FlyingJenny

I had a bunionectomy, a modified Austin's procedure perfomed on February 5th of this year. Two screws were put into my foot bone, the bony prominences were smoothed and at the same time the promineces were smoothed on my Tailor's bunion. I had an incredible amount of swelling afterward, and I was not able to bear any weight on my foot for nine and a half weeks. My doctor had never seen anything like it. Most of the swelling was eventually driven out with compression bandages and later compression socks, which I still wear, or the swelling returns. The swelling underneath on the ball of my foot has never gone away and has caused a neuroma. My doctor tried the conventional treatment of steroid injection, and it was at that time that it was discovered that the local anesthetic had been the problem all along. It causes my foot to swell, and the swelling does not go away. The steroid injection did not help at all, and now I am stuck with this painful neuroma- it feels like stepping on a hot needle or nail every time I step. My doctor will not operate on me again after all the problems with the last surgery, and I need surgery to fix the neuroma because the conservative treatment is not working. He says that I will have the same reaction to any local anesthetic because they all work in the same way. Meanwhile, I am in pain, and my other foot has a painful bunion as well. My doctor says there is the possibility of operating using general anesthesia, but he is hesitant because of the pain after surgery. My neuroma hurts all the time, even in bare feet, and I currently have a corrective orthotic in my shoe which does little to help with the pain. I walk with a slight limp, and have a lot of trouble going down stairs. Anyone have any useful information?