Ankle and Foot Care in New Jersey
Ankle and foot pain make it difficult to walk, keeping patients from work, exercise, and outings. Whether caused by age or injury, this discomfort requires the care of an experienced doctor. If you’re suffering with pain, lost mobility, and other issues, Dr. Thomas Ragukonis of Bergen Pain Management can help. As an experienced pain management doctor, he understands the importance of minimally invasive treatments to eliminate your condition and restore function.
He regularly collaborates with board-certified podiatrists and other specialists and has connections with top surgical centers throughout the region. If surgery or further care is necessary to achieve full relief, Dr. Ragukonis will refer you to a specialist who can provide the type of ankle or foot treatment you require.
Ankle And Foot Conditions We Treat
The ankle is one of the most mobile joints in the body, while our feet are highly complex. Unfortunately, these attributes also make them vulnerable. Bergen Pain Management sees patients for a vast range of ankle and foot pain issues, including all of the following:
- Achilles Tendinitis: This painful condition arises when patients overuse their Achilles tendon, which connects calf muscles to the heel bone. It is common in runners and older athletes.
- Ankle Bursitis: The bursa is a fluid-filled sac that cushions bones as they move. Bursae become inflamed when injured or overused, causing pain whenever the joint is flexed.
- Ankle Instability: If you constantly feel as if your ankle “gives out” when holding weight, you may be struggling with ankle instability resulting from an unhealed ligament injury.
- Ligament Damage: This painful condition results when ligaments stretch beyond their limits. They tear and may even completely sever, losing their ability to support the ankle.
- Tendinitis: Tendons connect muscle to bone and allow joints to move smoothly. Overuse or injury may cause tendons to swell and enlarge, losing their flexibility.
- Arthritis: Arthritis describes pain and stiffness resulting from inflamed joints. It can affect the ankle, foot, and other areas of the body, and is most common in older patients.
- Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS): This condition is caused by damaged nerves that continue sending intense pain signals long after the original injury has fully healed.
- Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RDS): Similar to CRPS, RSD is caused by breakdowns in nervous system communication. Patients often notice sudden, intense pain without any clear cause.
Services We Offer
With the right treatment, many patients find relief for their foot and ankle pain, and most do not require surgery. After a thorough evaluation, Dr. Ragukonis will suggest a minimally invasive treatment to alleviate pain and return quality of life. Some of the ankle and foot pain treatments we offer include:
- Spinal Cord Stimulators: If other treatments have failed or surgery isn’t an option, a stimulator is an excellent alternative. It eliminates discomfort by blocking pain signals within the nervous system.
- Dorsal Root Ganglion (DRG) Therapy: The DRG is a biological switchboard that regulates sensory signals. It can be stimulated to intercept any pain signals arriving from the ankle or foot.
- Injections: Glucocorticoid and steroid injections can relieve pain and improve your mobility while you wait for an injury to heal. They offer an excellent option when other treatments have failed.
- Sympathetic Blocks: This treatment involves injecting a numbing agent around nerves in the lower back, turning off and resetting the sympathetic nervous system in that area.
- Trigger Point Injections: Many forms of chronic pain have trigger points, where sudden blows cause a pain episode. Doctors can inject anesthetics into trigger points to render them inactive.