All patient stories
60+ · Walking again
Active 60+ returning to walking
Arthritis, stiffness, a foot that “isn’t what it was”. The goal is usually to walk a mile without thinking about it.
Arthritis, stiffness, a foot that “isn’t what it was”. The goal is usually to walk a mile without thinking about it.
Most patients in this group arrive after years of patient self-management — supportive trainers, paracetamol, the odd shoe insert, an evening on the sofa with the foot up. The body has been quietly compensating, and one day the compensation runs out. The job is to work out what is actually wearing, what can be unloaded, and what (if anything) needs surgical attention.
Long, unhurried history. Watching you walk. Where the load actually goes — which joints are wearing, which are still doing well. Targeted imaging only where it answers a question.
The full range of options, written down. Insoles, footwear, physio, injection, joint preservation, fusion, replacement. Realistic recovery for each, not a sales pitch for one.
Whichever path you choose, you stay our patient through the year that follows. Letters to your GP, written recovery milestones, the door open if anything changes.
Chronological age is rarely the deciding factor. Fitness, the condition of your other joints, what you actually want to do with the operation matters far more. Many of our most rewarding cases are in their seventies and eighties.
For most patients in this group, yes — that is exactly the goal. We’ll be specific about the time it takes and what realistic walking looks like at six weeks, three months and a year.
Most foot and ankle work is done under regional anaesthetic with light sedation — the foot is numbed at the ankle or knee, no full general. Recovery is faster, post-op nausea far less common.
Then we don’t do it. A meaningful proportion of patients leave the first consultation with a non-surgical plan — a different shoe, a different physio referral, a single targeted injection, or simply reassurance.
An unhurried first consultation, a written diagnostic letter within 48 hours, and a clear sense of options — with no obligation to choose surgery on the day.
Last reviewed: by Professor Nima Heidari.
