Bunion op in December

Oh Polly, poor you! But surely it's still better than it was? I do hope so.

Busy mummy, thank you for the exercise ideas. Sounds much more interesting than anything else we've been given.

And everyone, thank you for the encouragement! I really do feel positive, though I have to say I overdid it yesterday and realised I wasn't totally back to normal. I can run a bit though, which might be music to the ears of anyone a couple of weeks behind me.

I bought some Pavers slippers. I had never heard of them before I visited this forum, so thank you to everyone who suggested them, they have a slight heel and you can go junto the garden with them as well.

Let's hope we all have a good weekend :-)

Hello everyone,

Polly, I'm sorry to hear about your toe, hopefully he got it wrong and all is ok. At least the pain may be less than before? I also do worry when I push myself too much due to desperation to progress. At the end of the day, when my foot has warmed up and still fully wedged into my trainers, I try to walk slowly without my crutches even though I've been told to only put 50% weight on my foot. I just hope I'm not doing it any damage.

I have today off and have been enjoying the sun in the garden whilst giving my foot a massage between bending the big toe back and forth. My new black trainers arrived today, so looking forward to wearing a skirt out to dinner tonight. My foot is still very swollen when I take my trainers off at night. Is this normal? My next appointment with the surgeon is on the 8th of April. The bad news is I'm off to a golf break weekend with my club on the 4th of April, but won't be able to play and still not sure if I could drive. Still have 2 weeks to practice using my very stiff clutch so I could drive. Fingers cross!

Anyway, I hope everyone is well and have a nice weekend.

Veronica x

Hello Polly - hope things settle down and your toe isn't as bent as maybe it looks now. I have to admit both my big toes are leaning slightly more than it looked as if they were going to. My surgeon said all along that I would have a bit of a bend because of the structure of my feet but as I still have some swelling I am hoping it will all settle down eventually. When I look at pictures of the day before the op I can see that my feet look much much better than they were then!

I did far too much walking on Wednesday and ended up with very sore feet again yesterday. When I went to bed last night my left foot was really very swollen and stiff. This morning I have taken painkillers which also help lessen the swelling and so far I am much more comfortable than yesterday.

On the plus side, I am coping with driving okay now which is a bonus, and I am just having to remind myself that I can't walk too far in one go!

Have a good weekend everyone.

Morning all,

Polly - poor you - how horrid to have that feedback. Did you have the size of the joint reduced as well though? If so, shoes will at least be easier and more comfortable to wear.

Glad to hear the exercises I posted were useful. I saw the physio again Thursday so here are a few more!

Like some others (Anne I think you've mentioned this) I have been finding bare feet or minimal support shoes very uncomfortable to walk in. She said it was because I am rolling away from the ball of my foot as I walk when I'm not in shoes. This, combined with the fact that shoes tend to stop me really pushing off my toes at the front has meant I'm not getting the movement back in my big toe. So, her suggestion is to walk in bare feet a lot, focusing on rolling off the front of my foot with the weight distributed to the middle not one side. She also suggested standing against a wall with feet hip width apart and then bending my knees down as far as they'll go and making sure my knee points over my 2nd toe. Both this and the talking feel pretty uncomfortable at the moment but she says I won't hurt it and that it will help me get normal movement back.

Hope that is helpful to some of you! Have a nice week-end.

x

Hello all, I'm on day 11 post op, I got my stitches out on day 7 when I went to get dressing changed, got butterfly stitches in. I'm able to get up stairs and walk about house without crutches, very slowly,

Taking on everyone's advice about not trying to do too much and keeping foot elevated as much as possible and seems to be working so far

I prepared a lot of things before I got the operation. I am lucky and have aspare room which I set up. We also have an old office chair on wheels which was invaluable the first few days for getting to the bathroom even used it for sitting down to get washed.

Stock up your cupboard with easy food, soups etc, ready made meals.

Got my consultant appointment on Monday looking forward to seeing how well the wounds are doing.

Hi Busymummy. Great to hear from you with some more exercise tips! The one for bending your knees is one I do at yoga so will give it a try now too!

Am gradually finding life returning to normal though sometimes I still have off days - yesterday my feet were both very tender around the incision areas and I got stabbing sensations around my smaller toes. I guess things are still healing on the inside.

Hi Joan - good to hear you are making good progress after your op. It is amazing how resourceful this procedure makes us - your office chair sounds a great idea. Hope all goes okay for you on Monday.

Have a good Sunday everyone - we have sunshine here in Norfolk today though its chilly.

