Anyone? I am contemplating it but man it sounds like a rough recovery for some people. I am on my feet all day at work by and large and I am not sure if I want to struggle through recovery while being here.
Some people have told me definitively to NOT get the surgery and just deal with it in other ways.
Thoughts?
My SiL had it on one foot and then, 3 years later, on the other foot. It is a long recovery. The leg has to be elevated for the large majority of the time over several weeks to avoid pain and added swelling and even the possibility of blood clots. If you have to be on your feet most of day, you need to plan being off work for at least two months. You can’t “struggle through recovery” while at work because you just can’t be there, period.
This is what I keep hearing unfortunately. I’m seeing my doc tomorrow and am going to bring this issue up. I am leaning towards pain meds/toe splints/oversize shoes as a means of getting through it.
But man, the one on my left foot is almost as big around as a golf ball. I’ve had the bone growth for years but it’s been only recently that it started hurting so damn much.
Had it done on one foot right at the end of 99. 30 days off with foot elevated for 2 weeks and then another 6 weeks with an orthopedic shoe and crutches and Dr’s Orders for light duty and march at my own pace
The Mrs. had it done on one side back in 1986, with the plan to do the other side sometime after. She regrets it to this day, as the cure was worse than her symptoms at the time, and now at this time she has far more arthritis pain in the site that was operated on than she does on the other bunion, which she swore to never get surgery on after her first ordeal.
I’ve developed a Taylor’s Bunion, which is on the small toe side of the foot. I went to see about it a few months ago, as my right shoe doesn’t fit well anymore. The doctor said that unless it is extremely painful, to fuggetaboutit. This from a guy who makes his living with foot problems.
ETA: Mine is the size of a marble, not a golf ball. YMMV.
I had bunion surgery several years ago. Good grief, when you saw the X-ray of my left foot that toe joint of my big toe looked like a walnut. Got that passed down from my paternal grandmother, to my dad, to me.
The surgery went very well. It was a day procedure, in and out. I had to wear a foot brace and boot for several weeks, but after a week or so there was almost no pain. The only pain was keeping my foor dry in the brace when I showered. I got a large plastic garbage bag and pulled it up to my thigh, then taped it there.
Just be sure you get a well-recommended doctor and you should have no issues.
Your wonderful idea of pain pills and just “toughing through it” stinks.
The body gets very pissed off at any surgery, whether it’s elective, emergency, or merely recommended. Several things happen when the body gets pissed off:
(1) Pain. Magnificent amount of pain. I daresay much more pain than you are having right now.
(2) Swelling. Not just at the surgical site. The foot is at the bottom of everything. When you are standing or walking, your foot is the closest to gravity. And gravity will pull every single drop of moisture to that bum foot. I’m not talking about a little puffy incision. I’m talking “barely get a sock on” swelling. All toes will look like hot dogs, the arch disappears from the underside of your foot, and your ankle is unrecognizable.
That’s if you are popping pain pills and “toughing through it.”
If you have this surgery, you will have to be OFF YOUR FEET, with your foot elevated, and an ice pack will probably be your best friend. Rolling over in bed at night could hurt so bad, you wake up.
Should you have the surgery, it’s up to you. A bunion won’t get better all by itself. But if you refuse to recuperate as per instructed, you’ll mess up your foot forever.
~VOW
Agree with VOW, and don’t do that pain pills and toughing it out thing. Follow the doctor’s orders to the T. I had one foot done in 1996 and it went very well; that’s the only foot I’ve had it done on, a bunionectomy and osteotomy. I don’t remember being off my feet for many weeks, but I had a light office desk job back then and I remember frequently elevating my foot. I propped it up on my desk, and being in cubicles it wasn’t unsightly to the rest in the office.
If you decide to go with it, if you don’t follow the post-op directions you risk losing much of the benefit of the surgery and you might as well have not had it done.
Good luck, FoieGrasIsEvil, I hope it goes well for you.
Thanks for the info guys. Man, there’s a lot of varying opinions here and IRL. I will see what my doctor says tomorrow and report back.
This thread is very timely. I have a bunion on my left foot and it was recently aggravated by a moderate gout flare (mistakes were made in my gout management plan). I am not considering surgery at this point, but it is good to read the responses here.
Well…my doctor told me that based on my employment needs as to being on my feet all the time she demurred on recommending the surgery and instead is referring me to a pain specialist in Kentucky across the Ohio River from where I live. Guess I need to call them and see what my options are.
But according to her, those options also include pain medication, which she is going to prescribe for me.
For what it’s worth, your employer should be required to provide reasonable accommodations (alternate work or whatever) while you’re laid up if you do go forward with the surgery. Check into what the legalities are; it may depend on company size etc. If your job has short term disability, use that when the time comes, and milk it for whatever you can.
Beware that some doctors try to gloss over how quickly you’ll be able to be back at work. Our jobs are desk jobs, so not physically demanding, but when I had wrist surgery the doc would have OKed me going back after a week; my husband’s doctor would have let him return after a week as well. In neither case would that have worked out at all.