My mom needs bunion surgery. She's hearing many stories concerning how painful the recovery is-- and others saying it's not that big a deal.
Has anyone here had this? Your thoughts please.
Thanks!!

I had the surgery about 5 or 6 years ago.

Yes, recovery is painful.

I couldn't take the medicine they gave me after the surgery for pain. It made my stomach upset. But then again, I can't even have IV sedation without vomiting. I remember I had my surgery during the day, and vomited in the car on the way home. I also vomited that evening, and passed out from the pain on the kitchen floor (the linoleum was nice and cool and I was hot).

I couldn't put any weight on my foot despite having a post-surgery walking shoe on it. I ended up using crutches for about a month, and then hopping for a while. I finally was able to walk on it.

It looked horribly ugly after the doctor took the bandages off (I had the bunion next to the big toe removed, as well as the small bunion next to my little to - you can see photos of bunion surgery online - not for the faint of heart).

It was a PAIN IN THE FOOT!! But I would get it done again if I needed to.

I do have a small bunion on my right foot (the left foot had the surgery). But it is not bugging me at all, so I am ignoring it. It is a tiny one anyway.

Yes the surgery is painful. I even had a water cushion around my surgery foot - it had a hose that attached to an igloo cooler - 6pack of soda size - and I was to keep it filled with ice water and the ice water would go all around the water cushion around my foot to keep it iced at all times.

Recovery is not fun either.

But the pain of a bunion is also painful and not fun.

Weigh the pros and cons. If the bunion is really bothering her, surgery would be well worth it. Mine was causing me major pain before I had it shaved off. I now have a permanent pin in my foot, and a tiny scar.

__________________
"Yesterday my life was duller, now everything's technicolor!"

I was young when I had bunion surgery (sort of - 27) and I kind of wish I didn't do it. The pain was unbearable but I had just started working full time on my feet and I seriously thought I broke my toe and just didn't know when. Turned out I had a bunion (it didn't "look" bad) but geez it hurt. I found that Ariat fat baby boots were WONDERFUL!! I have 3 pairs of them - they run around $100 a pair but totally worth it. My Dr. even said they were the best non-medical shoes he has ever seen. Anywho, I got the surgery about 6 months later. Yeah it hurt, the first couple days I felt like my foot was going to EXPLODE. I found that Ice made a big difference, a lot of ice, constantly put ice on it. I had a walking boot that I wore for a bout 2 months (but remember I was working on my feet full time) then I wore a "shoe" and eventually got back to my normal "boots". I have to tell you though, it is not "that" bad. I had surgery on a Friday and the following Thursday I flew with my 7 year old daughter from TX to Washington DC (her first plane trip) to visit my cousin. We did some sight seeing that weekend - probably about 2 places a day - and I lived, I was mostly tired because the way you have to walk is hard on your body. I was still using ice at night and I needed it still.
The only reason I would maybe not do it again is that now I am a stay at home mom and I am not on my feet so much so I doubt it would be bothering me soo much. Also, I have a weird tingly/no feeling in my big toe. Sometimes it throbs but I can't make it feel better. Sometimes it itches but I can't satisfy the itch. I tried some sort of "electrotherapy" after surgery and all it did was burn my skin. The numbness is annoying and it doesn't have the same range of motion as before - so some really high shoes are uncomfortable - but thats all really.
Good Luck

I just had surgery for one of my bunions less than 2 weeks ago. Of course it hurts immediately following it... it is surgery!

But, I must say, I am totally impressed and am looking forward to doing my other foot next week. I researched the heck out of it before I did it. I had gone to see a podiatrist a few years ago, and he told me to wait. I taught skiing this past winter and it made my bunions so much worse. I knew I had to do it. This time though, I went to a foot surgeon, and have since learned that it is a whole different thing than going to a podiatrist. He was great and explained everything well. He also told me that bunions are a dynamic problem ie: it will continue to change and not improve, but just get worse over time. Therefore, sure, I could wait longer, but it would just be worse, and if it were worse, then I would require the more invasive surgery to remedy the problem. I am 43, and have lots of skiing and walking left. I have had bad bunions for 20 years. I opted to take care of it now.

I had a chevron bunectomy. I am a week and a half out from my surgery. I was in alot of pain for the first 2 days following the surgery. Then I was a bit better, and was able to hobble around a bit with the surgical shoe on. By the 5th day almost all of the swelling was gone. Now I am really walking on it alot, and will be starting physical therapy tomorrow. According to the doctor, he said that alot of how successful recovery is, depends on how good the PT is also, and how diligent one is with it. I don't expect it to be easy. I also still have a little bit of numbness on the edge of my toe. It has slowly been getting better, as last week my whole toe was numb, and now it is just the side. I don't expect to have full range of motion for a while, and not without work. But it will be worth it, and I am looking forward to having it all done. I will be having the other one done next week, and will go through it all again.

Yes, you will hear horrible stories. Alot of people did the surgery ages ago, and things have changed too. Yes, alot of people have the more invasive procedure as they have waited too long. Yes, alot of people go to podiatrists to do it- mine told me I would be off of my feet for 6 weeks! I am a busy, active mom of 2 boys, and that worried me to hear. When I went to the foot surgeon, and he told me what to expect from his surgery- I could hardly wait!
The day before my surgery, I met a woman who had the same thing done by a podiatrist, and she was 4 weeks out and still in a walking boot. Too bad she hadn't gone to a foot surgeon.

My advice- have your mom do it!!! Don't expect it to be easy, or painfree. Don't expect it to last too long though either. But, go into it with eyes wide open and go to a confident surgeon. Good luck!!

My husband had the surgery about 10 years ago. I do remember him being in a lot of pain. He was suppose to go back and have the other foot done, but didn't want to go through the agony again.

I work for a podiatrist. I honestly would go to a podiatrist, a lot of orthopedics say they are foot surgeons, but after i have saw their work and a couple of years later fixed their work, i would stick to
podiatrist. Podiatrist work on feet all day, this is their speciality,

Make sure the doctor is board certified

BUnion surgery is painful, the most common is austin bunionectomy, and keller bunionectomy. the first 3 days are the worst, your limited only to go to the bathroom, then for the next 2 weeks, we only limit our patients up 15 minutes out of every hour. WE have tremedous sucess rate. Like i said we fix alot of other peoples mistakes too.

IF your mom needs bunion surgery, get it now, eventually if you wait to long, it pushes pressure on your toes and can mess something else up.

This is opening and cutting surgery expect 6 to 8 weeks off from work.
but the postop shoe helps, getting around