Postop healing...bunionectomy? - Foot Problems Message Board

wmkcolors · 03-09-2008, 01:27 PM

Did anyone's incision area/toe area feel sort of "detached" and bony as you regained strength and became FWB? I am 10 weeks postop and am not progressing as I'd hoped. My toe/incision area is less stiff, but it feels strange. My foot will still ache and many, having had surgery after me, seem further along. I am now seeking a 2nd opinion to be sure. The area is still sore to the touch. I feel like I'm at a snail's pace. Did your foot ever feel truly normal again, after a bunionectomy? Thanks again for listening to my concerns.

KathJack · 03-09-2008, 03:36 PM

Hi, wmkcolors~
I was never totally NWB, so regaining strength was not as big an issue for me. (Following a double bunionectomy, I was very minimally weight-bearing for two weeks, after which I started walking more and more.) Within six months of the surgery, I can say that I not only felt truly normal, but WAY better than I did when I was suffering from the bunions. My only lingering effect was some numbness on the tops of my big toes, but that did not bother me and it has very gradually dissipated. At this point-- two years later-- I literally don't even notice whatever insignificant trace remains. My feet look, feel, and function great! I don't know why doctors have such different opinions about recovery. I'm sure some, but obviously not all, of it is related to kind of the procedure done. It is my personal, admittedly unscientific, observation from reading this board for two years that people who have longer periods of NWB have a more difficult time regaining strength and flexibility. Which given how a body would need to rehab, is not surprising. I certainly don't claim to know more than a doctor, but if (Heaven forbid) I were need another bunionectomy down the road and a different doc was to advise a long period of post-surgical NWB, I would do some research and get a second opinion. But that is just my very subjective 2Â¢. For people on this board who have had many weeks of NWB and/or problems with strength/flexibility, physical therapy seems to have been a big help. Best wishes!

debbie g · 03-09-2008, 04:03 PM

this may sound crazy, but i also think its the way we walk after recovery. a pt told me that if you walk heel to toe, it makes everything more flexible. sometimes we walk on the outside of our foot and maybe we are dragging the foot withou knowing it. i have to kepp reminding myself to walk heel to toe.

wmkcolors · 03-09-2008, 04:48 PM

I recently started PT and have been FWB for 3 weeks. I am/was a very fit person and ran daily and I am amazed at how quickly one can lose their stanima. I think I am freaking out about how "detached" my toe feels. I am concentrating on walking more, heel to toe, but I can honestly say that prior to the 6 week mark, I was only able to be PWB, or the pain increased. I panicked, in the last 3 weeks, because, as I tried to walk more normally, in wide shoes, the pain and swelling only got worse. Up until the 8 week mark, I was afraid I'd break what bones had been broken and wired together. I pray PT helps me gain some confidence in moving my foot and big toe. It's helped alot, to receive encouragement here and to know I'm not alone in the world of foot problems. Did anyone have incision irritation, 2 months postop? I can't stand to have much rub against the incision. PT talks about desensitizing the incision and scar tissue. It is sore and itches. I can walk FWB for about an hour or so and then my foot aches.

KathJack · 03-09-2008, 04:49 PM

I agree, Debbie~ I think sometimes we are so afraid (even subconsciously) of bending our toes, weight bearing, etc., we walk in weird ways without recognizing it. It's normal, possibly even good, to put weight on the outside of the foot as you mentioned, heel-walk, etc. in the very beginning, but continuing to walk with an unnatural gait would eventually cause big problems. If a doctor will recommend it, and insurance will pay, I would think PT would be great for helping to redevelop a natural walk-- and pushing or not pushing rehab to an appropriate degree. (I didn't have it; my doctor didn't push for it and my insurance was running out, so I didn't either. If it had been offered free, I would have taken advantage of it, just in case...)