Well, I saw my podiatrist this morning for the removal of my walking boot and an x-ray. I still have what looks like a bump on my foot (where my bunion was) but he thinks it's just soft tissue,etc. I have also noticed my big toe is leaning towards the other toes again which is confusing because I thought, because I had a screw inserted, my toe shouldn't go that way again. He looked at the x-rays and said there has been some movement in that toe and he said he's not sure why.
????

I asked if it's common and he said it does happen to some people but the outcome is still a good correction of my foot and that I shouldn't worry about it.

Is it something I did? Has this happened to any of you? I'm just a little bummed out because I SO liked how my foot looked before it was unwrapped; the big toe was very straight. Now that it has been unwrapped and in my walking cast my toes have a mind of their own. I know there's nothing we can do now except hope it doesn't happen with my other foot. Anyone know if having flat feet (no arch) can cause this? I'm just discouraged. My foot still looks better than it did but I'm just a little bummed that my big toe is leaning again. The pod. doesn't think it will move anymore; he said he thinks there was a little shifting, for whatever reason, and now it's fine.

Anyone have any experience with this?

You know what? I was really concerned that my toe was leaning toward my other toes too, but that was before I was full weightbearing. Once all five of your toes are squishing on the floor under you, it looks much much straighter. Give it time, and look at your "before" pics. Sometimes that's all it takes.

You could also wear a toe separator at night just in case - I may be doing that only because I don't want to ever go through this again.

Joll43,

Thanks for your reply. Do you think the toe separator really works at this stage? I figure the bone is already 'set' where it wants to be but I'm willing to try anything at this point.

I have been walking around without crutches (in my walking boot/cast) for 3 weeks or so now so I guess I've been 'weight bearing' for 3 weeks and in that time it's become more prominent. Do you mean to say that yours straightened out when you were in regular shoes (2 of the same!) and doing all your regular activities? Also, did your doctor tell you your x-ray indicated some movement/a shift or did you just think it looked like it had moved? I LOVED how it looked in the beginning and, as I said, I did it for comfort not for cosmetics but it sure would've been nice to have it cosmetically look appealing as well! Not to mention, I worry about more foot problems if my toes are already leaning again. I'm with you, I don't want to do this again! So, from what you said, it's too early (I'm 6 weeks post-op in a surgical shoe for 2 weeks now) to tell??? Also, do you have flat feet too? I wondered if that may have contributed (no support from a nice arch, etc).

Thanks again and I'm sorry to ask even more questions! :)

maddiesmom.. I had some movement in my toe too.. not sure why. I've been waiting for more of the swelling to go down to make a final judgement though. I looked like I still had a bump as well.. but my mind was put to ease when I saw the X-rays and there is no bone there, so I guess it is soft tissue in my case as well. My toe however has turned inwards like yours. For one thing though, I noticed on my X-ray that part of my toe is naturally crooked.. Although my toe was straighter when I got my first set of bandages removed.. then it moved inwards after he took the padding out between my toes. I guess as long as the bone itself has been moved inward enough.. but it does make you wonder "will I have to get this done again in the future!"

you and i sound exactly EXACTLY alike, ive decided not to worry about it becuase my doc isn't and my foot pain is gone. So, be happy with your new foot and take care of it with good shoes from here on out!!!

Sharon

I do have flat feet, which is how I got here in the first place. What I meant is that once you're out of the walking boot, your toes actually touch the floor and tend to look a bit different once they do. But I agree w/Sharon. We all have to remember that our surgeries weren't cosmetic.

Right now, my foot and ankle SWELL to giganto proportions when I even think about walking. I've been walking a lot, and it really stinks. With the first foot this lasted about 3-4 weeks. I can't tell you how non-fun it's been trying on wedding dresses with sneakers and an Ace bandage!

