1. Community
  2. Bones, joints and muscles
  3. Hallux Valgus (Bunions)

How has your bunion surgery experience been so far?

Posted , 5 users are following.

nemo68931
nemo68931

I had a lapidus 3 wks ago and am non weight bearing for 6 weeks and have 1 plate and 6 screws in lft foot. needless to say being this immobile is very boring and i have gotten so much help and encouragement from this forum! im just curious to hear how some of you are doing in your recovery and maybe we can post some questions that can be answered by others on this site! my experience so far has been not great but i can now feel recovery getting closer and cant wait to walk and  drive and be normal again! my biggest obstacles lately have been not much range of motion in my foot it is basically stuck in a relaxed position and is hurting my heel. heel pain and under the foot burning is the worst.

1 like, 20 replies

20 Replies

Next
  • Twigas
    Twigas nemo68931

    Posted

    I walked out of the recovery room. Had to use ice packs 3 x day for 3 weeks. Minor pain after the first week. Pin and the one stitch removed after 4 weeks. Walking on the flat of my foot now but shouldn't bend my toe until the 6th week

    All in all it went great. Now just have to schedule to get my right foot done.

    Photo below is just after pin removed on 4th week. Foot still slightly swollen. You can see the difference with the right foot. Night and day. 👍

    • nemo68931
      nemo68931 Twigas

      Posted

      Wow it looks great! Glad to hear your pain was minimal as well and an overall good experience. Why is it that you were told you shouldn't bend your big toe until the 6th week? I have always heard teh opposite that it is important to be bending the toe
    • Twigas
      Twigas nemo68931

      Posted

      No bending while walking so no rotating onto the toes and no weight bearing  on the toes. I can move the toe just fine but should not put any weight on it until after the 6th week. 

      It takes 6 weeks for a bone to heal. So how can you use it and put weight on it until it has healed? It does not make any sense.

    • nemo68931
      nemo68931 Twigas

      Posted

      Oh I see what you mean. I thought you meant your dr did not want you to move your big toe at all. Many dr's reccommend stretching the big toe to help break up scar tissue while the bone is still fusing.I've been hearing a lot about keyhole bunion removal and it sounds really interesting and like the quickest recovery time you can get with these surgeries. I hope when I muster up the courage to do my right foot that a keyhole operation might be something I can do as my right foot is not as severe as my left. I don't know the qualifications for keyhole though.
  • Twigas
    Twigas nemo68931

    Posted

    4 weeks after keyhole bunion op. 100% weight bearing. 😄
  • Yeowch
    Yeowch nemo68931

    Posted

    I had chevron bunionectomy 6 weeks ago--got back into athletic shoe two days ago.  The burning and stining were awful.  Ice, Ice and more Ice especially on the bottom of the foot and toes seemed to help the most.  For your heel pain, look in your orthopedic shoe/boot.  Mine developed a hard ridge right where my heel was taking the weight.  I put a soft over the counter insole in it like a Dr. Scholls and that took care of the heel discomfort (or at least made it tolerable),  Also, I found that the best way to get some a night's rest was to take about 10 mh Loraizepan rather than pain medication.  Nerves in the foot settled down and I could sleep for 5 - 7 hours straight.   
    • nemo68931
      nemo68931 Yeowch

      Posted

      Thanks for the tip about the boot! My boot is very cushy inside my foot is just lacking flexibility at this point and when I put it in it automatically begins to slack to an angled position and causes discomfort. I have just been taking the boot off whenever I get the chance and trying to bend my foot a lot to get range of motion back. As far as sleep goes I can pretty much only sleep with the boot off.
  • Kaliana
    Kaliana nemo68931

    Posted

    Nemo I drove today for the first time in 5 weeks! One more step closer to normalcy and independence. I hope you had a great healing day.
    • nemo68931
      nemo68931 Kaliana

      Posted

      wow kaliana that is such great news to hear! I can't wait to drive again it will mean so much more then it did when you first get a licence haha.did you have any issues with pain having your foot down or any swelling afterwards? so glad to hear you're doing well and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!
    • Kaliana
      Kaliana nemo68931

      Posted

      Thank you Nemo! No issues with pain or swelling from driving. I'm not going very far. The darco shoe has a hard bottom and keeps my foot flat which helps. You'll be driving soon too. I hope your PT consult went well!
  • r25571
    r25571 nemo68931

    Posted

    Hi Nemo,    I had my lapidus surgery on my left foot on Sept 4 -- today is exactly 4 weeks post-op! I've made it this far but it has been hard -- harder than I thought it would be, actually.  The confinement and immobility are very difficult.  Also, I find that people don't really get how difficult this process is -- they hear "bunion surgery" and discount it as no big deal.  It's a HUGE deal. 

