Bunion surgery?

LauraMax

LauraMax

Cathlete
Yes, my latest foot post. As it turns out, not only do I have PF, tendonitis & heel spurs, I also have bunions. Oh, & arthritis in my left ankle. Is there anyone out there who'd like to donate their feet to me in the spirit of the holidays? ;)

So, surgery is in my future for sure. Darn but that thing hurts! Hoping I caught it early enough that the recovery time will be reduced. And I'm considering renting a recumbent bike for my basement to reduce that recovery time even more.

Oh, & my wonderful insurance company has denied the PRP therapy. So I'm trying regular physical therapy. Had to ditch the braces b/c they were rubbing on the wrong part of my foot & actually causing bruising. Starting to think I'm gonna lose this battle............

In the meantime, I've completely eliminated high impact from my cardio, am doing the PT 2X per week, doing stretching at home and, the really bad news, had to quit ice skating. :( I've been taking lessons since March & was just starting to get halfway good, but man after 5 minutes my feet are in so much pain it's just no fun anymore.

Anyway, back to my original Q--bunion surgery. How painful? How long for recovery? Will I ever be able to wear high heels again?
 
If your Dr hasn't already looked, you should check on your urea levels (the heel spurs are what made me wonder.) you might be dealing with a kidney issue, my Dad has that, so thats why I thought of it.

We have had a lot of success with reducing my Mom's arthritis flares with ginger capsules. They are a little hard to take, so be sure to only use them with a meal.

Back when I was 11 years old, I had been in a car accident, and not treated. Fast forward a couple of months, I had terrible shoulder pain, and they told me I had 'tendonitis.' Luckily, my Dad had good experience with a chiropractor (good one.) and he took me to see one just in case there was some other issue. It turned out that my 'tendonitis' was a bone out of place and creating pressure on a nerve bundle. Anywhoo, you might get a second opinion on the 'tendonitis' just to be sure that is the actual problem you have. I was in a lot of unnecessary pain and on pain killers that didn't help.

I hope you feel better soon,

Hugs

Alisha
 
Laura, Laura, Laura! I won't bug you with this again, but you really should not rule out surgery for PF! I have had it on both feet and it was the answer to that particular problem. It sounds like you have the same stubborn issue that I did. I tried EVERYTHING before opting for the surgery - countless cortisone shots, physical therapy, nothing but stability shoes, night splint - it really was the last resort.

I had two different procedures on each foot and if I had to do it over again I would repeat what I had done with my first foot since the results are slightly better with that foot.

In any case, I am a long distance runner and the surgery has made that possible again. I'm 52 years old and run 4 times a week. Last weekend I ran 8 miles and have not been hobbling around at all.

T
 
Laura, so sorry about your foot problems! I'd loan you my feet, but I've been having problems with my toes hurting, and I also have bunions, so you might not want them...:D
My sister had bunion surgery on her one foot and after around 6 weeks recuperation, she was totally fine. No more pain, and she wished she'd done it years sooner.

So a year or two later she had it done on the other foot, but they put a pin in her foot and the pin cracked, and she had to have another surgery to fix that and she couldn't put any pressure on her foot at all for quite awhile, and she's still in pain months after surgery... She was disappointed because she had such success with her other foot.

I didn't mean to scare you, but if it all goes well, bunion surgery can be great. Hopefully there will be lots of people chime in with success stories. Good luck with all you're going through and I hope your feet feel better soon!
 
Here, Laura, have my feet. (let's see ... ok, got them off...) I'm switching to wheels. :D

Stebby
 
LOL! You guys are funny.

Elaine, I might consider the pf surgery, but right now I need to resolve this bunion. I cannot tell you how much it's freaking me out. I always thought bunions were something little old ladies with twisted feet got. :eek:

Alisha, I will be seeing an ortho surgeon, so if I have been misdiagnosed hopefully s/he will know. So far both my podiatrist & PT agree it's a bunion. On the side of the ball of my foot, & it's kind of pink-ish. The reason it's so painful is b/c it's rubbing against my tendon.

So I will have to bite the bullet & get the surgery. I think if I can get back to physical activity within a couple of weeks I won't go insane. I mean, I can still work UB, right? And I can do floor work for legs? I guess really it'll only be cardio I'll miss out on for 6 weeks or so. I'm thinking about renting a recumbent bike for that time just so I have something to feed my cardio OCD. Also the prospect of wearing heels again without pain (I expect discomfort, I can deal w/that, but not the pain) is very appealing. ;)

Can anyone tell me what the best DVDs for leg floor work are? I have B&G & L&G, which seem pretty good. What else? Maybe I'll start another thread..........

