“When I was younger, I used to cry over the way my feet looked. It was embarrassing to wear sandals and the idea of getting a pedicure was almost out of the question,” relates Valerie, now a 40-year-old mother of two who suffered with bunions on both feet. “I dealt with the pain as best I could, but over time it began affecting many different parts of my day-to-day life.” As someone who is always on the move — transporting her children to school and activities, volunteering as a preschool aid, working weekends teaching at a language school — trouble walking and standing for long periods of time was a big problem. Hoping to one day return to teaching full time, she worried that the pain in her feet would prevent her from being able to keep up with her students. So, she decided to talk to her primary care doctor about treatment options for bunions during her annual physical.

“I told him I struggled to keep up with my kids and that my pain was extremely limiting,” says Valerie, explaining that, beyond affecting her daily routines, the severe pain in her feet prevented her from pursuing her passions for hiking and skiing. She had also begun to dread her yearly trips to Slovakia because of the significant physical toll traveling took on her body – whereas these had previously been a source of joy and excitement. Her doctor recommended that she see a specialist about surgical options and recommended Dr. Shane Hollawell at Orthopaedic Institute of Central Jersey who was using a new procedure called Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction^™.

Feeling hopeful for the first time in years, Valerie immediately went online to research the procedure. “The potential for a short recovery time stood out to me the most,” she said. “Anyone with kids and a job knows that you cannot afford to be down and unavailable for long.” She immediately made an appointment with Dr. Hollawell to see if she was a candidate for the procedure.

Dr. Hollawell took x-rays of Valerie’s feet and described how the Lapiplasty® Procedure would eliminate the bump on her foot and more importantly would address the true root cause of her bunions, an unstable joint in the middle of the foot. Using precision guides, Dr. Hollawell would correct all 3 dimensions of the deformity to return Valerie’s bones back into their natural position and then use special titanium plates to secure her unstable joint permanently, lowering the chance that her bunions would return. Valerie decided to move forward with surgery on her left foot first, where the bunion was more pronounced, and would then tackle the other foot.

“I was nervous going into surgery, but I was confident in Dr. Hollawell’s abilities and trusted that this procedure was the best option available,” Valerie said. She underwent surgery on her left foot in April 2018 and was walking on her own in a surgical boot in less than two weeks. She was so pleased with the results that she scheduled the same procedure for her right foot for January 2019 – and this time she was surprised to find herself walking in a boot within only a few days. “I could not believe it! I was able to get back to some normal activities quickly and was able to manage my pain with doses of Tylenol and Advil throughout the day.”

Valerie is overjoyed with her results and says that for the first time in decades she is no longer embarrassed about the appearance of her feet. Instead, she is looking forward to showing them off to her family in Slovakia during her next trip. Now that she can stand for long periods of time without pain, she has another goal she hopes to accomplish: “I’m working toward teaching full time again and feel empowered to be able to keep up with all the demands in the classroom and at home.”

Only a surgeon can tell if Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction^™ is right for you. As with any medical treatment, individual results may vary and this experience is unique and specific to this patient only. There are potential risks with surgery and recovery takes time. Potential risks include, but are not limited to: infection, discomfort from the presence of the implant, loosening of the implant, and loss of correction with nonunion or malunion.