    I'm using a knee scooter to get around in my house but without assistance I can't get outside.  I also purchased a shower bench and a grabber -- both of those tools have been very helpful.  Highly recommend both to anyone reading.  With the grabber I can scoot into laundry room and use it to transfer clothes from washer to dryer, etc.  I'm able to get a little bit done here and there which is helpful.  I also use it to clear a path in my house -- for some reason my husband and children seem to forget that my scooter can't just roll over all of the stuff they leave laying around -- some days I feel like they are intentionally setting up an obstacle course for me.  :D   The grabber helps me get anything in my path. 

    Pain at this point is fairly non-existent other than odd flares now and then.  I had one just Wednesday night, totally out of the blue and the pain was so bad in my foot I went ahead and took percocet.  For the most part, though, I don't have pain but just odd sensations and generally uncomfortable.  I wear my boot at all times -- even sleeping. 

    My doctor says xrays and foot look great -- he's very happy with the results so far.  I can barely stand to look at my foot -- it looks awful to me!  But, over time I'm sure that will improve.  

    Doctor has referred me for physical therapy and I will start next week.  He's also asked me to start "heel walking".   I've tried and it hurts really bad!  Almost feels like there is a marble or something embedded in my heel.  Very painful.  I'm trying to do ankle exercises to move my ankle a bit and regain my range of motion -- like you describe, my ankle also just wants to flop down and I have to consciously think about raising it or moving it. 

    I'm really, really hoping this will all be worth it as I have to muster up the strength to do my right foot, too!!

    One thing I wasn't prepared for was the emotional upheaval I've experienced.  About a week after surgery I completely broke down and for several days felt awful.  I couldn't believe what I had done to my foot and kept questioning why I had done this and gone through it.   It passed after a few days and I'm doing very well now. About once a week I get really down -- I think mostly from the confinement and inability to do anything.  I'm usually a very active, on the go person and this is tough on me!  I work from home which has been very helpful as I have a lot to focus on and concentrate on.   

    Trying very hard to practice feeling grateful that this is all I'm contending with right now.  smile

     

    • nemo68931
      nemo68931 r25571

      Posted

      wow your experience has almost been exactly like mine word for word! I was battling with depression and regret so so much the first two weeks especially.I was so upset and miserable but luckily I'm on week 3 now and am half way to 6 weeks which is when I can start trying to weight bear and that's the light at the end of the tunnel. I miss driving and walking so much lol this experience has been so humbling for me and shown me I take so much for granted.its so nice to hear I'm not the only one with ankle issues it seems like nobody has posted about that and my friends who have had bunion surgeries didn't have a lapidus so it wasn't as severe of a recovery.I too am having to consciously keel bending my foot.I bend it well but it doesn't like to stay.especially in the boot its tough to wear because my foot wants to go back to the relaxed position of pointing to the right foot and I worry I'm making it worse taking it kit of the boot so much but the boot is too painful and my Dr said it was okay without the boot granted they didn't know about my ankle but still knew I was having flexibility issues.lately the pain is only bad if my foot isn't elevated and its more odd sensations like you said or spasms or burning.its easier because it is predictable.however I'm getting a feeling of like marble size bumps or something on the bottom of my foot.I don't feel physical bumps from outside my foot but I feel them when I bend my foot to be flat and 90 degrees. could this be selling or scar tissue or perhaps just nerves? I worth it could be my screws as I have very bony feet and a lot of screws.it is tough nor having x rays until the 6 week mark I want to know its okay haha
    • Kaliana
      Kaliana r25571

      Posted

      Things will get so much better I promise. I'm 5 weeks and a day post-op from Lapidus. I'm back at work and driving again. Once I no longer needed crutches I wanted to jump for joy! With PT, you'll make so much progress! Best of luck. Remember each week ot gets easier!
    • r25571
      r25571 Kaliana

      Posted

      Thank you so much for the encouragement. I'm actually having a hard time believing there is an end in sight! Did you actually get to start walking at five weeks? That's amazing! I can't even heel walk at this point.
    • r25571
      r25571 nemo68931

      Posted

      Nemo -As much as I'm sorry you're going through the same thing, I'm also happy to know I'm not alone!