Thanks everyone for your replies & encouragement. This has been so frustrating & I have to admit, a little depressing.
 
Hey Laura - I just want to give you a little warning. I had foot surgery a few years ago, and the podiatrist told me that recovery time would be 6 weeks. I figured I could handle that, no problem. Well, it took a lot longer than six weeks. Sure, I was walking in six weeks, but I was most definitely not doing any sort of cardio. The impact was just too much. Even low impact was tough because of the lateral movements and stress it put on my toes. I also had to modify standing legwork like crazy. I really can't recall exactly how long it took to get back to my usual workouts - it was a very gradual process. Our situations are different, so hopefully your recovery WILL be a mere six weeks. LOL. But I just wanted to give you a heads up that you may not bounce right back to full steam after the magical six weeks. Good luck, and take care of those feet. :eek:
 
Laura,

Good timing...I think :) I am 2 days postop bunionectomy on my right foot! Let me just say that the recovery time will probably be longer than you anticipate and like. I know you are very physically active (moreso than me), and trust me, it's a real blow to go from being on your feet and frantically busy to essentially on the couch with foot elevated on percocets every 4 hours! I have been in extreme pain for the last 24 hours - bone fracture pain (they have to break the toe to pin and realign it)

I plan on going back to work in about 2 1/2 weeks with the understanding that in between appts, I'll elevate my foot (the swelling and pain get much worse when it's not elevated) I will be in a surgical boot for at least 4-6 weeks. No aerobic activity on that foot for at least 8 weeks to allow for proper bone healing. The last thing you want to do is delay healing or predispose yourself to infection/pain by trying to do too much, too fast.

Trust me, there is no "good" time to set up this surgery. I just planned it this way since the kids are out of school on break and hubby isn't teaching during break either. Sucks to be in pain for the holidays, but I'll pick that over summer time when we are very active.

I'm sure I'll be glad I had this done once it's all healed. Sounds like you are headed for a similar decision that I had to make. Just don't fool yourself into thinking that you will be able to do much aerobically for several weeks. Maybe upper body work and ab work but no lower body stuff until you heal.

Coming from someone who's in the midst of it. RIght now, I'm effing miserable. No light at the end of the tunnel yet for me, but I'm trying to be patient :(

Hope I didn't deter you - just giving you a little reality check;)
Heidi
 
buckeyegirl said:
Laura,

Good timing...I think :) I am 2 days postop bunionectomy on my right foot! Let me just say that the recovery time will probably be longer than you anticipate and like. I know you are very physically active (moreso than me), and trust me, it's a real blow to go from being on your feet and frantically busy to essentially on the couch with foot elevated on percocets every 4 hours! I have been in extreme pain for the last 24 hours - bone fracture pain (they have to break the toe to pin and realign it)

I plan on going back to work in about 2 1/2 weeks with the understanding that in between appts, I'll elevate my foot (the swelling and pain get much worse when it's not elevated) I will be in a surgical boot for at least 4-6 weeks. No aerobic activity on that foot for at least 8 weeks to allow for proper bone healing. The last thing you want to do is delay healing or predispose yourself to infection/pain by trying to do too much, too fast.

Trust me, there is no "good" time to set up this surgery. I just planned it this way since the kids are out of school on break and hubby isn't teaching during break either. Sucks to be in pain for the holidays, but I'll pick that over summer time when we are very active.

I'm sure I'll be glad I had this done once it's all healed. Sounds like you are headed for a similar decision that I had to make. Just don't fool yourself into thinking that you will be able to do much aerobically for several weeks. Maybe upper body work and ab work but no lower body stuff until you heal.

Coming from someone who's in the midst of it. RIght now, I'm effing miserable. No light at the end of the tunnel yet for me, but I'm trying to be patient :(

Hope I didn't deter you - just giving you a little reality check;)
Heidi
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YIKES! Gosh Heidi, I am so sorry you're having such a difficult time! How are you feeling now that it's been a few weeks? I don't think my procedure will be as extensive as yours--I'm pretty sure I won't need to have the bone restructured or pins, just bone shaving. I hope anyway. Will know this coming Monday.

I'm going to PM you with more questions, if that's OK...........
 
