bone spur surgery on top of big toe: recovery time

I had a bone spur taken off my big toe. The doctor I had was fantastic he explained every single thing that was going to happen. He then told me after the operation to stay off the foot for three days and keep it elevated. He said I could go to the bathroom or make a cup of coffee but to keep it elevated. I had the operation a week ago yesterday (Monday) and it already feels better. He said that a week after he takes the stitches I have to massage the scar so that I wont have any problems with scar tissue. I know that once my foot is completly healed it will be worth having the operation. I just wanted everyone to know that this surgery does work. I only had pain for the first day and havnt used any pain killers since. Hang in there as things will get better. Have a great day. :-D

I'm an Irish Step Dancer who started at the age of 36. I'm now 42. I developed a bone spur on the left toe joint about 6 mos. ago. When it became chronic pain in the morning especially, I decided to see a bone & joint doctor. He said I had a spur. He said I can live with it or have it removed. For optimal dancing and flexibility, he said removing it would give me much more flexibility in the toe itself. I just had it done 2 days ago. Pain from the surgery itself diminished that evening. I've had very little pain associated with this so far. I can wiggle my toes quite freely and the bandages come off on Monday. The doctor found no cartilage damage, no arthritis present and actually said I had a healthy toe joint and expects a full recovery and back to dancing in 6 weeks. I will be doing some light foot strengthening leading up to that time. God is good! This doctor prayed for me before doing the surgery. Knowing he seeks guidance from the Lord with his work causes me to believe in my healing and recovery as long as I obey instructions! :-)

Wow, when I read the message below, I thought I might have written it, verbatim. In fact, I just talked to the surgeon tonight, to complain.



Turns out, the bone spur on the top of my toe was apparently protecting the osteoarthritis on the bottom of my toe. So, while even though previously it hurt to wear closed shoes and often there was inflammation after hiking six miles, at least I could hike six miles! Now, I can barely walk down the street. I could cry.



:cry:

These are horror stories because they are fresh after surgery!

How about some updates after 3 months, 6 months and a year.

Geez.

Of course you're going to be in pain after surgery

I just had this surgery 2 bone spurs removed (big and little toe) and the big toe joint reconnected. I also had bone fragments removed within the top of my foot. My surgery was on 7-8-09. My cast came off on Monday and yesterday began rehab. I have a lot of swelling and pain. It seems my doc is trying to make light of this operation and not understanding the pain I am in. I did not realize the recoup time was going to be so painful and long. I was not fully prepared for the reality of this surgery either. ?

I am scheduled for right foot, big toe cheilectomy in 1 week, August 18th... but after reading this thread, I am considering cancelling. Because I can walk fine right now... with some pain in the right toe joint, but there is nothing I can't do (except I have to wear a flat shoe; anything that bends my toe hurts). I know I won't be able to drive for a couple weeks... but what about walking normally? In 4 weeks, will I be able to walk a couple blocks?

My orthopedist said I need to have a bone spur taken out of my right big toe this past February. Not being a big fan of surgery I have put it off. Now it is starting to hurt worse. I was off this summer and wish I had gone ahead and had it done. He told me I would be up and walking on it the same day of surgery and that I would only have to be off work for a week. After reading these stories I am thinking I better wait till next summer when I am off again to have the operation. He didn't say any thing abour replacing joint but I still don't want to take a chance and be off work without pay. I am off a week in October and was thinking about having it done then but now I am not sure.

i need surgery on my left ankle i will go back to my dr. on 09/11/09 .
see what date my surgery will be i have a bone spur in my ankle
it hurt so bad i can not walk on it to long or stand on it
so what is my recover time.

