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post op continued pain after scarf akin osteotomy

Posted , 7 users are following.

j4435
j4435

Hi. I m currently 17 days post op from scarf akin osteotomy amd second toe osteotomy. From the get go i suffered severe pain and needed extremely strong painkillers. From all the things i ve read the pain was supossed to lessen by now but its still pretty intense. The main issue being throbbing and tingling in my big toe. Also feeling like someone is has a rope around it and is pulling. Its v bad at night and i have to take strong painkillers at night. I barely sleep. I got mass of other sensations. I ve noticed also my left hand goes numb and tingles too. It was my left foot operated on. I m really concerned i have permanent nerve damage and this wont go away. It has me in tears. My wound has been checked and is fine. I m going to see gp tmrw. Wondering if anyone has this or could advise. So worried

I cant go on like this its relentless and feel it should be better by now. I have rested. Elevated constantly and iced. Walked the bare minimum on my heel walking shoe. Please help

2 likes, 18 replies

18 Replies

  • helenFromNJ
    helenFromNJ j4435

    Posted

    So sorry to hear.  I had similar surgery January 6th -- it's been a long and slow recovery.  I had pain but not to the extent you are describing.  Oddly I've been having tingling and numbness on the same side of my surgery (in my arm).  Who knows...nerves are complicated. Please try not to worry.   The anxiety alone will make everything seem worse.  I know, I did that very thing to myself.  At my wit's end a few weeks ago I found this discussion group and immediately felt better reading the long term success stories.  I'm still not there personally (3 months post surgery) but I'm doing much better.  Finally walking and driving again.  Swelling is bad but I can get a sneaker and ugg boot on.  The pain is mostly stiffness.  Clumsy learning to try and walk 'normal'.  The muscles really lost a lot in just 8 weeks time.  Hang in there and I hope your appointment tomorrow brings some relief and good, reassuring news.  Good luck.  Get well soon -- I know it may not seem like it now but you will get well! The first few weeks are so hard sad
  • sandalz
    sandalz j4435

    Posted

    So sorry to hear your pain is so bad. As helen in previous reply has said recovery is hard in the first few weeks. 17 days is early. The tingling is the nerves healing. The tight feeling is due to swelling. I had my surgery scarf and akin 17 weeks ago, both feet, and the tight feeling under the toes is still there but much less. This is major surgery to the foot and I was told that some swelling can last up to a year.

    Hope the gp can help you with some different pain killers. Keep elevating.

    • j4435
      j4435 sandalz

      Posted

      Thanks sandalz. Really need to find some patience x
  • susann1107
    susann1107 j4435

    Posted

    I should get hold of your surgeon rather then your GP. Your GP did not perform the operation and is there to help out  if the surgeon is not available. It is the surgeons responsibility to make sure that also the after care is given and that the out come is fine. Sometimes it does take longer and some patients have more pain then others. Every operation and every recovery is individual, but you should not have severe pain anymore. Try calling the surgeon for a check up appointment.
  • hillyBill
    hillyBill j4435

    Posted

    Hi Yes I agree best to call the hospital where you had the surgery for advice. Poor you! I hope the pain starts lessening soon!
  • pauline19861
    pauline19861 j4435

    Posted

    Hi j4435, wow your situation sounds really intense. I am 10 weeks post op. 4th and 5th toe osteotomies and Taylors bunion. Pain was intense for about 21 days and then lessened. I had throbbing nerve pain that came in intense waves and kept me up at night. My surgeon said that these were normal and could reduce, which they have. I asked my surgeon for an emergency appointmen at week 5 as after weeks 1 and 2 there was no follow up appointment for 6 MONTHS. I felt I was not progressing and was worried about returning to work at week 8. All the surgeon was concerned about was that the wounds looked fine and the swelling was acceptable, everything else eg pain, stiffness, redness was par for the course. I felt like i had been told off and bi should be more patient. So here i am at week 10 trying to be patient and optomistic but failing miserably. You are not alone. Glad you are at docs today, you need to be checked out and given some reassurances. Let me know how you get on. I aint going anywhere fast. 👍r
  • j4435
    j4435

    Posted

    Thanks for the replies.sorry to hear ur situation pauline. I was reassured that the pain i described was normal and not nerve damage. He said there is a wide spectrum of experiences after surgery and mine is not unusual . He has given me more v strong painkillers. I have a low pain threshold and just need to be patient. He did say for me to come back in a week if things hadnt improved.
    • pauline19861
      pauline19861 j4435

