GALT, CA (MPG) - The Galt Parks and Recreation Department recently converted some tennis courts into four pickleball courts at Community Park. There are also three pickleball courts in the Dry Creek active senior community.

More and more seniors, like retired P.E. teacher Janis Williams, are staying active playing the sport with their peers, children and even grandchildren. Williams taught pickleball to her P.E. students for years at both Galt and Liberty Ranch high schools. 

“Pickleball is great for everyone,” said Williams. “Anyone can learn to play and it is really great to share it with your grandchildren.”

Almost 25% of U.S. adults suffer from bunions, and many pickleball players notice an increase in their symptom severity during and after playing. For more than 30 years, traditional bunion surgery involved a procedure where surgeons shave down the protruding bone on the side of the foot without addressing the root cause of the deformity. Patients often faced a long and painful recovery process with a high risk that their bunion would return. Many who suffer choose not to have this invasive surgery, and their active lifestyle suffers for it.

Dr. Kenston Cripe, DPM, with Roseville Foot and Ankle, is part of a growing number of surgeons across the country that are now treating patients with an alternative approach that addresses the root cause of the bunion and reduces the risk of its recurrence. 

Since he began his career as a board-certified foot and ankle specialist, Cripe has treated a wide variety of problems including hammertoes, warts, tumors and one of the most common and painful foot conditions: bunions. Cripe sponsored a huge pickleball tournament with the goal to help reduce the stigma surrounding the debilitating condition, build awareness of the impact bunions can have and share information about treatment options that can help pickleball players get back in the game.

Patients that have undergone the procedure are typically able to bear weight on their feet within days after surgery, and it has been successfully performed on people from all walks of life. Since the procedure known as Lapiplasty® was first introduced in 2015, more than 100,000 patients have been treated and given the opportunity to return to the activities they enjoy.

Lapiplasty® is a surgical procedure that corrects bunions by realigning the toe bone that causes the deformity. It’s a newer approach to traditional bunionectomy, and it offers several advantages, including:

Faster recovery time, less invasive: Lapiplasty® doesn’t involve cutting or shaving bones, instead using instruments to move the metatarsal bone back into place. It’s a long-term solution that addresses the root cause of the bunion, which can help prevent it from returning.

Cripe, who grew up in Roseville, is a local specialist who performed 15 of these surgeries last year and will do even more this year. 

“This is a 3D correction,” said Cripe. “Instead of just shifting, it is also a rotation to put the bone back in alignment. Traditional surgery runs the risk of cutting too much or at the wrong angle.  This is a more reliable correction, which will result in a very stable construction.”

According to Cripe, the recovery time is much faster than traditional surgery.  Patients can be walking with a boot in nine days and return to full activity in three months. 

The surgery takes 90 minutes to two hours, and Cripe says that when your bunions become painful, don’t wait. It is a good idea to talk to your surgeon about the possibility of correction. 

Bunions can be very painful, so patients have another choice now instead of suffering.