)
• Reduced cost to patients

Dr. Ozturk also offers Class IV laser therapy. This short, pain-free treatment is ideal for reducing pain and inflammation, and it speeds up the healing process by stimulating the cells involved and improving circulation to the area. Laser treatments are ideal for many conditions and traumas, including tendinitis, sprains, plantar fasciitis, and arthritis.

Among the most exciting of our sports medicine treatments for foot and ankle complaints, regenerative medicine is at the cutting edge of therapies. We use three different types of regenerative medicine at Core Medical & Wellness:

• Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy
• Bone marrow concentrate therapy
• Stem cell therapy

These treatments harness the healing power of your own cells to reduce inflammation, relieve pain, and regenerate new tissue to replace old tissue lost to injury or aging. The results after several sessions typically last for months or years due to the renewing power of the cells injected.

Are you an athlete with arthritis? Have you been experiencing joint degeneration due to years of high-impact sports or wear and tear? We have a rheumatology department that can help you manage pain and help restore your range of motion. Our rheumatology specialists work in conjunction with podiatry and sports medicine to help you stay active as long as possible.

For pain that doesn’t respond to other treatments, like regenerative medicine or laser therapy, Core Medical & Wellness has a pain management program. Using nerve blocks, trigger point injections, and steroid-free joint lubrication injections, we help athletes manage pain without invasive surgery or drugs that cause unacceptable side effects and risks.