Experiences of bunion operation please

honey06

hi Nicedream
progress is slow :cool: my incisions have been slightly infected so they havent healed over completely yet and they are still quite stiff.The pain has eased though walking is still a challenge
just a case of building up slowly. The swelling isnt as bad now.

I cant stop staring at mine either- its still a surprise every time I look at them!
oh and I have bunionettes too- I had hoped for a job lot but the surgeon said no :rotfl:
Regardless i think they look sooo much prettier

nicedream_2

I'm sorry to hear the wounds are a bit infected. How big are your incisions? My incision runs from the base of my big toe for about 10cm I would guess. I still have a lot of scabs but some parts are healing. The rest of my foot has become a bit like a snake with all the dead skin

I've had more pain again this week but I hope it's just healing. When I stand on my foot without the boot apart from feeling very weak (my muscle has disappeared on my leg!) it doesn't feel flat at all and where they've made an incision on the bottom of my foot to put a pin in, it feels really lumpy. I convinced myself earlier in the week that it would mean I would have to have the pin out but hopefully it's just still swollen.

The joys of bunions, hey?! Nine days to our next appointments I plan to start (online) trainer shopping this afternoon in case they take me out the boot. I haven't the foggiest what to look for but I guess something that gives good support.

honey06

the infection was sorted with antibiotics, it just slowed the healing of my scar (some scabs still there)
the incision on the side of my foot goes from part way down my toe to half way down, maybe 8cm? they aren't as neat and tidy as I'd hoped thanks to the infection. will do lots of scar massage once its properly healed to try and improve them! the one between my big toe and second toe is quite small and they look really neat and have healed well.
I know what you mean about muscle loss and having some days worse than others. My left foot is definitely more sore, stiffer and slower to heal than my right foot.

Shopping?! ohh i like your style I'm feeling a bit nervous about moving out of the donjoy sandal/boot just yet. It feels quite protective when I'm hobbling about. I think I would be glad to move on from an aircast though!
Will be interesting to see what they say about our progress
Do you know if you will be having physio??

honey06

Yesterday was a good day, feeling positive about my progress (I did a bit more hobbling around as it felt a bit easier, and also lots of toe exercises)
not quite such a positive night though, little fat swollen porkie feet with lots of twinges and more pain :cool: I didnt really sleep at all and felt pretty miserable as I simply couldnt find any position that didnt hurt and the night splints felt sooooo uncomfy...

they are less swollen today though still a bit puffy and sore, so I'm elevating again to ease the swelling. I'm getting horrid pulling sensations along the incision on my left foot (mainly up towards the toe part of the scar) which isnt the most pleasant feeling- they are slathered with lots of moisturising bio oil/e45 to see if that helps.
I'm fairly sure the ROM is improving, slightly but definitely improving- i'm soooo pleased about that, and now that the infection is sorted i'm feeling so much more positive overall- I still cant stop looking at my normal looking (pretty-ish) feet :D

nicedream_2

That sucks you had to go on antibiotics! Glad you're better today It's nice to look at the pretty-ish feet! I've been elevating every time I sit on the sofa (which is a lot at the moment) and I also sleep with them elevated. It helps so much!

Do you put the bio oil/e45 on your scar yet? The scabs are still on mine so I haven't done anything with them yet. It's looking neater though.

I don't have night splints. Do you think they help? My toe isn't very bendy - I'm scared i'm going to be told off next week at the hospital as it looks like I haven't been doing my exercise!

I'm not sure about physio. Good idea though; I will ask next week.

Five more days!!

honey06

I'm still elevating a lot too- eases the swelling and soreness doesnt it?
I'm still not used to the hot/tight feeling when they swell :eek:

these delightful babies are the splints I wear at night-
http://www.bauerfeind.com/en/products/supports-orthoses/foot/valguloc.html
some nights they are ok now that I'm more used to them, but if my feet are sore then they can be quite uncomfy and its hard to sleep.
I had shooting pains along the bone/big toe joint last night which wasnt pleasant!

Quite a lot of the scabs have come off in the last few days (still some there) and the new skin is quite pink and tender looking on the side incisions, the ones between my toes healed really well as they werent infected. I have started using some scar cream to protect them- they are soooo tender to touch though :eek:

My toes are pretty stiff too, and I'm beginning to feel nervous about next week now
I think you get to move out of the aircast dont you? that must be a bit scary as well as exciting? I bet you get a pair of gorgeous wedge sandal things then too!! :rotfl:

nicedream_2

How did you appointment go honey06?

I am now out my aircast and in trainers for the next six weeks. I can walk without my crutches but have a rather dramatic limp and can't go that far. But progress! I'm a bit disappointed with appointment as I found the consultant a bit abrupt with my questions. For example, last time they told me 'I could get my foot wet', so I had done that but not soaked it. As soon as I took off my boot she said why on earth do you have a scab on your scar still. Well... because you didn't realise getting it wet meant scrubbing and soaking. I asked her what I should do with my boot and she said 'well it's very expensive and all the footballers use it - I wouldn't just throw it away'. I didn't realise I got to keep the boot/crutches I thought it needed to give it back to them at some point - no need to be rude

Anyway rant aside. Six weeks countdown to next appointment. I saw my xrays and they looked a little scary with screws pointing in all directions.

My toes are also pretty stiff and they said I needed to work on them more.

Hope you appointment went okay Trainers too? I'm really pleased that I don't have to put my boot on everytime I get up from the sofa!

honey06

ohh Nicedream your consultant doesnt have the best bedside manner from the sound of it!
good news about the aircast! My scabs are kinda flaking off by themselves, the scar is WAYYYYY to tender for any sort of scrubbing!!! :eek:

I didnt see my consultant, saw the nurse practitioner again, though he was a bit bemused and said I should have been at the morning clinic to see the consultant- I pointed out I didnt make the appt! and he laughed and said it was ok.
I was fascinated by my xrays- they look amazing 3 screws and straight bones! still healing though. The before/after was impressive

My progress is slow, can move to trainers over the next few weeks, and begin to build up movement then too. The infection is resolving Apparently is a lot of soft tissue healing with my op and that needs time over the next few weeks so they said.
I have to work on toe stiffness as well. No physio though?

Have you tried to put trainers on yet? :eek:

nicedream_2

No I don't have physio either.

I've made a really good transition to trainers. I have been in them all day and can walk without the crutches without too much pain (although I limp a lot!). They told me not to use the aircast again. Hopefully you'll find the same when moving to trainers.

Have you bought any trainers yet? I went shopping last weekend and ended up crying in sports direct as it was too stressful I thought shoe shopping would get easier after this operation.

Did you have more than one toe done on each foot? It sounds like your healing process has been much slower, which is surprising as I thought the scarf/akin and lapidus were fairly similar. Have you managed to leave the house much at all?

Skintchick, if you're still reading, I read your blog last night and your nail story = :eek: How are you now? My big toe nail has a big bruise at the bottom and the base of the nail was really painful after the operation so I wonder whether it's common for that to happen.

honey06

the infection has slowed things a bit for me, the incisions are healing now though- not sure I'm ready for trainers yet though :cool:

OMG!!! just read skintchick's blog update :eek::eek::eek: