Two years post surgery after double bunion operation

It’s been two years since I had my double bunion op and to be honest I had almost forgotten I ever had bunions until I saw a post from here pop up in my email.  Having read a few posts I realise that some of you may be grateful to hear about my experience.  Firstly, in my humble opinion if you have the time and someone to help you out at home consider having both feet done at the same time.  The reason I say this is, it is quite painful and difficult for those first couple of weeks.  Honestly, I think I may have chickened out of having the second operation.  For me it made sense to get them both out of the way at the same time… one load of pain all at the same time and 6 weeks of immobility.  Even my surgeon wasn’t keen on me having them done at the same time, but this was mainly because mobility is so much harder when you don’t have a spare foot to take the weight.  Despite his reservations I went ahead and I’m so glad I did.  I stuck like glue to all the guidelines, doing everything when it was suggested such as rest, elevation, specific exercises and when to bear weight.  My two feet progressed at the same rate of recovery as one foot would take.  At week six I was on holiday in Cornwall and walking well on crutches, wearing men’s crocs.  That was my surgeons little joke… first men’s crocs, then women’s crocs and finally pretty shoes J

Two years on and my feet are better than they have ever been.  I am completely pain free, even after an 8 mile walk.  I must say, I had wide feet with the added width of bunions and so I now have normal shape wide feet.  Buying shoes is a lot easier, but I still can’t fit into all the pretty shoes on offer… having said that, I wore pretty sandals this year for the first time ever!  Less than a year after the operation I did a wilderness trip in Canada and carried a 40lb pack across walking trails.  My feet didn’t hurt me once and I couldn’t believe it.  Before the operation a ten-minute walk from the tube to my office was complete agony.  I still wear crocs a lot when I am at home as I became hooked on how comfortable they are.  I avoid high heels as my surgeon did say that it was best to stick to no higher than 3 inches.  The reason is that wearing heels higher than 3 inches is likely to encourage bunions to come back.  It makes sense as if you got them once you are prone to them again… personally I don’t think it’s worth the risk.

These are my top tips.  Buy lots and lots of large pillows that you can use to elevate your feet.  I found I could arrange them in all sorts of ways allowing me to get comfortable either on the sofa or in bed at night.  I didn’t get a frame to hold the quilt off my feet, but honestly I wish I had.  I found it uncomfortable having the weight of the duvet on my feet during the first few weeks. After 3 days of hardly any sleep post op, I brought some over the counter sleeping pills and took two a night for a few weeks.  This helped and I found I could sleep about 4 hours before the pain or discomfort woke me up.  I invested in a Zimmer frame and kept this near the bed.  At night, it was easier to get to the bathroom and back.  I also used it in the shower.  When down stairs and more awake the crutches were adequate.  I soon learnt that standing for more than a couple of minutes made the pain and swelling much worse… elevation is key when it comes to pain and swelling!  Having said this, I also found standing for about a minute (no more) every hour or so helped restore circulation elsewhere in the body and so was beneficial.  My last tip is ice, ice, ice and more ice.  Invest in several cool pads that can go in the freezer.  I found I needed to ice my feet every hour and when I woke at night it helped sooth the pain and get me back off to sleep.  I’m happy to answer any questions.

1 like, 18 replies