H E A L T H & be a u t y
People may not bring up bunions at dinner parties, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have sob stories about the painful protrusions. More than half of U.S. women have the condition, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and many of them suffer in silence without understanding their toe woes. Despite the common misconception, a bunion isn’t a growth of bone or tissue. It’s actually a bone that’s shifted out of place. “It’s really the misalignment of the big-toe joint pushing out on the skin from underneath that causes the bony prominence,” says Dr. Blitz. The likelihood is that your bunions are a casualty of your weakness for beautiful, sky-scraping shoes. To be fair, you could be genetically predisposed to the condition, making it easier for you to develop bunions. But, if you’ve spent most of your days three inches off the ground and find yourself with sore, misshapen feet, it’s almost a given that your heels are part of the equation. A high heel may be designed with care and comfort in mind, but the human foot just wasn’t designed to wear it. Walking on a diagonal slant in a rigid shoe puts undue weight and pressure on the ball of the foot. In turn, the joint of the big toe (or, sometimes the pinkie-toe) can
shift out of place, leaving you with a crooked toe silhouette. Dr. Blitz tells it like it is — he won’t pretend your shoe addiction is unrelated to your foot condition. But, he also won’t shame you into heel abstinence. Instead, he’ll remove your bunions and surgically tweak your feet to get you back into heels. And, he’ll do it without leaving you reliant on crutches. Traditionally, patients can’t put weight on their feet for six weeks after bunion-removal surgery. But, Dr. Blitz’s patients walk out of surgery with only a small surgical shoe and easy recovery ahead of them. It’s all thanks to Bunionplasty®, Dr. Blitz’s signature procedure that’s changed what it means to bid bunions goodbye. He developed an implantable titanium device that conforms to the anatomy of the foot and holds the bones steady as patients recover. He’s also upped the ante when it comes to aesthetics. Though surgeons traditionally make the bunionremoval incision on the top of the foot, Dr. Blitz leaves a more subtle mark. He makes the incision along the side of the foot and uses plastic surgery techniques to minimize scarring. So, make this your last Independence Day dependent on Advil and sturdy flats. Head to Dr. Blitz to reclaim your spotlight.
Dr. Neal Blitz 120 East 56th Street (at Park Ave) 212.776.4250 Bunionplasty.com