Hi everyone, they say pride comes before a fall.......having said I was cured and everything was wonderful, I've had 3 days of bad pain in the ball of my operated foot. Today it's much better, so I'm feeling more cheerful. I hope everyone else is doing well.....

Hi Sue. Sorry to hear you have had pain again, but glad it seems to be getting better.

I have been feeling more optimistic and cheerful as I can now drive again - although it does hurt my left foot to press the clutch down. So far I have driven each day this week and each evening my feet hurt quite a lot.

The other thing I find difficult is to stand still for very long - like waiting in a checkout queue or something. As I had both feet operated on I don't have a "good" one to take the weight so it gets very painful. It's actually easier to walk than to stand still!

I am finding that generally people expect me to be back to normal now as it's 11 weeks from my op, and although friends and family are pretty good, I think they see me doing "normal" things again and seem surprised when I mention I am still having some pain!

Thank goodness for this forum as at least we all understand!

Hi Anne, thank you for your good wishes. You're right about recovery time - my sister raised an eyebrow to me the other day and commented on how long it was taking, kind of nicely implying that I was stringing it out! Unless I was being over sensitive!

I'm just pleased that I'm no longer limping, and I can drive for short periods. I'm not so sure about the long drive (500 miles) I need to do at the end of next week.....

Good wishes to everyone.....

Hi again Sue.... yes have had similar comments! It frustrates me as I don't think I've been a bad patient and haven't always said much about the pain I have had. I find friends a bit more sympathetic than family really!! I suppose when people see us walking around no longer limping they assume all is fine although my sister-in-law is more sympathetic as she had one bunion done 2 years ago and said it took her a year to feel completely recovered.

Stay positive and good luck with the driving next week - don't envy you that - will you be able to take regular breaks to rest your foot ?

Best wishes to all.

Anne and Sue, yes I think that recovery is going to be a problem as you try to do things then you are expected to do them all the time like yesterday I took bedcovers off 2 beds washed and hung them out, was a big task, foot was very sore last night probably done too much. You are right about the family / friends difference. Need to get a big piece of paper and print off the bunion recovery timeline and stick it up on the kitchen wall

Hi All,

Good to hear how everyone is getting on at different stages post-op. I am now on week 5 following the operation and coming on well I think.

I went back to work on Monday. I was ready for it after 4 weeks on the sofa, but I work in a busy office so had to be really careful not to do too much. Everyone has been really good though and the lady covering for me is staying on for a couple of weeks to help out. I got a bit tired out so worked from home yesterday and that definitely reinvirogerated me!

I am due to have my bandages off and x-rays taken on Tuesday which I am excited about. Foot still feels stiff but have been doing daily exercises so I'm hoping it has improved the movement. I've got the day off work so am going shoe shopping after hospital appointment to find something comfy to wear!!

Hope you all continue to recover well and manage the pain ok.

Take care

Hi

I am now 15 weeks since my op. I did think that I I would be back to normal by now! I still have stiffness in the big toe joint and I have received some physio that I sorted out myself. I was pretty much left to my own devices after my op! I am still not back to running yet although I have been to the gym.

I was just wondering Sue if you are having trouble with shoes still? I find that all shoes feel like they push my toe over! Not sure if I'm being overly sensitive - paranoid the dreaded bunion will come back! I'm not talking pointed shoes. Even ballet pumps feel like they do too.

Any advice would be great. I was wondering whether it was worth going to a podiatrist? I felt like my surgeon told me nothing and I got more help from here!

I hope everyone is recovering well, it takes time but it's worth it my foot looks amazing even if it's still not quite working properly!

Tina

Hello again everyone, glad to see you are still posting - it's good to know there is progress despite the setbacks. I am trying to be positive despite the limited improvement on x-ray. I am at 13wks now and Sue like you and a few others I still get a few aches and pains and am variously conscious of the ball of my foot, big toe, bunion site or scar line and still have some swelling if I am on my feet a lot. I still limp occasionally but driving is no longer a problem.

I found some dressy (flat) shoes in M&S that are totally unsuitable - slip-ons with pointy toes - but I could fit into them so I bought them anyway to wear on evenings out instead of the dreaded trainers. If the bunion is going to come back I am going to make the most of my time without it!

Tina I think I have the opposite problem to you, my foot is functioning reasonably well (can bend it but not stand on tip toe yet) and I am walking more normally than before the op but I have a bump where the bunion used to be and my big toe leans in.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and don't forget to put your clocks forward.

Hi Tina, I wish I had the answer to the shoe problem. I bought some really sensible Pavers slippers that definitely made my foot really painful, even just wearing them for a short time. Anything that catches the scar hurts. The Skechers memory foam trainers have been a lifesaver for me.