Laura, Sorry to hear about your ongoing foot problem and hope you find something that will help out. Pain is not a good thing to live with. Knee problems for me but I can curb it with ice and restrain from overuse. Keep us posted. JT
 
Laura,

Feel free to PM me - I'm now 3 weeks out and in much less pain. Still in the surgical shoe (and it is oh so fashionable:mad:) for another 2 weeks. I still have a pretty good "gimp" which has my whole spine and body off. I need to elevate it every few hours but am back to work hobbling around. Still no cardio but I did start some upper body work, resistance bands on the floor and some ball work.

Just be sure what procedure your dr. is recommended as there are several different procedures. Everyone thinks you can just shave off the bump, but usually it is more involved - the bone and joint usually need realigned.

Hope that helps - again, feel free to PM if need be.
Heidi
 
Wellllllllll, as it turns out, no surgery. Hooray! My podiatrist said he would positively, absolutely, NOT recommend surgery for someone with my activity level. He said the psychological effects would be worse than the current pain LOL. And also that good results were not a guarantee, so it would be foolish to do surgery with 6 mos. downtime & end up back at square one.

So we're gonna try a variety of different treatments together & hope for the best. Cortisone shots directly into the bunion (OUCH!), anti-inflammatory meds (naprocin), & custom orthodics that are specifically for bunions. No high impact or ice skating ever again. :( If anyone is interested in an almost new pair of skates for shoe size 7, they're on ebay. :confused:

Now for the hard part: he says if I follow his instructions to the letter the discomfort should be reduced significantly. I'm not so good at following instructions, esp. when it comes to decreasing the intensity of my workouts. ;)

So glad you're feeling better, Heidi. Hope you're back on your feet soon!
 
Thanks, Laura! I am 5 weeks out and into regular shoes with very little pain and swelling. Of course I'm not doing any plyo jacks or jumping jacks:p but it is going much better and hopefully I'll be able to do more soon.

Don't totally discount surgery if all your options don't pan out. Most have a very good outcome statistically! Not sure what he meant psychologically - I understand initially being very depressed, but it's short term and hopefully the long term goal will be obtained! Glad you are trying different options - let us know how it goes.

Heidi
 
I am brand new here, but I have been searching high and low for "comforting" tales of bunion/toe straightening surgery! I suffered a stress injury to my midfoot (left) back in August, and ended up in a CAM boot for over a month, then an AirCast boot for a month, which completely ruined my foot, flared my bunion, and caused capsulitis in the ball of my foot... I have done pretty much everything since November, from cortisone shots to orthotics to crutches (for two weeks) to PT... Have seen a good sports med doc who just referred me to a surgeon, as I have a clearly "deformed" foot due to the bunion, my ridiculously high arches, etc. I have been staying as fit as possible by X-training with Pilates, arm weights, core stuff, rower, and recumbent bike, but any time I "overdo" it on the machines or walking, I suffer. It's as though the capsulitis/tendonitis flares so horribly that it has literally kept me awake all night some nights, and I'm barely functional at work the next day. Thankfully, I have slept so much better for nearly two weeks straight now! It's not just the bunion that hurts, but the entire ball of my foot, as the big toe has "pushed" everything over, squishing my toes, nerves, ligaments, etc. my X-ray showed a hallux valgus deformity, but just a mild one, as well as swelling across the medial joint of the big toe. I would like to avoid surgery if at all possible, but I'm sick of walking strangely, feeling like every step is at best awkward, at work painful! I used to run, and would like to get back to that point some day, but I would REALLY just like to be able to walk faster/longer at this point! I can't even swim/do aqua aerobics--after the cortisone wore off, even pool jogging was hell.
I'm 37, so I feel that if I wait too much longer, I may heal much slower than I already do when injured...
It's so comforting that others are enduring similar issues, though I also feel terribly for all of you! Just venting a bit here! :)
Thanks!
 
