Bunionectomy - Pain & Drugs - Foot Problems Message Board

EMG · 02-16-2004, 11:08 AM

So glad I found all of you b4 my surgery. Some of you say lots of pain & some say not so bad. But that maybe cause some procedures were more radical. Describe what you had done. Did you have pins, screws, disolving stitches, 1 or 2 feet? And what drug & strength were you taking? EMG

carolcrone · 02-16-2004, 02:04 PM

I had only my right foot done 8 wks ago (Austin procedure with 2 cuts & 1 permanent screw), and I took lortab 10 the first 3 days, then lortab 7.5 only at night for another 4 or 5 days. It helped with the pain, but mostly knocked me out so I was non-functional. I hate to say this, but the pain persists for many weeks after you just can't take pain pills anymore. I found advil (3 at a time) helped some. The doc gave me some Bextra today to reduce swelling, so hopefully that will work. Good luck on your surgery & get the ice packs ready!

rileyroe · 02-16-2004, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EMG

So glad I found all of you b4 my surgery. Some of you say lots of pain & some say not so bad. But that maybe cause some procedures were more radical. Describe what you had done. Did you have pins, screws, disolving stitches, 1 or 2 feet? And what drug & strength were you taking? EMG

I had both of my feet done 5 1/2 weeks ago. I have one incision on each foot and the incisions are about 4 inches long. I had 2 pins put in each foot and dissolveable stitches....which are not dissolving and causing alot of problems! I took the generic percocet....oxycodone 5mg. I took them for about the first week. My feet are still very sore and tender....but the bones are healing great, and almost healed. I think it is the stitches causing alot of tenderness. Be prepared to really take it easy for several weeks! Good Luck, and let us know what you decide and how it goes!

carlos95 · 02-16-2004, 03:55 PM

I had a bunion surgery on my left foot. It consisted of cutting two of my big toe bones and inserting a total of three screws to reposition them. I did not have any pain nor I took any pain drugs for a full week after the surgery. However, after my first visit with the doctor, he took all the bandages off and my foot was still swollen (and that was because I hadn't been elevating it enough -- VERY important!) So he bandaged it again, but that night I think I over-elevated my foot and my heel started hurting quite a bit, so I took one Lortab 5 pill, which helped after a couple of hours. Now I elevate my foot to about heart level and I think that's enough, and it doesn't cause me any pain. I only get pain when I stand or sit still with my foot down. I still take Lortab 5 whenever I feel a little pain in case it gets worse, but not too often. I do take Bextra once a day, which is an anti-inflammatory drug.

Cooling is also important. I use an "EBIce" pump that my doctor told me to use. It's basically a cooler filled with ice and water and it pumps cold water through a tube that goes direcly into my bandages. Well, the water doesn't actually touch my foot, of course, it spreads into a pad that's in the bandages. The doctor told me to set the temperature on it to "COLD" rather than "COLDEST" and run it 24/7. I think that helps a lot.

I'm personally glad that I only had one foot done. (I do need the other one to be done some time later, however.) I don't know how I would go to the bathroom, take a bath, go down the stairs (my bedroom is upstairs), or even get dressed if I had both feet done at the same time.

Final suggestion... Get a good doctor. Make sure he seems like he cares about the patient, doesn't mind you asking questions, and likes to explain things. The first doctor I went to basically told me to look stuff up on the Internet--I never went to see him again. ;-)

Carlos

sweetficus · 02-17-2004, 03:43 PM

I had one foot Austin chevron osteotomy w/bumpectomy, tendon release, absorbable sutures, and pin that was removed at 4 wks postop

I have a few completely unofficial theories about bunion surgery (from other posts and my online research)
1. bumpectomies - apparently just shave off the bump
This was offered to me by one podiatrist that was recommended to me by someone I know and had it (her feet looked fine actually)
only 1 week to recover, but risk of recurrence is high (?) and could destabilize the joint

2. chevron osteotomy - bread and butter procedure, appears to be the standard of care for now, +/- addons like I had
this is 2 weeks non weight bearing and 2 weeks partial wt bearing in surgical shoe
includes removable pin or permanent screw for bone fixation w/ pro/con that the pin is pretty uncomfortable (one of the worst parts of the postop period is the pain and friction of the pin), could dislodge, could become infected, but it does come out; the screw is probably more comfortable but if something bad happens (infection, nonhealing or malaligned healing), that means another surgery (this is probably a case of 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of another)

3. proximal wedge osteotomy - for severe bunions that can't be corrected by chevron
6-8 weeks in nonweight bearing cast, LONG recovery period
could involve permanent midfoot stability issues

4. reputable foot and ankle trained orthopedic surgeons will probably not take a virgin mild to moderate bunion case (like mine, but correct me if I'm wrong), but recommend conservative treatment like change of shoes (no heels? I'm no longer listening), and orthotics. I'd go to one first just to see what she/he says as a "gold standard," even if you might need to travel a bit to find one
the orthopod I saw was actually surprised when I came for my appt saying he only sees messed up postop bunion cases after podiatrists do them (not that I'm implying that podiatrists are more permissive, but a bunion to them is like a nail to a hammer)

5. also read about minimally invasive bunion surgery where they make tiny cuts and do it w/ tiny instruments that has more rapid recovery but this is associated w/ incomplete corrections and higher recurrence rates

6. laser surgery for bunions is completely not a viable method

I got Tylenol #3 for the pain that worked fine (I had a prescription for 30 pills and only ended up using 3-4 of them, when I thought I was going to just pass out from the pain), and I have super high pain tolerance (I didn't need a single pill after 4 impacted wisdom teeth extracted from inside my jaw, and getting a tattoo was nothing)