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Honored Contributor
Posts: 43,246
Registered: ‎01-08-2011

wrote:

@ECBG  When I saw "Bunion" I thought of this doctor.  He operated on a friend of mine and she did not need any pain medication at all.  He uses a certain technique when cutting that he learned in Europe.  He was training resident doctors under him at the University of Chicago hospitals.  I had this doctor operate on my foot (not bunion) and I was told I would not have pain and I was afraid I would.  I was given a prescription for Tynenol #3 and I did not need to take it.  This was years ago but you think when someone cuts into you, you oul experience pain but not with this doctor and his cutting technique.  I just had to share.  Cat Happy


@Katcat1,Thank you for being nice enough to post this.  Good to know.Smiley Happy

Honored Contributor
Posts: 21,733
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: "Bunion Ladies", Smile

[ Edited ]

The type of bunion surgery depends upon your specific foot. Some surgeries are much simpler than others. You can't go by what someone else had.

 

I've had four foot surgeries, three of which involved bunions. All three surgeries were different.

 

Before these surgeries, I was in a great deal of pain and was not able to do my exercise walking. Today, I can walk my 3+ miles with ease. Since exercise is my way of staying relatively sane, these operations saved my life.

 

 


~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Honored Contributor
Posts: 21,733
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

wrote:

The type of bunion surgery depends upon your specific foot. Some surgeries are much simpler than others. You can't go by what someone else had.

 

I've had four foot surgeries, three of which involved bunions. All three surgeries were different.

 

Before these surgeries, I was in a great deal of pain and was not able to do my exercise walking. Today, I can walk my 3+ miles with ease. Since exercise is my way of staying relatively sane, these operations saved my life.

 

 


I should add that I am so glad that I wasn't swayed by others' bad experiences. I recall reading blogs full of disaster stories. But that's the Internet for you these days.


~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Honored Contributor
Posts: 43,246
Registered: ‎01-08-2011

wrote:

The type of bunion surgery depends upon your specific foot. Some surgeries are much simpler than others. You can't go by what someone else had.

 

I've had four foot surgeries, three of which involved bunions. All three surgeries were different.

 

Before these surgeries, I was in a great deal of pain and was not able to do my exercise walking. Today, I can walk my 3+ miles with ease. Since exercise is my way of staying relatively sane, these operations saved my life.

 

 


@suzyQ3,Great to know.  Thank you.  May I ask what the approx healing time was?  Thanks!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 21,733
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

wrote:

wrote:

The type of bunion surgery depends upon your specific foot. Some surgeries are much simpler than others. You can't go by what someone else had.

 

I've had four foot surgeries, three of which involved bunions. All three surgeries were different.

 

Before these surgeries, I was in a great deal of pain and was not able to do my exercise walking. Today, I can walk my 3+ miles with ease. Since exercise is my way of staying relatively sane, these operations saved my life.

 

 


@suzyQ3,Great to know.  Thank you.  May I ask what the approx healing time was?  Thanks!


@ECBG, I can tell you MY healing experience, but everyone is different. It depends upon what is involved in the procedure and also your general health.

 

My first bunion surgery involved not just correcting the bunion on my right foot but actually fusing the joint due to its advanced arthritic state. This fusion has not bothered my walking at all but does mean that I shouldn't wear high heels (I wear up to 2 inches, wedge or block, without any trouble -- fine with me).

 

The surgeon also shortened my second toe, straigtened my fourth toe, and shaved off a tailor's bunion on my little toe.

 

I was laid up for about six weeks, maybe less. If you want more info on any aspects of the recuperation, don't hesitate to ask.

 

My second operation was on my left foot. I had the big fused and the tailor's bunion shaved. The recuperation might have been a bit quicker this time.

 

My third surgery was a breeze because he was just removing the hardware on my right foot big toe. The hardware was bothering me, and my toe was healed well enough that I didn't need it anymore. Recuperation was very quick.

 

My fourth and last surgery was by far the most complicated. It was back to my right foot. The surgeon had earlier shaved the tailor's bunion (little toe), but apparently, more work was necessary because it grew again and became unbelievably painful and debitlitation.

 

It was so bad that he had to correct lower down (in the direction of my ankle). This is more precarious and demands a longer recovery. He told me eight weeks, but I think it was shy of that. I had to be careful after that for a while that I didn't flex up on that foot (like trying to reach something high up, because until it was fully healed, it would cause a major problem.

 

I hope that above doesn't scare anyone. It's likely to be unusual to have this many procedures. And the outcome made it all worthwhile. I would do it again.


~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Honored Contributor
Posts: 43,246
Registered: ‎01-08-2011

@suzyQ3,Thank you for all the time it took you to answer my question.  I have the professional stretchers from Colonial Medical Appliances and never have pain in that area, thank goodness!

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 21,733
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

wrote:

@suzyQ3,Thank you for all the time it took you to answer my question.  I have the professional stretchers from Colonial Medical Appliances and never have pain in that area, thank goodness!


@ECBG, I tried everything under the sun to avoid surgery but to no avail. That first surgery on the bunion on my right foot -- what made that so necessary was that it had developed a bone spur. So that meant not only did the bunion stick out but also up. That was so painful and also pretty much eliminated almost any shoe.

 

Hopefully, yours will not get any worse. Do be careful, though, in your choice of shoes. Anything that bears down on a bunion makes it grow.


~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Honored Contributor
Posts: 43,246
Registered: ‎01-08-2011

@suzyQ3,Thank you.  I grew up knowing volumes about feet (not surgery) and shoes.  My family owned the largest fine shoe store here for over 50 years.  This happened to me because in my married life when it developed, my dad never realized it seeing me always in closed toed shoes.  I was just over 30  when we lost him.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 43,246
Registered: ‎01-08-2011

Ladies, if you want a great sandal, Fly London or Dansko is definately THE way to go!  I actually run in them all day!  I put the Dr Scholl's runner's gel pads in my Dansko boots for warmth.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,595
Registered: ‎12-22-2013

Re: "Bunion Ladies", Smile

[ Edited ]

A really nice shoe...I can see the leather stretching, my foot turning and me falling..injuring a knee, hip or ankle.......