I've been off the boards for quite a while because I had my first bunion surgery on my right foot about 2 years ago. All went very well and now i'm thinking of having my left foot done. Luckily my left bunion is much less severe than my right foot so I will probably be having some version of an Austin bunionectomy.
I was wondering if anyone has had both feet done and what their thoughts are about it the second time around??
Also, I had a podiatrist perform my 1st surgery and I now live in a different city (I was happy with him). But, would anyone recommend switching to an orthopedic surgeon?
Thanks
Last edited by dancergal19; 04-29-2009 at 04:52 PM.
I had my second bunion surgery 8 weeks after the first...and happy I did. I did my left first (less severe) and then the right (which was more of a pain cause I could not drive). Do it....
On a negative, much of my problems were due to arthritis...now will have arthrodesis May 11 on left foot. Guess what I am saying....get things taken care of....cannot wait to be normal and active again.
Hi Dancergal19,
I saw a post you wrote back in 2007 when you had your first bunionectomy done and since I'm encountering a similar situation as yours back then I was wondering if you had any advice or knowledge regarding my bunionectomy. I had a left buionectomy and 2nd metatarsal break (alignment) on dec. 11th, 2009. My big toe still veers to the left and pushing my 2nd toe up. It appears as if there is not enough room for my 2nd toe to rest in between my 1st and 3rd toes(as was a part of the original problem). My toes are still somewhat swollen, mainly my big toe so I'm hoping the swelling will go down and there will be enough room, but it doesn't look like that will be the case. So anyways I read in your previous post that you had a similar problem and I wanted to know if it ever fixed itself or if there was something you did to make it better. Thanks for your time and I greatly appreciate your help.
-Katie
The swelling that you're still experiencing is completely normal and expected. I had swelling for months and even occasional minor swelling up to a year after my surgery. Are you still icing and elevating your foot? That will help minimize the swelling. I would also highly recommend physical therapy if you're not already doing that. Ask your doctor about it and don't let him tell you that you don't need it because it will really help. I had physical therapy twice a week for a couple of months. At first my second toe was raised off the ground and physical therapy corrected that. It also helped minimize my swelling and get rid of scar tissue. Unfortunately, my big toe also still veers to the left. I don't know if that can be corrected. But, once you're swelling goes down there will probably be more room for the second toe. I'd ask your Doc about the big toe still veering toward the left. I think, however, it is something that can only be corrected by surgery (I think they have to cut and shorten the tendons or something like that). I have thought about getting mine corrected because I'm worried that my second toe will start to be pushed up again even though my actual bunion is gone. Anyway, I hope my rambling helps. Ask your Doc about physical therapy and your big toe. The physical therapy should help with the swelling and hopefully there will be room for your second toe to lie flat once it goes down.
Thanks a lot for help and advice Amy, I really appreciate it. I was figuring I probably needed to do physical therapy because the mobility of my two toes is terrible and its kind of worrying me. My dr. has yet to say anything about it and I'm not sure if he will because its hard to get him to communicate with me regarding what I should and should not be doing and all that, that's why I've turned to these boards. I had asked him about my 1st toe veering towards my 2nd and he said we'll deal with that later (whatever that means) Did you have mobility issues in your toes until you went to PT? Thanks for all the advice, I'll start icing my foot again.
-Katie
Yes, I had a lot of scar tissue and very limited mobility. Part of your limited mobility is due to the swelling and because of that you may have to wait a few more weeks until it goes down before you can begin physical therapy. But, I think PT is really important after bunion surgery. If I hadn't gone to physical therapy I would still have limited mobility in my foot. My therapist taught me various ways to massage the scar tissue away and exercises to rebuild the atrophied muscles in my legs. He also used ultrasound to get rid of deep scar tissue. Now I have full range of motion and no mobility issues whatsoever. My podiatrist also tended to not be very communicative with me so make sure you speak up and ask for a physical therapy prescription (I think you have to get a prescription from your Doc in order for your insurance to cover the cost). I don't know how far along you are in the healing process but you can probably start massaging your foot on your own (with cocoa butter) to help with the scars and scar tissue. The more you do it the better because after about 1-2 years, the scar tissue that is still there is permanent!
Don't get stressed out by the issues you're having now, it's totally normal and the recovery process for bunion surgery is never really as short as they say it will be. But, it will go by fast and you'll be back to normal in no time
