HI!
Anyone out there experience ball of foot pain or burning 4-5wks after bunionectomy. That really is all the pain I am having, especially if I have been up on it more than usual. THe pain is mostly a tender, aching feeling where the bunion used to be and right under the big toe joint. ANyone? THanks!
Chez

That pain would surely be normal considering all the trauma that joint has been thru! Do you have a lot of swelling? Has your doctor advised you to start bending it with toe exercises yet? They don't usually consider that the bones are healed until 6 weeks, but my doctor made me gently bend it at about 5 weeks.

yes, i have that exact pain (i am 4 weeks postop in one ft and 6 weeks on the other)...my doctor said it's cuz i am walking flat-footed which is normal... he gave me a bunch of disposal pads (not sure what they're called) to stick on my feet just below the ball of my foot...the pain's not as bad with those on. maybe you should ask ur doctor about those?

Thanks I will. I have little to no swelling and have been doing passive range of motion with my toes since week three (md ok'd). THanks for your replies!
Chezlux

The pain is normal. Avoid putting any weight on that area. You will probably continue to feel some level of pain on the ball of your foot for at least 3 or 4 months.

Actually, I have been walking since day one in a camwalker with no walking aids. I'll be in a shoe in one to two weeks bearing weight on the ball of the foot. So really I have been putting weight on the entire foot since the getgo, just not rotating the joint so it can heal. I guess all doc have different recovery opinions and practices.

Actually, I have been walking since day one in a camwalker with no walking aids. I'll be in a shoe in one to two weeks bearing weight on the ball of the foot. So really I have been putting weight on the entire foot since the getgo, just not rotating the joint so it can heal. I guess all doc have different recovery opinions and practices.

were you able to put your weight on your foot AFTER a bunionectomey???

Well, I have been walking since the day of surgery in a camwalker. So I am putting weight on the foot, just not doing the rolling, rotating motion one would do in a tennis shoe. I guess my doc said in this camwalker, your ankle does alot of the work. I go back tomorrow to get my last dressing off! Yay!!! It's itching like crazy. Today I have not had much pain at all. But I am getting so tired of that full feeling after I have been up on it for a bit. Oh, yes I did have a bunionectomy involving the first two toe bones and a tailors bunionectomy. Thanks!
Chezlux

Well, I have been walking since the day of surgery in a camwalker. So I am putting weight on the foot, just not doing the rolling, rotating motion one would do in a tennis shoe. I guess my doc said in this camwalker, your ankle does alot of the work. I go back tomorrow to get my last dressing off! Yay!!! It's itching like crazy. Today I have not had much pain at all. But I am getting so tired of that full feeling after I have been up on it for a bit. Oh, yes I did have a bunionectomy involving the first two toe bones and a tailors bunionectomy. Thanks!
Chezlux


Why is there such a huge difference in the after surgery care among everyone? Some are on crutches for what seems like, forever, some can walk immediately after surgery, some with casts some with out.....is is the "degree of seriousness", for lack of a better term, of the bunion that dictates the allowable mobility after surgery?

tutti's foot

Why is there such a huge difference in the after surgery care among everyone? Some are on crutches for what seems like, forever, some can walk immediately after surgery, some with casts some with out.....is is the "degree of seriousness", for lack of a better term, of the bunion that dictates the allowable mobility after surgery?

tutti's foot

I also was able to walk 1 hour after surgery in my beautiful 'blu-shu' and after reading about all the different methods of recovery ie: weight bearing / no weight bearing, I asked my pod the reason and she said it is all dependant on where the bone is cut for realignment. My bone was cut close to the joint so for some reason this made it OK to walk on immediately. I had a 'moderate' bunion on both sides of my foot removed so all I can think is that the bone was not out of alignment as far down my foot as some (if you get what I mean).

Cheers - Ally

I was on crutches for 6 weeks full time then a week of the crutches and the walking boot. After that there was a week of part time in the boot and part time a shoe (extra large I might add). So I was pretty much non weight bearing for 7 weeks.

I think when you are allowed by the Dr to put weight on the foot depends on 3 things, the Dr, severity of the problem that needs to be corrected and the actual procedure that the have to do to correct it.

Mine was to correct a dorsal bunion(Hallux Limitus) and the Dr had to make a vertical slice in the bone and shift the joint down instead of sideways. According to the Dr that kind of procedure was much more sensitive to and kind of weight or pressure than a sideways move of the joint. That was the reason for the long time non weight bearing for me. He didn't even want me to try to move the toe up and down for the 1st 3 weeks.

I am a week and a half full time in the shoe and the foot is getting better by the day. I actually got out for a short hike out in the woods a couple of times last week, it was a bit difficult to handle the uneven ground and the hills but the foot is getting stronger by the day, so recover for me is going real well. :bouncing:

Danged feet,
I just starting transitioning to a tennis shoe. Did it feel strange to you at first?? To me it feels like i am a new born giraffe. The calf on the affected leg is slightly smaller, which I expected. However, I feel like that leg is just learning to walk. Is that similar to your experience??
Thanks
Chezlux

Chezlux, What you say is pretty much how things started out for me too. The first few days it felt really strange to be in a shoe. The foot was so weak, I was gimpy more from that than pain. I't wouldn't hold my weight hardly at all. My calf on the surgery foot was a lot smaller than the other, didn't even look like it belonged to the same person.

It gets better day by day(at least it did for me). I just make sure that I can rest my foot when it gets sore and tired. I kinda push it a bit but only to a certain point, I try real hard to not over do it.