
The
Achilles
Foot Health Centre is
a 3,800 square-foot facility
located in the Guildford section
of northern Surrey in British
Columbia, Canada.
We are owned and operated by Dr.
S. A. Schumacher, a podiatrist
(foot specialist) board
certified in foot surgery by
both the American Board of
Podiatric Surgery and the
American Board of Podiatric
Orthopedics and Primary
Podiatric Medicine.
 |
Achilles Foot Health
Centre, Surrey
British Columbia |
We are
the
largest
podiatric
foot-care
specialty
facility
in
at least western
Canada,
and
strive
to be
the
leader
in
providing
patients
with the
highest
level of
health
care and
state-of-the-art
technology
difficult
to
impossible
to find
elsewhere.
For
instance:
Our
facility
is
equipped
with
multiple
consultation
and
general
treatment
rooms
and a
physiotherapy
room.
We also
have a
biomechanics
room
complete
with a
treadmill
for gait
analysis
and a
casting
room, so
we can
apply
casts
for
broken
bones
and make
custom-made
orthotic
devices,
braces,
shoes,
boots,
and
sandals
to
control
or
correct
many
mechanical
abnormalities.
|
 |
We also
have a
large
"Foot
Pharmacy"
with a
variety
of
foot-related
health
products,
such as
compressive
stockings,
crutches,
bandage
materials,
braces,
night
splints,
innersoles,
and
other
products.
If
patients
require
imaging,
our
facility
is
unique
in
having a
top-of-the-line
mini
C-arm
fluoroscope
to image
bone
structures.
|

OEC
6600
Mini
C-arm
fluoroscope
(above)
and an
example
image
(below)
|
Fluoroscopes
are a
specialized
form of
X-ray
that
allow
the
physician
to
visualize
the
patient's
bones.
Instead
of just
static
images,
though,
you can
actually
see how
your
bones
move, in
real
time, on
a
television-like
screen.
To the
right is
an
example
of a
fluoroscopic
image
used to
visualize
placement
of
fixation
(hardware)
within
the
bones
making
up the
great
toe
joint.
|
 |

Esaote
diagnostic
ultrascound |
We
also
have
diagnostic
ultrasound
equipment
(a
specialized
way
to
image
soft
tissues
like
tendon,
muscle,
and
fascia.)
|
Our
facility
is
also
unique
in
being
equipped
with
a
Wolf
Piezoson
100
Extracorporeal
Shockwave
Therapy
machine.
Extracorporeal
Shock
Wave
Therapy,
or
ESWT,
is a
very
specialized
treatment
where
very
intense,
but
very
short
sound
waves
into
the
body
to
promote
healing
of
both
soft
tissue
and
bone.
The
technology
is quite
analogous
to
lithotripsy,
the
technique
used to
break up
kidney
stones
without
surgery.
|
[1].jpg) |
The
Piezoson
100
machine
we use
is, in
our
opinion,
the best
version
of ESWT
available
anywhere
in the
world.
It
covers
both low
and high
energy
settings,
and it
is, by
far, the
most
precisely-focused
version
of ESWT
in the
world.
We are
the only
facility
in
western
Canada
with
this
technology.
In fact,
the
machine
we use
is still
so new
that
there
are no
facilities
offering
this
version
of ESWT
anywhere
in the
US. And
we are
also one
of the
very few
ESWT
facilities
anywhere
in the
world
specializing
in foot
problems. |
 |
We are please to
report that success
rates (as determined
by the patients)
with this treatment
is approximately
80%. And this is in
chronic cases of
heel pain that
haven't resolved
through conservative
means.
For more
information
on
extracorporeal
shock
wave
therapy,
please
visit
our
separate
website
on that
technology.
Our
facility
also
houses a
complete
surgical
suite
with
state-of-the-art
equipment
for
virtually
any foot
surgery.
And as
Dr.
Schumacher
is board
certified
in foot
surgery
by the
American
Board of
Podiatric
Surgery,
he has
the
expertise
to
perform
both
traditional,
minimal
incision,
and new,
cutting-edge
surgical
techniques.
|
 |
For instance, our
facility is also
equipped with
innovative surgical
instrumentation such
as cryosurgery
equipment.
Cryosurgery is a
form of surgery done
with very small
incisions that
employs extreme cold
to treat chronic
pain, such as
plantar fasciitis,
tendonitis, and
neuromas. The cold
is applied in a very
controlled, very
precise manner to
painful nerve fibers
in order to
permanently
alleviate pain.
 |
The
procedure
is
performed
under
local
anesthetic,
and the
patient
is able
to walk
post-operatively.
And
because
the
incisions
for
cryosurgery
are very
small,
the
technique
is
relatively
non-traumatic
compared
with
other
sorts of
foot
surgery.
So most
patients
have
very
little
in the
way of
issues
post-operatively.
They are
able to
walk
immediately.
|
Success rates for
cryosurgery are also
above 80%. And
again, this
treatment is only
performed in the
worst cases, after
conservative
measures have
failed.
We are the first
facility in Canada
to offer this
technology, and one
of just a handful
across North
America. For more
information on
cryosurgery, visit
our website,
www.Cryosurgery.ca.
|
We
also
perform
radiosurgery
for
a
variety
of
conditions.
This is
a
state-of-the-art
instrument
where
the
surgical
procedure
may be
performed
without
having
to use
any
cutting
instruments
at all.
The
procedure
is
performed
completely
with radiowaves.
For
more
information
on this,
please
visit
our
website,
www.radiosurgery.ca.
|
When indicated,
Dr. Schumacher is
also trained to
perform traditional
and minimal incision
surgery.
Patients will be
comforted to know
that Dr. Schumacher
is Board Certified
in foot surgery by
the American Board
of Podiatric Surgery
and holder of
Diplomate status
with that
organization and is
also a Fellow in the
American College of
Foot and Ankle
Surgeons.
|
|