I have had two osteotomies of each my 1st mets and also also tailor's bunionectomes. The 1st met cuts have been done poorly both times and I am in a lot of pain and have no ROM.I have neuromas between all toes and metatarsalgia badly....all after the ops. I also have constant burning with we are trying to see is RSD...this started 6 months after the second op. Each intervention makes it worse.

Do you know ANYONE or have any of YOU had 3 operations on the same area and had it come out good? I am desperate and the pain is horrible. I will not have a fusion for my own reasons. If I do have RSD I have to plan this very carefully. Please....I am begging for people's help here. I need to know if it is likely or impossible I can get better.

Please....

I'll give you my stock answer though you don't list where you live. If you live near a pro football or basketball team, call their front office and ask who they use for "turf toe" and morton's neuroma. If you live near a major college athletic program, call their athletic department and ask the same question. That's who you need to see.

Thanks...but I don't need recommendations for a doctor..I don't have insurance so I couldn't pay a pro teams fee anyway. I just want to know if anyone has had or knows anyone personally that has had success after 3 ops.

That is a very broad question. If the surgeries were performed poorly as you say, then you can't really compare with someone who may have had 3 surgeries by a competent surgeon. The referral to the pro team was to seek the name of the doctor they use, which typically is a doctor in private practice whose fees would be comparable to all others in their field. Most pro teams don't have a doctor on staff, they just use the best one in their area. Is there a teaching hospital in your area? If you speak to someone there they may take your case without charge. Best of luck to you.

While I appreciate the answers maybe I was not clear.

I meant has anyone had two rounds of BAD ops and had the third round with a good doc go well?

I also have either RSD or some nerve issue so I can't have is messed up again.

I should have never had surgery and everyone is telling me STOP it will get worse yet again....but it hurts so bad now I feel trapped. Finding the doctor is not the issue. I just want to know how many people actually improve after so much cutting...or if it is normally worse.

There are a couple of people who post on here who have had a failed osteotomy or cheilectomy, then had an implant and now have had fusion. That is the normal progression for this particular problem. Clean out, joint replacement, fusion. Perhaps one of them will read your post and reply. My cheilectomy was successful and could last as long as 20 years according to my surgeon. So I'm not facing the next step any time soon - I hope!

However, if you don't have the financial means for another surgery, I'm not sure what good an answer will do for you. I was just trying to give you the means to find a qualified surgeon who could answer your question based onhis experience. Sorry it wasn't adequate for your purposes.

Let me try and clarify since nobody seems to be understanding exactly...I have had two osteotomies on each 1st met...now they are both too short and not bending right.

My current doc has a plan to lengthen the mets back out and he says the ROM issues can be resolved by removing adhesions and positioning the joint properly.

I hope this does not sound rude but I specifically want to know if anyone has had their 1st mets cut on 3 times and then regained good function finally...I am not interested in fusions, implants or anything like that.

Well, lengthening it back out will most likely involve implants or grafts of some sort. How else can it be lengthened? Fusion is often the course of action after 2 failures, so that is why it was mentioned. Good luck. Sorry we weren't of any help. Maybe someone out here has had your exact situation and will respond.

I dont know if I can explain clearly...this doc is good and I trust him...the plan is to make a cut vertically the length of the metatarsal...cut in from the proximal side..down the length of the bone and out the other side...so the ends (heads) remain intact...then slide the two halves a few mm, fixate and the gaps will fill in.

I just have not heard of any 3 time successes...I also refuse to have a fusion. I know some people are happy with them but I know far more that are not. So I appreciate anyone's good intent but I am after a specific bit of info...multiple surgeries resulting in full to very good function eventually.

Thanks.

Well, I think the more important questions are 1) how many times has he done this procedure? 2) What is his success rate? 3) Is he willing to have these patients call you with their stories? 4) And why did he have to do this procedure? Did some other physician mess up or was he correcting his own mistakes? Someone else's story with a different physician may not have the same outcome as yours. I would place more faith in researching your physician than mine...unless you want to use mine.

i have had multiple surgeries on my 2nd toe and so far no luck. i am still going to pt though. i had bunion and imlant surgery on my big toe and then wound up having toe fusion.

Truthfully I don't think he has ever done this exact procedure in a case like mine...he seems to be adapting an existing technique to my case. He is an experienced, well-respected and extremely kind doc...if I had him in the beginning I don't think I would be in this mess. He took my records and scans home and spent time coming up with this plan. Two different docs did bad ops and then blew me off so this situation is not his doing.

I am not in the US and my situation requires I do this here if I am going to do it at all. This is do or die so I do not want to waste more money to be put in a worse situation.

I truly believe he thinks he can help...I have had the money grubber docs and he is not the type. He has even done many things without fees so far. The question is is it even possible within reality to have 3 ops on each foot and have both come out good so I can have my life back.

This has ruined my life...I have lost nearly everything so if I am even going to bother trying I need to have a realistic hope...if it succeeds I get my life back...if it fails my life is over...it is that serious.

Well, one can certainly have a good outcome from a 3rd surgery. The real question is whether that surgery is the appropriate one. It appears that this is a procedure that is not commonly done. Therefore, there isn't much of a track record with it. Finding someone with your exact situation will be difficult, if not impossible. I can say that the standard procedure here in the US, if one presented as you have, would be fusion. And that would probably have the highest probability for success for a person in your situation. I know several people for whom this has been successful. They are pain free and able to go about normal activities...albeit one or two with rocker bars on their shoes. However, since you are opposed to that remedy for some reason, I don't know what else we can offer you. I would suppose that you would have to determine whether you could deal with the failure of this procedure, should that occur. And where would that leave your options? Only oyu can answer those questions.

My opinion is that regardless of what kind of surgery you have, or how many times you have it, you cannot base your outcome on other people's. Every one is different and even the same surgery on both feet of the same person could have different outcomes. I don't know of any surgery that has guaranteed results.
I would say that if you are in so much pain, consider surgery. If it doesn't work like you think it will, will you be any worse off than you are now?

Well I have had two rounds of surgery and have been much worse each time so yeah I can be worse. I also have RSD which was caused by surgery, is worsened by surgery normally and hurts much worse than the ortho part even (whcih is bad enough) so yeah I can be worse off...I have lived it.

you are a very angry person and i dont blame you. it looks like you should read some of the older posts and see what people have gone through. read especially about toe fusion. if that doesnt help it looks like you will have to do what your gut is telling you. its probably one of the hardest decisions we will ever make. good luck and post what you are going to do.

im sorry, but what is rsd?

Debbie, that is Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy.