Hallux Valgus opp - few questions I have :-)

Seriously - every procedure is different, and so is the recovery .  What the doctors tell you is the "norm". You may do better or worse depending on a host of factors.  

As for the stitches, it seems to generally depend on the type of stitches used. Regular single point sutures (A stitch and a knot) are easy to remove unless they are left longer than 14 days - at which point some peoples healing process is causing the skin to close in around the suture thread which requires a bit of a tug, either way, quite painless or only mildly uncomfortable for about 3 minutes by any half way capable nurse or doctor. Running stitches (think a hem stitch where the whole thread is one piece through your skin down the entire incision) is another story. Anecdotal evidence is that nurses are less skilled at removing them, and they're more painful to have removed. If you can tell which kind you have, and your doc used a running stitch, you might want to take a pain killer about 20 minutes ahead of time.

Once the stitches are removed, you should give the incision time to fully scab over, heal, and for the scab to be ready to flake off. This seems to vary. It was ten days for the whole thing to scab and flake for me.  I still don't feel comfortable soaking and scrubbing the foot until my incision color fades to a less dark red. Other people have had shorter times, but rushing it can result in infections, antibiotics, etc.  

Much though you may want to be done with it all, PIE is still the rule. Patience. Ice. Elevation.

Rebecca...I have been told the same for driving, but at 3 weeks post op I can't even imagine putting any pressure on my new little straight foot. Patience is something new for me too........mine is my left foot but we have a Manuel car. Last night my daughters lift to her music lesson couldn't come and I nearly had to cancel the lesson. In the end I put an urgent message on Facebook and another friend helped me out. It is incredibly hard being so dependant on other people.

Rebecca there are lots of different conversations going on this topic....it is definitely worthwhile reading them all...it has really helped me a lot.

Rebecca there are lots of different conversations going on this topic....it is definitely worthwhile reading them all...it has really helped me a lot.