It's been a while since I've been on here, but I am hoping someone can offer me some advice on this...

Original Austin Bunionectomy - 5/24/07. Had significant pain in bottom of my foot in the months following, went to 6 weeks of PT, no change. Had screw removed 10/11/07, as my pod thought this was what was causing the pain.

December 07 - still having pain in bottom of my foot, can hardly stand to be on my feet. Pod sends me to 4 more weeks of PT. No change.

I decided to get a second opinion, as my first pod just didn't seem to care or want to be bothered with figuring out why I was in pain still. Just got home from second pod who took xrays and said that one of the sesamoid bones is "frozen" to the metatarsal bone (probably with scar tissue) and is not allowing any movement at all. This is why it feels like I am walking on a rock! Good news - he says he can fix it (75% chance of success). Bad news - another surgery!

Has anyone had this procedure done before? He said they use something that looks like an ice cream scoop to get between the sesamoid and metatarsal bones and break up the scar tissue. He will also be doing a scar revision because the last pod butchered my scar and it looks terrible.

I want to hope this surgery will fix all of these problems. I am only 26 and do not want to live in pain like this for the rest of my life! At the same time, I saw some horror stories on here about sesamoid surgeries (none exactly like my situation), so I am nervous it might make things even worse. :confused:

Any help or advice is appreciated!

I had sesamoid surgery at the end of November and am still recovering. I didn't have a bunionectomy or anything, just woke up one day with pain and swelling on the bottom of my foot and feeling like I was standing on a rock. After trying conservative treatment for a few months I opted for surgery.

The surgery itself is easy. I was in and out of the hospital in less than three hours. I'm not sure which sesamoid is giving you problems. Mine was the one where they have to go through the bottom of the foot to remove it. The other one they remove with a side incision. Because of the incision on the bottom of my foot I was on crutches and non-weightbearing for three weeks which was frustrating but not painful. I really had no pain at all until I started walking on the foot again.

I won't lie. This wasn't a quick and easy recovery. I had a lot of swelling, stiffness and scar tissue pain along with some nerve pain, but it is all slowly resolving. Now two months out I am wearing sneakers comfortably, dress shoes for short periods of time and am walking about a mile a day relatively pain-free. There is still some discomfort, but nothing like the pain I had before the surgery. My big toe is still somewhat stiff, but I'm working on that in PT. The one thing I can't do yet is go up on the ball of my toe without the support of a thick-soled sneaker. I hope that will come with time. All in all, I'm glad I did the surgery. Before the surgery I couldn't walk without a boot, couldn't drive and was in almost constant pain except when off my feet. I definitely think my quality of life has improved.

Don't know if all this will help your specific case. Good luck with your decision.

Sandy

Hi...I too seem to be having the same problems!!! I had an Austin procedure November 14th and started having pain in the ball of my foot 2 1/2 weeks after the surgery. It felt like I was walking on a bone (a very sharp pain) and developed a bruise on the ball of my foot. We can even feel a lump there. The doctor feels that the sesamoid still needs to "break loose" and reposition itself. I am in PT and we are really working on getting my joint to move. They also have me wearing a "dancer's pad" which helps with some of the pain. But no mention of any further surgery at this time so I'm sorry I can't help with that. I do know how frustrating this is especially if you are an active person!!

I would be very interested to hear if anyone else had the same procedure that you are thinking of having. Good luck!!!

I had a sesamoidectomy June of 04. This was after many months of treatment to try to get it to heal because both were broken... only one healed so the other was removed. I ended up having some complications like scar tissue issues and neuromas, as well as many years of PT. I don't have full movement of my big toe either. :(
It's not fun, but if you need it, you need it. My problem was that I tried to walk on it too early and compensated by walking incorrectly.

Good luck and take it easy!