i had pt today on my big toe fusion foot today. she did not touch the surgical spots. she manipulated my other toes which could hardly move because my foot is so swollen. i have to massafe my foot and exercises with a band. how and when will the swelling go down? help debbie g

When was your surgery? The foot is unfortunately the last area in which swelling goes down thanks to gravity. When you massage your foot, push the swelling away from the toes. Another thing that helps depending how long ago your surgery was is a support stocking (knee high), it will help keep the swelling down when put on right away in the morning. The swelling will take time to go away, you have to be patient.

~eko

Hi Debbie - sorry to hear that you are still having problems with swelling. I'm 10 weeks post op and my swelling isn't too bad unless I'm on my feet alot. Of course it looks great in the morning. Have you tried elevating your feet at night. I actually have the foot of my bed elevated 6" (with bed risers) for my husband's legs and it really helps mine too. Of course right after the surgery I also used a pillow at night to elevate even more.

The surgical stockings do help too. My dr told me to get them at my 8 weeks check when I could go into sneakers. You have to put them on first thing in the morning or it's not easy to get them on. Since they are stretch nylon I make sure my foot is totally dry first.

Good luck and let us know how the exercises work.

Mary