Hi everyone,
I’m brand new on this forum, and was thrilled to discover it this morning! I also am trying to decide whether to have bunion surgery. I saw my new pod yesterday in an appointment to be fitted for new orthotics, and the conversation veered from orthotics to bunion surgery, so since then I’ve been deeply involved in bunion surgery research.
I’m a 54 year old woman who is pretty active—a couple of miles of walking every day, 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer, and lots of yard/garden work when the yard isn’t covered in snow. I’ve had bad feet as long as I can remember—I was born with a hammer toe, have extremely high arches, and have ankles that flex & rotate way more than they should. I’ve worn orthotics for several years, and have never worn high heels or dress shoes.
I saw a different pod a few months ago, who diagnosed me with plantar fasciitis, and said that my bunion could be contributing to that, but the guy yesterday didn’t seem to think much of that connection. For years I’ve had periodic (every few months) bouts of intense debilitiating pain along the sole of my foot that brings an abrupt halt to any walking. The pain typically goes away within a few days, and I’m back to normal. Does anyone know about 'other' foot pain like that being caused by bunions?
My new pod (who I really like, btw) admits he is quite opinionated about doing bunion surgery before the bunion gets really bad, because recovery is much more likely to be successful. I think that makes complete sense, and what I’ve read in this forum seems to back that up. He says my left bunion (the worse one) is ‘moderate to severe’, and that is the foot I have the most problems with.
My biggest hesitation is going ahead with the surgery now because I don’t have much pain with the bunion. Everything I’ve read online talks about not doing the surgery unless you have pain that limits your daily activity. It’s hard to find shoes, yes, and my last new pair of wide hiking shoes (which is what I wear all the time) took forever to break in because of bunion pain, but other than that, pretty much no pain. In the last couple of months it does seem like the bunion is getting worse, because it’s red & chafed all the time now. So logically I can see it isn’t likely to heal itself, is probably getting worse now, and maybe I should just go ahead with the surgery. But I’m having trouble convincing myself to sign up for weeks of inactivity after the surgery when right now I can be as active as I want now.
My goal is to be able to remain as active as I can for as many years as I can, and if that means a few weeks of inactivity now, then that's a fair deal. My dogs' goal is also for me to remain as active as I can for as long as I can, since they count on those walks every day!
Thanks for any thoughts you all might have on my bunion surgery decision!