Bunions?

evandmegsmom

First off, I thought bunions were just something elderly women got who always had worn high heels. I have NEVER worn high heels, but unfortunately ugh, I have a bunion on my right foot that will definitely need surgery. :sad: There is one starting on my left foot as well. Has anyone had bunion surgery before? I was wondering what the recovery time is, and if there's a possibility of them coming back. My husband, who is a family doctor (not an orthopedic surgeon, unfortunately ) says it's all to do with my gait. I get defensive when he tries to correct me, though, so I'm looking for an objective opinion. I am going for my yearly physical in October, and I know my doc will give me a referral to an orthopedist. I just am wondering....1) will I be able to drive after surgery? and 2) how long till I can exercise again?

Thanks for your help!

bstamps12

Yes, I had a bunionectomy when I was 20! :noway: I too thought it was only for old people but they were so so so painful! My mom had the surgery when she was 53 and said she wished she hadn't waited so long, so I decided to see the orthopedic surgeon she went to. He gave me orthopedic inserts for my shoes (hard plastic!) and said my right foot would probably be okay and never get too bad if I wore those inserts the rest of my life. My left food did need the surgery and I will be honest, it was more painful than childbirth when the pain meds wore off. I stayed completely off of it for 1 week (spring break) but I can't take hydrocodon bc it makes me sick, so I was in a lot of pain. I had the walking cast on for 6 weeks and it wasn't bad after about the first 2 weeks, as long as I kept it elevated while sitting. About 3 weeks after surgery, I did lift weights with my arms and I did the stationary bike for my cardio. I had the surgery on my left foot so as soon as the initial meds from surgery wore off, I was fine to drive (albeit a bit uncomfortable).

My doc says it won't come back and it is unlikely that my other bunion gets worse (it is not painful and isn't that bad right now) as long as I wear my orthopedic inserts. They did hurt to wear at first but now it just feels weird if they aren't in my shoes (obviously I can't wear them with open toed shoes). DO THE EXERCISES with your toes that the doc tells you to do! It seems silly or seems like you can move it, but I have a friend who can't move her big toe at all because she didn't stretch it and do the little exercises for her feet that the doc told her to do.

I now run quite a bit and ran my first ever 5K about 6 months after my surgery. I've never had pain in the spot the bunion was unless I've worn heels all day. I used to wear heels a lot but got rid of most of them and bought tons of cute new shoes (in the normal width instead of wide!! :bigsmile:) after the surgery. My bunions were caused by wearing flip flops all the time, never supportive tennis shoes, and having a "flexible flat foot" which I didn't know about until I saw the doctor.