Cosmetic Foot Surgery Discouraged

If you're thinking about having cosmetic surgery on your feet, think again, say doctors from the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society.

The group is speaking out against a trend in women's health and fashion to have cosmetic surgery performed on otherwise healthy feet to improve their appearance or make them fit more easily into high fashion shoes.

The surgeries involve shortening of the toes, narrowing of the feet and injecting collagen into the fat pad of the foot.

Patients who have this surgery run the risk of suffering complications that could make them unable to walk or wear shoes comfortably, the group's president, Dr. Glenn B. Pfeffer of San Francisco, says in a prepared statement.

"Women need to know what they're getting into," he says. "Complications can include infection, nerve injury, prolonged swelling of a toe, and even chronic pain with walking."

The group recommends having shoes altered to fit the feet, rather than the other way around.

"I think it's reprehensible for a physician to correct someone's feet so they can get into Jimmy Choo shoes," Dr. Sharon Dreeben of La Jolla, Calif., says in a prepared statement.