I had the surgery 11 days ago. I was supposed to be up and walking the same day...and I was just after surgery. Later that night when i went to go the bathroom I couldn't even get myself up off the couch (where I plopped down after getting home, I didnt want to try walking upstairs to my bedroom). The pain was pretty bad, I was cursing the surgery. For the next 4 days i was like that. Luckily I had a pair of crutches so I was able to get to the bathroom. But I had to sleep on the couch for 5 nights, that and an aerobed that is higher off the ground. I had no cast, just a bandage the doc put on and I ate pain pills like candy it hurt so bad. It was so tight I felt like cutting it off the 3rd night. The next day I went to the doc and he removed that bandage and put a different one on...much looser. I could walk better then. Since then it has only improved...sure there is some intense pain here and there but for the most part it is less pain than before surgery. The worst part is the bandage keeps getting looser due to the swelling going down and it moves around pulling on my stitches. Sometimes a muscle c**p and just a dull pain by the joint.

I had a big bone spur taken off my big toe joint as well as part of the bone shaved due to it being too long. My bone spur sat up quite a bit and took up the entire length of the joint. The doc and nurses said it was an abnormally large spur. I let it go too long.

I get my stitches out in 3 days and should be back to work in 4 days if all goes well. Yes, it hurts to walk long distances but the more I walk the better it seems to get. I am also supposed to be moving my toe foward and back manually to help the mobility. Since I have an issue with a bone that is too long I have to wear custom orthotics forever to help make sure the bone spur doesn't come back.

I wish I would have done it sooner.

I just had bone spurs and complete toenail removal on both big toes.

The bone spurs were on the tips of my toes.



I ended up with 3 incisions on each toe. One on each side of the nails and on the tips of my toes.



I just had the surgery yesterday and pretty much didn't have any pain yesterday.



Today on the other hand, all the drugs have worn off and it hurts pretty bad.

No cast or crutches, Just some Ortho shoes for a day.



I guess It's gonna be a wait and see deal for me.

Hi everyone,
I'm one of the people who had bone spur surgery on the big toe. It's been 20 months since i've had the surgery. Prior to the surgery I had the same complaints of pain you all have. I waited over a year to finally have it done, thinking I could wait it out and it might not get worse. It finally got to the point that I didn't even have to be walking for it to hurt.
The surgeon did cut on the side instead of the top of my toe. I had the cast on for 3 weeks and a walking boot for another 3 or 4 weeks. I wore the orthotics for a few months but I could never get comfortable with them in. Unfortunately, I've not been painfree since the surgery. My doctor also put some stuff in the toe joint to help grow cartilage. The big toe doesn't bend much and walking any distance at more than a leisurely pace is out of the question. I used to run and now I just do the elliptical which allows me to gain some speed without bending or putting much pressure on the ball of the foot and walk on the treadmill. I have the same pain now that I had before the surgery. The only difference is that before surgery on a good day I could wear my regular shoes and heels and now I have to pretty much wear flats with a nice thick comfy sole.
It's obvious this surgery will effect everyone differently. I'm not complaining but someone asked to hear from someone who had not just recently had the surgery. We all have things we must deal with in life and this is mine. I suggest that you do your homework with your surgeon and find out how many of these surgeries they've performed and the outcome of them, something I neglected to do. My doctor said the surgery would be good for about 10 years at which time I would need to have the joint replaced. We'll cross that road when we come to it. LOL
Best of luck to you with your surgery.

hi I just had bone spur removal on 9/15. Pain med's are a problem because of other medicial conditions, but as some others have written i am worried about the recovery time. I sew customized drapes and can only be off work for 3 months . I was told i would be back to work in6/8wks but the papers say 12/15 sure hope things move along fast. Only have pain on the inital standing and first step. but time will tell . Praying for all of us to have great rewards from our surgery's. I have an orthodic shoe now not sure how long I will need to wear this. Time will tell if this was the right choice. helen

I have bone spurs on the tops of both big toes and have had problems with them for many years. I recently went to an Orthopedist that specializes in foot and ankle and he recommended surgery. He told me that if I had the surgery on a Friday, I would be back to work on Monday, but had to wear the "shoe" for a few weeks and would be walking normally in about 3 weeks, and fully recovered in about 2-3 months. I'm leaning toward having the surgery. I have had the pain for many many years and am an active person, walk, run, play sports and I'm thinking that the few weeks of discomfort would be worth being able to walk and run without toe pain for the next 20-30 years. Well, the doctor claims 20-30 years. He also claimed a 90% success rate with the procedure.