For what its worth my doc said the big toe naturally gravitates inward a bit post op. My first surgery did and I want my second one to do it but its staying very straight. I had surgery on my second hammertoe and its a little off (was a real mess pre-op) and so I've got this V between my second and third toes. I'm wearing a toe separator between the big toe and second one but it doesn't appear to be doing much. I also wonder how it could help when the bones are already set????
Linda

Hate to give my bad news but after my first double bunionectomy, both my bones moved within 6 months. No one knew why exactly (except maybe that I went to an orthopod!). A year later I had surgery again with a much better surgeon as my bunions were back completely (x-rays will tell the story). Don't panic yet though. Wait and see and monitor x-ray progress. Also, consider level of pain once you're back up and fully mobile. If you are pain free, then perhaps it doesn't matter that the big toe is drifting again. In my case, I had to have surgery again...and now my feet are fine (except for a neuroma, but that's another story).

I wish you the best.

joll43--My daughter's wedding is 9/3 and I tried on ONE dress shoe last night and almost cried out in pain. I'm afraid I'll not be able to get into anything by the wedding and my dress will look awful with my blue shoe.

My daughter has bunions already and will wear a heel for the wedding and then has some cute decorated ballet like slippers for the reception. I can find out more if you are interested. She got them on-line. When is the wedding?

Linda

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Mediamom... I'm a little freaked out by your post. Can you tell me what went wrong the first time around? Did you have screws and/or pins? Just wondering if the second doctor had any ideas as to what may have caused you to have to go through the surgery again. I don't envy you; it's hard enough to go through it once! Anyways, if you get a minute, I'd like to hear more about your story.

I'm sorry I freaked you out. I know stories like that are scary and I was hesitant to post for that reason. No one was quite sure what went wrong to tell you the truth. I had an ostetomy on both feet and the surgeon used pins, which stayed in place for 5-6 weeks. I was able to be weight bearing immediately (as much as I could manage, which wasn't much) so I stayed put as much as possible. I have to think surgical technique came into play but my new podiatrist wasn't able to give a lot of input as he said poor outocomes do occur and I think he was hesitant to say negative things about my first doc. In the end, I felt it was a mistake going with an orthopod (even know he had foot/ankle certification) and he clearly didn't do enough bunions to have the "touch." Podiatrists only do feet and are much more accustomed to working with the tiny bones in the feet as opposed to the big bones that orthopods are used to. I was very angry but eventually resolved to move on and find a good pod who had lots of experience with bunions and who felt confident he could fix me (fixing bunions after a failed surgery is harder than going in the first time).

I hope my story helped a bit and didn't freak you out further. Like I said in my first post, judge by comfort and pain relief not by looks. I'm glad I did the second surgery and have finally gotten the bunions handled but it's a very individual choice and it was quite obvious that my surgery had failed completely. Don't assume that is the case for you. Also, get copies of your x-rays at the 6-month mark if you go for other opinions. 6-months is a good gauge of final bone position (I was told).

Best of luck.

Rollargirl,

Thanks for the tip - I actually found some great shoes by a company called "Oh!", and I may just be in a nice flip-flop!

]:wave: Have any of you guys heard of some magical way to get the drifting big toe to go back to STRAIGHT like we first saw them! Ifeel teased :eek: :nono: How do all these people have straight feet? All my relatives! even where the bunion was and hopefully now is off in outer :confused: :confused: space seems to be some round swollen tissue. :rolleyes: :wave: If it was a more minor procedure to put the big toe back where God intended it, I'd be willing to go to the operating room once again. What do you think? Is this a bigger deal in my mind than in real appearance? Thanks girls for listening.

Angdang, I am just over 3 weeks post op and after 13 days my doc put me in a toe splint. It wasn't doing much good so he said to put a sponge wedge between my toes and hold my toe over while I wrap it tightly with an ace bandage to hold it in place. He said the toe has to be trained to go straight while it's still healing. After it heals it may not straighten.

I've been wearing my toe seperators to keep the toe straight.. my doc said that it takes about 6-8 months before the toe completely sets to where it's going to be, so I am going to keep wearing some sort of sperator for a few months to train it to stay straight. If you are past that time, there might not be much you can do about it.

Orthopoedic surgeons are very qualified to do bunionectomies. I don't think it is a good idea to sway people away from them claiming only podiatrists know feet. I have heard many a horror story from people who chose Podiatrists. You make your decision based on your own research and recommendations, interview the Dr and ask for a list of people he has done the surgery for, whether its Pods or Orthos. Its fine to say a particular Dr. did not do a good job. It is not fine, however, to slam orthos or podiatrists for that matter.