Do you hate the way your feet look? You're not alone. Feet take a lot of beating, day in and day out, and by the time you're 30 or 40, the stress they have been through can really start to show. But rest assured, you can feel confident wearing sandals once again. Here are three cosmetic procedures a podiatrist or plastic surgeon can perform to improve the appearance of your feet.
Liposuction
You've probably heard of liposuction for the abdomen, buttocks, and thighs. The procedure involves sucking extra fat cells out from beneath the skin. Liposuction on the feet is not as common, but it may be a good choice if you have fatty deposits on the sides of your feet, causing them to look wide and out of proportion. The results of liposuction are generally permanent.
Liposuction does have a few downsides. There is a risk of nerve damage, and you'll have to stay off your feet for at least a week after the procedure. However, liposuction has been around for a long time, so there are plenty of doctors who have perfected the technique to lower the risk of side effects.
Dermal Fillers
Perhaps rather than feeling like your feet are too plump, you feel like your toes are saggy and wrinkly looking. Dermal fillers may be injected into the deeper layers of your skin. These preparations contain ingredients like hyaluronic acid and collagen, which add volume to your skin. (Hyaluronic acid and collagen are often depleted with age, so these injections restore your feet to their younger appearance.)
Dermal fillers only take a few minutes for your doctor to inject. You may feel some pinching during the injections and have some minor swelling for a day or two afterwards, but the results are nearly immediate and should last for a few months.
Toe Straightening
Sometimes conditions like hammertoe and bunions cause one or more of the toes to bend as you age. Wearing tight shoes or a lot of high heels may contribute to this effect. Your podiatrist should be able to surgically straighten the toe. The exact approach will depend on which toe is crooked and the cause of the crookedness. In general, however, you can expect the surgery to be an outpatient procedure and to have to spend about a month in a protective boot after the procedure. If you have multiple crooked toes, having them all corrected at once is easiest.
Learn more about cosmetic toe surgery from a podiatrist.
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