      Posted

      Hi j4435, glad your mind has been put to rest a bit. You wouldn't think you would get arm pain after foot surgery!! The body is an enigma isn't it. When I think about it I get same side as my op shoulder pain but I blamed this on hauling myself about on crutches. Well at least you can stop worrying now and just go with the process. I wish I had found this forum before my op or just after, then I would have saved myself a lot of worry. I hope the pain killers help your pain, there is nothing worse. Good luck with your recovery, I hop it is a speedy one. I am going to try a short solo walk in an hour down to the shore to sniff the sea. Would normally take me 3 minutes but I think I might take a packed lunch. Will be here if you need any support, I am able to check in here pretty much hourly. 👍
    • sandalz
      sandalz j4435

      Posted

      Hope it improves and the new pain killers help. Everyone's recovery seems to be different. I had both feet done at the same time and the recovery in each foot has been different. The right foot seems to be more swollen than the left. Let us know how you are getting on.
    • j4435
      j4435 pauline19861

      Posted

      Thanks pauline. Think the numbness in my hand is down to the crutches which is a relief. Pain felt a bit better today as i was out at lunch and distracted played for a bit with dog in the garden throwing ball not bearing weight really as have my heel bearing shoe but bit sore now. U really have to rest a lot with this surgery. I miss walkin so much and impatient for it but i knowni cant jeopardise my recovery by doing too much. Enjoy ur walk
    • pauline19861
      pauline19861 j4435

      Posted

      Hi. Yes i thought the pain might be due to the crutches, I have a very strong upper body but still get shoulder pain from using them. Rest is the key. I basically did nothing for about 4 weeks then very slowly began to do little tasks. I have been very lucky to have a partner at home the whole time or I would have had to get up more than I could have managed. I know what you mean about missing walking. I walk 10 miles five days a week in my job so it has hit me hard. In the 10 weeks since surgery my fitness fell off the map. Anything tired me. It is only now that I can get up and do small things on the house without fading after 5 mins. It does get better, just not as quick as you would like. If I had my time over again I would not worry so much, take it very slow and enjoy reading, catching up with people and playing silly games that I would not normally play. When the pain cwas bad at night I downloaded several games like candy crush etc and when I ran out of lives on one I played another then another til I bored myself to sleep. I dont normally play games but it helped take my mind off things and kept my mind active. Slow and steady wins this one, you just have to go with the flow. I had my little walk

      today and got further than I hoped, 30 mins in all. Foot swollen now but not too bad.

  • Swampiesue
    Swampiesue j4435

    Posted

    I am post op over a year ago, 17 days is still very early.. It might go away in time, your foot is still proberly still swollen which would pull the skin between your toes.. 

    I still get that pulling feeling between my toes, feels like someone is pulling strings wrapped around the toes.. It's not as bad now as it used to be, not sure if why this happens though but I'm getting more used to it..

    hope yours eases soon xxxx

  • j4435
    j4435

    Posted

    Thanks for taking an interest in me. Can be quite isolating this but yes feel q lot more reassured that this is normal. My foots been through so much. I just hate night times. I m trying to only take painkillers at night as thats when the pain is worst.
    • pauline19861
      pauline19861 j4435

      Posted

      👍 try the mindless games trick at night, helps pass the time and focus your mindnon something other than pain.
    • j4435
      j4435 pauline19861

      Posted

      I will pauline thanks for the great tips. I m managing to do lot of stretches and yoga . Also some upper body workouts. Only manage about 30 mins a day. Considerin i m an exercise freak not much. I had a fall tonight. Landed on my bad foot and unfortunateky didn have my darco shoe on. Stupid me. It hurt but i def haven done any serious damage as i would know. I rang the out of hours gp. He said it should be fine but if i find i m in severe pain to go to hospital tmrw and get an xray. I ll see how it is in tge morning . Fingers crossed but surely it woukd be much worse if i d damaged something. Its just the usual psin at the min. It was v frightening tthough and scared the living daylights out of me. I hate these crutches and when taking heavy painkillers need to be more careful . I could n face any more foot surgery after this sad
    • pauline19861
      pauline19861 j4435

      Posted

      OMG how are you now. You have have have to put the shoe on. I had mine on and a big sneaker slipper for cabout 8 weeks. Hope you have not done any note damage?? Let me know how you are doing 👍
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