Placement of HyProCure

A small cut is made just below the outer ankle bone within the skin lines. How small is the cut? It varies from surgeon to surgeon but it should be less than 1 inch at most.

This is up to your surgeon. Most times no cast or brace is required after surgery. However, there are situations when a surgeon will place a temporary cast or walking brace.

Everyone scars differently but you should expect a scar because a cut was made. Your surgeon will do their best to make it as minimal as possible.

This can only be answered by your surgeon. It is possible to stand on your foot immediately after the procedure if HyProCure was the only procedure. You don’t “walk” on HyProCure. There will be a minimal force acting on HyProCure but the majority of forces are relocated back on the heel and arch bones. It is possible to dislodge HyProCure if you walk too much during the initial recovery period.

Some surgeons will recommend a certain amount of time of no weight on your foot. They will want you to use crutches. Other times you could be allowed to walk on your foot to tolerance.

Yes, there is always a chance this can happen. It has to do with many different factors. A big factor is the quality and thickness of the tissues within the sinus tarsi space to attach to HyProCure. Are there any unusual surface anatomy variances that compromise the results of HyProCure? Are there are misaligned, unstable bones in the foot? Were both feet fixed? If one foot is untreated, the ankle bone alignment is not addressed, which will compromise the results of HyProCure.

You can pretty much expect that HyProCure will shift slightly from its initial placement during the procedure because HyProCure is inserted into your foot while you are laying down. Once you step and walk on your feet, HyProCure will find its final position. It will seek its own position within the sinus tarsi where it will function the best. Every HyProCure implant will be positioned differently, from one foot to the next. Some will sit very deep, others more superficial. Some are oriented very oblique and others are less oblique. It all depends on the alignment-orientation of the sinus tarsi canal.

It would make sense that due to the smaller size of the child’s foot that they will need to have a different size placed when they become an adult, but this is not the case. The sizes are for both children and adults. What we know is that there are two common sizes for adults; these are typically the same sizes placed into a child’s foot. That tells us the sinus tarsi diameter is formed once the child had their 3rd birthday. Of course, there is no guarantee that a resizing will never happen, it is just unlikely. If HyProCure had to be removed and replaced with a different size later in life, that is still an option and one of the many advantages of HyProCure.

This is a very important question. It is actually a big factor in your overall recovery. Ideally, it is better to have HyProCure placed into one foot at a time. There are situations when this is not possible and it is acceptable to have HyProCure placed into each foot but at a possible compromise of your recovery.

When you only have HyProCure placed into one foot at a time, that allows you to have one “good” foot to walk on while you recover from the procedure. You can have the other foot fixed with HyProCure as soon as you can stand and walk on the foot with HyProCure. Usually, this is after 3 weeks, give or take. Something that you have to know and to remember is that the foot with HyProCure will be expected to be sore until the other foot realigned with HyProCure. The foot with HyProCure will be corrected and the foot without HyProCure is not corrected. This places extra strain on the foot with HyProCure.

The problem with having HyProCure placed into both feet at the same time is that you don’t have one “good” foot to walk on. Your natural tendency will be to walk on the outer sides of your feet. This abnormal walking can occur for several weeks to months. It places uneven pressure between the ankle and heel bones and can force one of the HyProCure devices to become displaced to a point where it has to be surgically reinserted. Having HyProCure place into both feet will lead to a much longer recovery and a greater potential for one of the spacers to become displaced.

You are expected to wear any shoe type that you did before HyProCure or even a greater variety of shoes. Yes, you can wear high-heeled shoes.

HyProCure fixes something that an arch support can never fix but there are also things that an arch support can help that HyProCure cannot. Some people feel like they still benefit from their arch support after HyProCure. Others feel they no longer need the insert. One of the many great advantages of HyProCure is that regardless if you use the arch support or not, it is inside that space keeping the ankle bone aligned and stabilized.

HyProCure acts like a stent in a blood vessel to keep it open. We would assume that if HyProCure is removed, the ankle bone will eventually lose its alignment and stability. There are no studies to show the number of people who keep the correction of their ankle bone alignment and how long. Some studies claim the correction stays after the spacer is removed but there are no long-term studies. The goal is to keep HyProCure in place long enough for any other diseased tissues to heal.

There are no known studies to show what happens after HyProCure has been in your foot for an entire lifetime, but we know what can happen after a lifetime of walking on a foot with ankle bone instability. It is better to have HyProCure in your foot than to walk with your ankle bone partially dislocating with every step you take.

HyProCure has been used in people since 2004. Since that time, we are unaware of any serious complications. As far as we know, there has not been a lasting issue due to the placement of HyProCure into someone’s foot other than that it had to be removed. There are times when HyProCure will be placed into someone’s foot that is classified as a high risk of not working. There are situations when someone could desire to have HyProCure put in their foot to either delay a more aggressive surgery or at least to buy some time before that more aggressive surgery is required. In that situation, that person would have had the more aggressive surgery regardless if HyProCure was attempted or not.

What is more important to know is what would happen if the ankle bone instability is not fixed. Excessive forces are acting on the bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles, and nerves of the feet, knees, hips, and back. The benefits of HyProCure far outweigh any of the risks.

 One would assume that there would be changes deep within the ankle bone where it comes into contact with HyProCure. This is called “stress shielding” and this can happen anywhere in the body where an implant is placed. The bone tissue there will strengthen to make the bone stronger. There have not been any reported situations where the HyProCure spacer becomes pushed into the ankle or heel bones. There have been no reports of a broken ankle or heel bone as a result of HyProCure being in the sinus tarsi space.