I had a major bone spur/hallux ridgidus on my left big toe for 3 years. It kept getting worse and worse, to the point I was walking with a limp and couldn't even think about running. My toe literally only could bend maybe 10-20 degree's either way. I went to 3 doctors and all said I should do the surgery. So I picked a dr. and then started reading this site. I seriously almost canceled the surgery after reading all of your post on here.

Dang I am glad that I went through with it. I don't know if most of everyone on here is super sensitive to pain or what? I do know that I don't handle pain meds well so I've done this procedure without taking pain meds. I also had a broken leg last fall and could only take advil for that. Yes it hurt, but not anything I couldn't handle. And this procedure??? Holy smokes it was a breeze. Seriously. I went, they put me under, I woke up with ice around my toe and it was wrapped up. My friend picked me up from the hospital and dropped me off at home. i was able to go up my driveway with no assistance from him with crutches and that lame velcro boot/shoe thing they give you. My foot and leg stayed numb from that morning all the way into the middle of the night. That was the only thing I was worried about but my friend that had knee surgery said that same thing happened to him. Woke up day 2, and yes my foot was tender but wasn't anything like the broken leg nor even really than a bad hangover headache. I could get around day 2 with a cane and that lame shoe/boot thing. iced/ and chilled. Day 3 woke up worked from home, and could now walk around with that lame shoe and no cane or anything. day4 went to work with that lame shoe and shorts on, pain was fine as long as I didn't move. day 5 and 6 the same but it was the weekend.

day 7, went in for post op. Dr. was tripping a little that i could walk around better with out the boot on (just ace bandage) than I could with it on. So, he went ahead and pulled the stitches out a a few days early which I don't care about a scar, i am not a foot model. He told me to let pain be my guide, and said "to chill out for another week or so" because he could tell I was ready to get back on my road/and mountain bike. He also said there was still stitches i guess inside my toe.

It's now day 9, i am able to get my foot in a very loosely laced skate shoe. I walk kind of like a gangster (or kind of like you walk a week after you sprang your ankle) right now, but feel really confident that I will be walking without a limp within 7-10 days. I think I will be back to riding my bike not this weekend but for sure next. I could see myself back doing yoga in 3 weeks.

I specifically came back to this website, because it had scared the @#$! out of me, but I really think most the people on here are the type of people that like to complain, or are sensitive to pain.

i'll keep updating this thread if it's helpful.

Tips:
ice is always smart
put a shoebox at the bottom of the bed by the foot you had done, it lifts the sheets off kind of relieving pressure off your toe.
stop being a baby
stop complaining
be positive and think how awesome its going to be once your are healed up and you can walk/run without pain.


Don't believe all the people saying they are in major pain. Yes you just had your bone shaved, and your toe cut open. Deal with it, and get busy getting better.

OK it's been 16 days since my surgery, and I have been back to 2 yoga classes. I am able to do most of my moves but obviously can't put much weight on that toe. I was able to do a little 30mi road ride on my bike last evening and the cycling shoes are not that bad. I've also been wearing normal tennis shoes now. I wear the left side really lose, and also what I do is take like one of those cotton pads that women remove make up with and just tape it over where the incision was. That area of my toe is still tender. I think i can stop that cotton pad by next week. I can walk about ...well almost as good as pre-surgery which was with a slight limp. It doesn't feel normal or great to walk yet, but each day seems to get better. I've been trying to take advil for swelling but I forget sometimes.



I did notice that this toe is a little crooked now, but as long as it functions well, I don't care.



Well that's about it. 16 days and I walk almost as good as pre-op. I am back on my bike and doing yoga. not pain free, but I can manage. next monday is my last post-op. I bet I am 100% by december, but in the mean time I am glad to be pretty much 75%.



Again, not many success stories on here, but I am hoping that I can change some of your minds.