Yvonne26 said:
I am brand new here, but I have been searching high and low for "comforting" tales of bunion/toe straightening surgery! I suffered a stress injury to my midfoot (left) back in August, and ended up in a CAM boot for over a month, then an AirCast boot for a month, which completely ruined my foot, flared my bunion, and caused capsulitis in the ball of my foot... I have done pretty much everything since November, from cortisone shots to orthotics to crutches (for two weeks) to PT... Have seen a good sports med doc who just referred me to a surgeon, as I have a clearly "deformed" foot due to the bunion, my ridiculously high arches, etc. I have been staying as fit as possible by X-training with Pilates, arm weights, core stuff, rower, and recumbent bike, but any time I "overdo" it on the machines or walking, I suffer. It's as though the capsulitis/tendonitis flares so horribly that it has literally kept me awake all night some nights, and I'm barely functional at work the next day. Thankfully, I have slept so much better for nearly two weeks straight now! It's not just the bunion that hurts, but the entire ball of my foot, as the big toe has "pushed" everything over, squishing my toes, nerves, ligaments, etc. my X-ray showed a hallux valgus deformity, but just a mild one, as well as swelling across the medial joint of the big toe. I would like to avoid surgery if at all possible, but I'm sick of walking strangely, feeling like every step is at best awkward, at work painful! I used to run, and would like to get back to that point some day, but I would REALLY just like to be able to walk faster/longer at this point! I can't even swim/do aqua aerobics--after the cortisone wore off, even pool jogging was hell.
I'm 37, so I feel that if I wait too much longer, I may heal much slower than I already do when injured...
It's so comforting that others are enduring similar issues, though I also feel terribly for all of you! Just venting a bit here! :)
Thanks!
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I was 30 had to have surgery on both feet ..bunions on both and hammer toes.. My bunion would feel like walking on rocks i could not stand to long then either i had a jjob on my feet 10 hours everyday..expanded dities dental assistant. I did both at same time so i could go back to work. Now my feet just hurt a different way! , not as much as before but almost 10 yrs later i have a hard time doing lunges ( balance issues) it may be diff now but they actualy shaved bone on my bunions on big toe broke the big toe and tried to make it look and function like a big toe... They took bone out of the small toe. No bony petrusion there anymore but i think because of diff mechanics of my foot the bottom will burn during exercise. And lunges static exspecially is hard to stay balanced. I developed pf last yr and took over 6 months to heal on that.
Im just letting u know how it went for me. Im not sure i would have done it if i knew how id be doing today. So i guess it depends on what tje prognosis will be compared to the pain u have now. It was over 10 yrs for me so maybe the surgeries are not as invasive as it was .. Praying for you.
 
Thank you for your candid reply, Renee! Wow, I cannot even fathom enduring two surgeries at once... It must have been such a difficult and painful process getting back to "normal" after that! I can imagine what you are saying about the pain being different now, but still there... I guess I expect that to be the case to some degree. I think that at this point, I just want my foot to be a bit more functional and actually work properly, rather than trying to get it to do what I want by constantly doing foot exercises to strengthen it, bolster it up with orthotics, etc. Though of course, I plan to wear orthotics for the rest of my life, I would just like my foot to be bio-mechanically functioning more correctly. But who knows if surgery would even fully take care of that--I know there is always a risk, for sure. I'm seeing my surgeon's PA next Tuesday, so I will be peppering him with questions. I guess one huge concern for me is recovery time, as even with my injury and this newer pain from the "warped" foot structure, I am still quite active. Even though I can't walk as much, I still manage my rower and bike and I LOVE Pilates matwork! I would hope I'd at least be able to do upper body and core work as I recover...
Thank you for your prayers and thoughts! I will definitely think long and hard about this before I act...
 
I do think things are better now and they know alot more then they did then. I would hope at any rate. To be functional is the key for sure you are right... But ur welcome! I didnt want tto discourage u at all but i also would rather u get all outlooks on the subject. And u may be getting a different type all together. But thats one thing id ask too is how will ur feet function with the rest of ur body. Plz let me know how it goes.. I wonder if they can get me more balanced lol.
 
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I am 6weeks post opp bunion surgery

Hello, just wanted to share my surgery experience. I had one foot done just before Christmas. I experienced a few days of pain, most of the work is keeping weight off the foot, icing and elevating. Around Day4-5, I started using the band for upper body work, weeks 2-3 started doing Cathe heavy upper body, abs and Tonique mat for all lower body. I too love Pilates but for some reason couldn't get into a pilates frame of mind during recovery.

I started riding my indoor upright bike and elliptical @ 4.5 weeks. I am walking with modification 2 miles with my dogs in addition to other cardio or on weight training days.

Here's what I can't do: wear heels, walk barefoot with slight discomfort, put too much in big toe area when walking dogs, no jumping, no running.

Overall, I am maintaining my fitness during this recovery period so much easier than I thought I could. I LOVE the way my "new foot" looks and feels despite the healing process. Can't wait to do the other one.

I had a pin that got removed at 3 weeks and 2 permanent screws in my foot. Next surgery is in March!
 
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