Anyone have experience with bunion surgery?

[mypa]

Podiatrist said the recurrent pain in my foot will most likely be alleviated by bunion surgery. The recovery time is 8 weeks! While I will be able to hobble around earlier than that the bone will not completely heal until 8 weeks and I am to try and keep my feet elevated the rest of the time. As a SAHM that is not going to happen.

Has anyone here had the surgery? What's the recovery really like? Did the pain go away?

I am also looking at physical therapy as a option for pain management until perhaps my kids are older before doing the surgery. Has anyone done PT for bunion pain, how much has it helped?

With the pain I walk like an old woman...more like hobble.

[nfowife]

I don't have experience but I am heading in the same direction. I've had bunions my whole life, mine are hereditary. A few years ago I went for a consult and the surgeon told me I would need the most invasive/severe surgery they do for bunions so until I was in pain to do nothing.

I'm generally not in too much pain as I wear flip flops all summer and privos all winter. I can't wear any sort of dressy heel pretty much ever. I went to a wedding last weekend and wore these which are as old-lady as you can get:
http://www.6pm.com/naturalizer-burlone-red-shiny
I wore them for a total of 5 hours and it's almost a week later and my left foot big toe still hurts. Ugh. I think my time is coming soon....

[Tammy]

Yes, BTDT and very glad I did. I really didn't think it was that bad either. It was more inconvenient to wear the "boot" that keeps the weight/pressure off your foot/toes for the entire time, but not horrible. I had bunions on both feet (so did my mom) pretty bad and had pain for a few years. Once I noticed the pain getting worse and affecting my daily life I decided to get them fixed. (Fyi- my mom had recently had the same surgery and had success with it.) My feet were only getting worse and I was prolonging the problem by not getting it corrected. Fast forward to surgery day- woke up from surgery and my foot was alseep, no discomfort. Later that evening started to get feeling back in it and slightly uncomfortable but took pain meds and was fine. I did notice that if I didn't keep my foot up though it swelled up in no time and then that was the most uncomfortable part. I ended up not being able to take some of the pain meds cause they made me feel really funny in the head or sick to my stomach, so they cut my dose in half or else I managed it with Ibuprofen. Sleeping was the hardest part cause you're supposed to keep the boot on, which I did at first and then later removed it so I could sleep. My doctor shaved off the bunion part on one foot, and the other foot was worse so he shaved off the bunion part and also cut into the big toe and put a pin in it to re-align so it would be straight. Then he wrapped the big toe with gauze and tied it so that always felt tight to me. That was the very worst part for me, but I'm weird about not wanting anything on my toes like that or anything around them (like those socks with the individual toes- yuck!). I just had to make sure that when I was sitting I had my foot propped up or else the swelling would start and then it would get uncomfortable. There was never a time for me that it really hurt after the surgery/recovery process though. I'm glad I had it done and now don't have the daily pain like I used to. Recovery time for me I think was 6-8 weeks where I had to wear the boot and be careful about not putting weight on the foot. After that, I could take the boot off and wear shoes but you really want to stick with comfortable appropriate shoes for awhile (not heels or something skinny). You can tell a difference though from 1 week post-surgery to the 6 weeks after when you feel like your foot is getting stronger and healing. I should also add that finding the best doctor who knows what they're doing is so important. My mom first went to a local doc and he told her to go ahead and be active like normal too soon and had botched the surgery, so her foot ended up worse and she had two additional surgeries just to correct that first bad one. Get good references before you go.

[mypa]

Mine's hereditary, too. I can never wear heels, would be in way too much pain. I tried once and I understand about paying the price for a while.

Wearing non-constricting shoes used to be enough to keep the pain at bay, but after having DD the pain has gotten worse (also developed other foot problems) and not only does the main toe joint hurt but the pain has radiated out to the arch area as well as the rest of my toes when I bend them.

The second pregnancy has really done a number on my body from head to toe!

[mypa]

Tammy, it's so good to hear you don't have pain anymore!

