shoes

Hi bex thanks for your reply I saw my surgeon last week and he said give it a week or 2 and start trying to wear a shoe/ trainer I tried a pump on today and tried walking a bit just around the bedroom I was very nervous should i be putting all my weight on it and should i be trying to bend my toe I think your right I'm going to have to speak to my surgeon .

I thought it was so strange walking at first! Almost like your walking down a slope with your foot! I found it easier in trainers than barefoot initially. I was given exercises to do to help improve flexibility of the foot which has really helped - initially it hurt to walk heel to toe, but now I'm fine. I was told to basically 'get back to normal' and get rid of my crutches and walk, easier said then done(!) but you need to do it so you don't develop a limp in the long term. Don't worry though you won't danage your foot by putting your weight on it or by bending your toes. 

Good luck! 

Thankyou that's reassuring for me I think I'm scared of damaging something I'm going to look lovely in a swimsuit and a pair of trainers oh well we have these things to do .

Hi. My surgeon told me that I could try to wear trainer like shoes at about 5 weeks if I felt confident enough. I didn't and waited until 6 weeks. I then wore supportive walking sandals followed later by walking shoes. I am now also wearing a pair of boots which are a size bigger than normal. At 9 weeks I rang the hospital who said that I could wear pumps if they were comfortable. I found that they lay on the operated part of my foot and decided against them. 

I can walk around the bedroom etc with bare feet . They said that this was fine as long as there were no open wounds. 

I still have swelling but this is going down which I am pleased about as we are going in holiday in 3 weeks. 

If in doubt, I would ring the hospital and ask for advice. After all, you don't want to destroy all of the effort that has been made into getting your lovely feet! 

I see you are 9 weeks when you posted. How long are you now? I had mine done halloween and it is now Jan 5th and it is not as fast of a recovery as I expected. I had a soft cast week 1 and then a hard cast (new every 2 weeks) for 6 weeks, surgery show for a week and then told to try tennis shoes...it is ok but now not as good as I expected. When my feet are in the shower my incision even looks black and blue still and I have poor range of motion on my big toe. PLEASE can you give me some iDea of how long things might take as my doctor won't say!! Just a guestimate is all I want an he would t explaine.

please tell me what week you are on and how far you have gotten.

You just voiced my thoughts about weight and bending my toe. Thank you for that. I am on week 9 and I am wearing tennis shoes or I think what you call trainers. I still can't walk normal and I don't know if it's because I can't yet, and if so, should I or if I am afraid to.....please tell me or post what you found out. And how are you doing now and what week your on.

Hi,. Hope that this is of some help.

I am almost 13 weeks post bunion and hammertoe surgery. Like you, my big toes were very stiff at 6 weeks when stopped wearing the post surgery shoe. Feet were also still quite swollen. I could not get my feet into any shoes and could only wear chunky Teva walking sandals which you could alter across the top. The main problem was the stiffness of the toes which were also raised. My surgeon recommended some physio. The physio session was quite simplistic and he recommended moving the toe manually up and down, try to pick up a towel with your toes and some calf stretches as well as thinking about how you walk in heel to toe as I tend to walk quite flat footed and this was even more pronounced. I also did some research on the Internet and found some information on post bunion surgery exercises to increase flexibility. He Los said to try to wiggle toes regularly. 

My toes are becoming more flexible and I can wiggle my toes much more freely (though can't move the hammertoe because of the pin). I took photos of my feet and measured them the day before surgery and then again at 12 weeks. This was very helpful because I was thinking that they did not look all that great but when you compare the two it really shows a huge difference! Feet are still about 0.5 cm wider than pre surgery but can definitely see the improvement. 

Had bought new boots in a size bigger than previously worn and 2 width fittings wider. These are now starting to feel a little loose. Could actually wear a pair of flat shoes which I already had on New Year's Eve. Although still quite chunky not glamorous shoes this did make me recognise an improvement. Had tried them on 2 weeks previously and could not wear them. So slowly progress is happening.

My walking is improving although it is still not right. I was getting quite a bit of back ache after only quite short walks. Still getting back ache but can definitely feel that this is improving. I have had pain on the outside of my foot and into the ankle. So clearly still not walking right. However, as I have walked more, the big toe and the hammer toe are now flattening. As this happens and they are more in the correct position, then I am sure that things will improve further. 

I am a bit concerned because one of my feet has started to hurt quite a bit over the last couple of weeks where it didn't hurt before. Other people on this forum and in much earlier posts have said that this has happened to them ata out this stage and that things have settled down. Possibly nerve endings? I am going to see my consultant next week which was pre booked.

i am going on holiday in less than 2 weeks and had hoped for things to be better than they are now but I can see the improvement, albeit slow improvement. 

There is a saying ' Slowly. Slowly. Catchy monkey'  and I think that this definitely applies to this surgery!

Good  luck with your recovery and I hope that this has helped a bit.