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Our Mission


 

WFASM is a practice specializing in the conservative and surgical treatment of the foot ankle.  The practice is focused first on the prevention of musculoskeletal wear and tear injuries of the lower extremities associated with biomechanical foot and ankle malfunction.  This approach begins with a thorough history and exam.  Treatment plans are created with a focus on maximizing current and future activity levels.

When conservative care has been exhausted, surgical treatment plans are created and implemented with care taken to maximize the benefits while minimizing risk.

What is sports medicine?  Sports medicine is a practice philosophy which pursues improved function for the patient/athlete with specific activity goals and considerations factored into the decision making process.  Improved function may mean anything from optimizing biomechanics for an elite runner, to improving function to decrease activity related pain in a young child, to surgically repairing an ankle fracture, to balancing the forces for a foot that needs to function during retirement travel.

We believe that weight bearing activity is critical to an individuals long term health and happiness and are dedicated to taking a course of action which will maximize the patients opportunity to ambulate while minimizing the normal wear and tear that is a normal part of the aging process.  To that end, our relationship will start with a comprehensive biomechanical exam, a thorough history and a gait exam.  Biomechanical variance will be discussed so that decisions can be made from an educated position.  The discussion will include everything from shoe gear choices to exercise programs, to running form and in some cases surgical intervention.

Surgical decisions will be discussed in detail to help the patient make an informed decision that will give them their best opportunity to maximize their lifetime weight bearing activity.  Foot pain does not exist in a vacuum.  Conscious and subconscious gait alterations will lead to degenerative changes in the ankles, knees, hips and back.  Our advice is always to act in a way that minimizes pain and deformity that will hinder weight bearing activity.

Why is weight bearing activity so important?  Walking and running are essential for maintaining cardiovascular fitness, muscle mass, bone density and joint health.  In addition, there is no better way to maintain an ideal body weight.   As anyone who has broken a foot or and ankle will tell you, the ability to walk is a luxury that most of us take for granted until it’s gone.  The ability to move freely is critical now for your happiness and in many cases for your livelihood.  Later in life, if we are lucky, we will live long enough to reach a point where exercise is no longer an option.  At that point, the more bone density and muscle mass you have, the longer you will maintain the ability to ambulate.

Weight bearing activity is the cornerstone for treating all of the major preventable causes of death that are becoming more and more prevalent.  Obesity, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, osteoporosis, diabetes and even cancer has been linked to a lack of regular weight bearing exercise.  We take these risks seriously and will do our best to help our patients make decisions that will maximize activity and minimize risk of injury.