Interesting what you said about the swelling. The doctor kept repeating how important it was to keep the feet elevated, like that was the most important part of the healing process.

Did you have kids when you had the surgery? How did you manage? How long did you have to deal with the swelling/keeping the feet elevated?

Thanks for reminding me about really checking out the doctors. I've been to two and I don't get a great feeling from either of them.

[pinkmomagain]

Tammy, thanks for your account. I also have a bunion that is hereditary. Heels and tight toe boxes really flare up the pain, but if I avoid them, I generally do OK. Total vanity question for you: Does your foot look better now? My Dh always gives me a hard time about my "sixth toe." (Of course I would never have the surgery purely for vanity's sake...but just curious.)

[brismom]

I was having uncomfortable shooting pains in my right big toe a few years back and the podiatrist suggested bunion surgery. With work and a baby due I had to schedule during the summer one month after giving birth to our 2nd! The recovery wasn't too bad, the boot was a pain b/c it was soo huge and obtrusive, the meds helped but elevating is most important. I was in the knee length boot for about 2 weeks and then transitioned to just the orthopedic shoe for about 4 weeks. At the time I had the newborn and a 2 year old. I don't remembering hindering me with the kids, the only sad part was it was summer and you can't submerge your foot under water for a good 2 months at least. Oh yeah and showering is a PITA. Fast forward to this past March and I had the left foot done. My little ones are 2 and 4 now and since you still are mobile I didn't have too much problems moving around. Recovery was pretty much the same. Now my right foot is amazing, my left foot i slowly recovering and still looks a bit frankensteinish. For both surgeries the surgeon cut and pinned the bones and pain wasn't too bad, nothing a couple of pills can cure.

[klwa]

Originally Posted by nfowife

until I was in pain to do nothing.

I was told when I was in 5th grade (!!!) that once I got in too much pain to walk, they'd consider doing something about my bunions, but to hold off until then, because he couldn't guarrantee that I'd be in much less pain after the surgery. So, I've dealt with the twinges I get every so often. Luckily, they're not too severe, and I've never had to wonder if today was the day I should head in to the surgeon.

[Tammy]

Originally Posted by mypa

Tammy, it's so good to hear you don't have pain anymore!

Interesting what you said about the swelling. The doctor kept repeating how important it was to keep the feet elevated, like that was the most important part of the healing process.

Did you have kids when you had the surgery? How did you manage? How long did you have to deal with the swelling/keeping the feet elevated?

Thanks for reminding me about really checking out the doctors. I've been to two and I don't get a great feeling from either of them.

No, I had the surgery before I had my kids. But I continued to work, but just needed to elevate my foot all day. The first 3 weeks I had to elevate most of the time or else it would get really swollen and uncomfortable. After that, I could get by with a little less but it just felt better when I elevated it. Oh- brismom reminded me with her shower comment that I did have to wear this foot "shower cap" thing in the shower so my foot/bandage didn't get wet. It wasn't that bad for me though- I went to a medical supply store and they sold this clear plastic bootie thing that you put over your foot and pull up your calf and the rubber seals so the water doesn't go down into your bandage. Really handy to have though.

[Tammy]

Originally Posted by pinkmomagain

Tammy, thanks for your account. I also have a bunion that is hereditary. Heels and tight toe boxes really flare up the pain, but if I avoid them, I generally do OK. Total vanity question for you: Does your foot look better now? My Dh always gives me a hard time about my "sixth toe." (Of course I would never have the surgery purely for vanity's sake...but just curious.)

Absolutely they do look better! I used to hate the way my feet looked, but now they don't bother me and look so much better. I do have scars on both feet, but one is very faint and the other still is not all that easy to see. My doctor gave me Vitamin A to rub in to the incision site once it closed and that helped get rid of the scar. I found out I was pregnant with DD1 right after my second surgery though, so I had to stop using the Vit A cream on that foot and the scar stands out a little more. Still not ugly they used to be though- totally understand.