Should I get my other foot done?

Hi Allison, I had a lapidus and osteotomies/shortening of 2nd & 3rd metatarsal.  I decided to just go ahead and get the other foot done and over with too (same procedure).  The surgeon said it had to be a minimum of 3 months between the surgeries & I elected to do it at the minimum.  It's now been 4 months since the 2nd foot was done.  I think, for one thing, that it is entirely up to you about whether you want to get the other one done as soon as possible or wait until later.  For me, I knew I wouldn't want to get the 2nd foot done if I waited.  I was just out of the surgical shoe and able to limp around wearing some extra extra wide shoes when I had the 2nd surgery.  I'm still doing physical therapy at this point and basically rehabbing both feet at once.  It's tough but I think I'll be glad I got it over it.  I'm still limping & sore, my toes still aren't that flexible but are less sore than they were.  I think the answer to one of your questions is that it's just going to take time.  Once the fusion had healed, I was told to let pain be my guide but that I would not hurt anything by walking on it.  The issue really is that you have been non-weight-bearing and then partial-weight-bearing for a long time.  That means you have tendons & muscles & ligaments that haven't been used and it is all going to cause you discomfort as you try to get back to walking normally.  Therapy will help but it is just a long process.  I know -- I've been there & I'm still not back to normal.  I didn't really know how long and uncomfortable the recovery period was going to be -- or at least I didn't understand the full impact of it.  The therapist tells me this is a very difficult surgery to rehab from and now I believe him.  It is much harder even than rehabbing from a knee replacement!  That was so much easier than this!  But I think a lot of it is that I'm rehabbing both feet at the same time.  I'm hoping that life will be better soon and that I will be VERY HAPPY that I had this done.  I haven't even let myself entertain the idea that I should have changed my mind lol!  I'm just pushing forward!  Hope you'll be doing better soon!

 

Whenever you have a correction, one side will be effected. Having one foot done, means the other is taking most of the weight and the work. Even when you have both done at the same time, they do not heal the same way. It all takes time and the guideline is approx one year until all should be back to normal. In most cases it is quicker, but a bone does generally take one year to heal completely. So patients is important and keeping up excercising as well. You should also cool your foot on a regular base, that reduces the swelling or even lymphatic massages help in most cases. I also do not agree that it is your choice of having the other foot done. The operation should only be done if necessary this can be decided by looking at the x-ray. Have you ever thought of a different technique? There are modern ways of having this operations and you as well as the Lady who wrote before, both have had a very olf fashioned method done. Good luck with the recovery hope all turns out well. Just keep up with what you are doing.

hi alison

i have read your discussion with interest. I am booked to have big toe fusion in August and am still not sure. I tad a really bad day on Saturday and decided I must do it but I dread the recovery period.  I talked to a friend who has had one foot treated but couldn't face having the other one done. She is now beginning to get concerned that her back and hip pains are related to the way she is walking.

Susann, what alternative modern method do you recommend? And also, is it inevitable that normal shoe

 

That is only a decision you can make. I have two really huge bunions and I have been fortunate that they really don't bother me. I wear corrective shoes and toe pillows and arches. My mom and friend had them done and they had mixed results.

Take care. Keep me posted on what you decide.