Bunion Pain Treatment Options?

Posted , 5 users are following.

Hello,

I've had a small bunion for years without any issue however for the past two months, I've been in a significant amount of pain. I saw an orthopedist a few weeks ago and we discussed the options - anti-inflammatory meds, cortisone shot, surgery. I started with the anti-inflammatory meds and he said to try them for a few weeks and then see what happens when I stop taking them, with the hopes that the pain would calm down. The pain was less, although not ever gone completely while I took the medication. I stopped taking them three days ago and the pain is definitely back full force. So now it's either trying the cortisone shot or moving directly to surgery. Does anyone have any opinions or experience? I just keep hearing horror stories about both options!

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • Posted

    I had my bunion removed by keyhole surgery a week ago and will have my other one done in due course.
    • Posted

      Thank you. May I ask how long were you in pain before opting to go the surgery route? Did you do anything else before having the surgery done?
  • Posted

    Hi. I had both my bunions done. I had a year inbetween getting both feet done. If you don't feel the injections will ward off the pain then seriously consider surgery. I'm over the moon with my new feet and the procedure was a doddle and the recovery. The only thing that annoyed me was wearing the sexy wedge shoe for 6 weeks hobbling about on that. More than worth it to have beautiful pain free feet.

    I had mine done at north Tyneside hospital in the UK. They used local anaesthetic and I opted for sedation. Was done in an hour. I went home after an hour of the surgery. I took painkillers but it wasnt hurting I just took them in case it started hurting. I heard loads of horror stories and now I'm quite mad people give me the bad side and I never heard the good stories all depends on who does it and what procedure they do. Mine was keyhole procedure

    • Posted

      Thank you for sharing a positive good story. I spoke to a coworker who had hers done a year ago and had good things to say, but other than that, it's been all negative information. May I ask if you considered anything else, such as an injection before opting for surgery? While I have had the bunion on my foot for years, it's never caused me any issues - no pain, wore whatever shoes I wanted - up until about 2 months ago. And if I don't take the anti-inflammatory medication, I'm in awful pain. I just don't know how it got so bad so fast. I'm really struggling on what to do next. 

  • Posted

    Hi

    I had cortisone injections. They worked for me but there is a limit to how many you can have done. I had them until the second toe joint was damaged, the joint capsule thinned and then my toe dislocated. This resulted in my toe being fused.

    My bunions were we bad my first consultant told me not to have anything done until I couldn't walk. There is always the chance of orthopaedic surgery going badly wrong.

    Last autumn though I got to the point where I could no longer drive with my left foot. So I've had bunion done and instep fused.

    I'm still in pot though so reserving judgement.

    Fingers crossed.

    • Posted

      If I'd just had bunions I'd have had them done a long time ago.

    • Posted

      Yikes, I am sorry it got to the point where you could no longer walk! The doctor I saw definitely didn't want me to get to that point. In fact, he was ready to schedule my surgery right then and there!! May I ask how painful was the injection? Did it work right away? Thanks for the additional information. 

    • Posted

      Hi

      I didn't find them painful at all that went into the toe joint. One I had into the instep was painfully the other wasn't. The short amount of pain was better than the constant pain.

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