      My foot feels so weird. It's numb and extremely tingling all at the same time. Sometimes it feels like it's frozen and thawing out. Weird, huh?

      I also have bony feet and keep worrying I'll be able to see or feel the hardware.

      I tried heel walking again today. Excruciating. The pain is right on the bottom of my foot -- very sharp and takes my breath away.

      On the upside I scootrd around the house today -- managed to make some cookies and even took a shower. That's a pretty productive day at this point!

    • Kaliana
      Kaliana r25571

      Posted

      I've walked some out if my boot barefoot or in my darco. Everyone gets a different walking time frame based on their healing, fusing, and if you have a titanium plate or not (which allows for walking sooner than if it were only screws). When I'm out and about I have my boot on. 2 weeks ago qalking was hard, now it's almost normal. I can't wait to work my way back into a sneaker!
    • r25571
      r25571 Kaliana

      Posted

      This is so great to hear! Would you mind sharing more about your physical therapy experience? I start in a few days and honestly the thought of someone handling my foot or me doing stretching or whatever is scary. How was it? What sorts of exercises did you do?

      Really happy for your progress so far! You're giving me hope :-)

    • Kaliana
      Kaliana r25571

      Posted

      I don't mind at all. I've wirked with this PT before when I needed ankle and achilles work after my surgery last year on my left side. My Lapidus was on my right side. My left will be done November 5.

      I've been 3 times so far. The first appointment was an hour to review all my xrays and notes and then treatment after. My follow-ups are all 30 minutes. So far, he usually starts by using a heated ultrasound on the bottom of my foot. It feels delightful. Then he does manual manipulation of my big toe. He goes slow and wants to know if anything feels remotely uncomfortable. Then I do a series of exercises. PROM by moving the toe and holding it. Seated calf raises, gait shifts, the band to strengthen the foot, ankle, and calf muscles (I had really bad disuse atrophy from my cast), towel scruntches, and stretches. He does 2 kinds of massage, ART and lymphatic drainage. Then I go home and ice. I have lots of PT homework that I faithfully do. In a week and a half I've made huge improvements in my range if motion of my big toe. The first session I swelled so much from. It's because we did a lot of things and my foot wasn't used to it all. I now make sure I ice and take Advil right after and I've been fine.

      I hope that helps. I'm sure each PT has their own treatment regiment. So far so good with my PT. I'm sure it will go so much better than you're envisioning. I searched hard for my PT last year for my other PT work. He owns his buisness and spends the entire time working with only me. I see him only each time. Moat other PT places where I live have multiple clients at one time and you don't always see the same person. There's no way I'd be okay with that approach. I'll be interested in hearing how yours goes. Happy healing!

    • nemo68931
      nemo68931 r25571

      Posted

      yes I agree I'm sorry to hear about the pain but it helps us to know we're not alone! are you in a heel walking shoe? I'm in a cam type boot until week 6 and when i put the boot on if I push too hard on accident and put weight on my foot I feel it! be careful not to weight best until you're cleared to you don't want to give the bones a tough time while they fuse.and on the subject of frozen feet I feel that a lot too especially my toes they feel like they're freezing.I think its just because we have no circulation in our feet from all the elevation.nor to mention all the nerve repair that's going on! the worst for me ka when your foot kicks because it hurts my incision when it moves so fast like that.I think I can feel the screw's when I bend my foot 90 degrees I feel odd sensations at the bottom but my screw heads are at the top so who knows! I think its our tendency to assume its the worst and a bad thing going on we can't see.I'm having my hardware taken out 6 months later my Dr thinks they'll bother me so I'm happy to know it won't last forever.just remember hardware they put in surgery is put in to withstand a lot and it's stronger than we think so don't be too worried about it! hand in there every day we are closer.today is day 24 for me I can't believe it!
Back to top
Next

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.