Pain and severe stiffness after bunionectomy

Hi I know this was a year ago but im wondering how you are now, I have had the same problems as you and its 11 weeks since my operation and I cannot move my big toe at all.

Hi there im 4 weeks into the surgery and my pins are in for another 2 weeks ..and my surgeon told me before I was done that I my toe will never bend up or down ...it will be straight.....no movement at all,,,

Hi, I am 12 weeks post-op on my right foot bunion removed and hammer toe fixed on 2nd toe, 8 weeks post op having the same surgery on left foot. My feet keep going to sleep when sitting, been trying to bend toes to get more mobility. I am walking decently, riding my stationary bike and working for 5 weeks now- I teach school. This surgery is a long recovery process and IS NOT for the "feign of heart" type person. I am an active person with a high threshold of pain, if my feet were not daily in constant pain I would not have had the surgery, but I believe in the long run it is well worth it, patience is definitely required, again I was in ALOT of pain before seeking out surgery.

I see your post of over a year ago, but I think this might help others with the same scar-irritated-by-shoes issue. Hope you are feeling better, and that you're back to playing tennis. I found that using a silicone pad to cushion the scar and ball of the toe is helpful. I didn't have terrible pain until I started weight bearing at week 4. My running shoe has a seam right at the bend of my toe, and every step I take seems to chafe it. I started to experience pins and needles, burning and shooting pain into the toe as well as increased inflammation. Wrapping the pad on my bare toe, covering the scar and ball of the toe, I hold it in place with a thin sock. It's just enough padding that shoes are not quite the problem. My symptoms were gone within a day. I am not using an arch support yet, but I sure need one, as my arch muscles are very sore. I sure hope some of these symptoms abate over time.

hi i had my op 20 months ago, i still cant bend my right toe, and the pain under my foot is realy painful, i cant walk or stand for long, i have had physio, insoles made by hospital, and seeing a pain speacalist, im getting pain in my calfs and now the other foot is starting to hurt because of the way i am walking, dont know what to do now , help

I had my surgery 3+ weeks ago, and my big toe is actually getting worse as far as inability to bend. When I went to my post op check, the dr kept telling me to stop sticking my toe up. I wasn't, it's stuck that way! The swelling's gotten so bad, it no longer moves at all. I'm soaking my foot in a dishpan of warm water and Epsom salt right now. I can't do the exercises he told me to do, because the toe is so big I can't even force it down anymore. I deeply regret having had this done. I would have rather lived with the bunion, than deal with this.

Me too but the other way! Right foot and bursitis in my left hip..boy was I a mess and now, like you also, the ball of my foot hurts and everyonce in a while a sharp pain will shoot through the bone...that's how I found this website!

I had a bunionectomy a year and a half ago. My doctor also said 6 weeks recovery, WRONG! After a year I was still in pain! This was a big mistake, but I was also in pain with it. The pain finally stopped, I can bend my toe pretty good, But, I have developed a small marble size on top, which hurts with enclosed shoes! What a sight! It's horrible!

I had bunionectomy and osteotomy done 4 days ago. Although I am not walking or bearing any weight on my foot, I am having zero pain. Not taking any painkillers and able to move my foot around just fine pointing and flexing with only minor discomfort

Don't be too scared. I am almost two months since my surgery.and am having the other foot done in a few weeks. I was not walking until a couple weeks ago, and already my walking is almost normal. I was allowed to walk on my heel for two weeks before that. Before that it was totally no weight on my foot. Everyone is different, so don't do it until your doctor says. But once you can walk, don't let the swelling scare you. My foot swells a lot still, and I understand that can last for some time - months, and even up to a year. But I don't find the swelling painful. I am far more comfortable than I was with the bunion. I am wearing sturdy velcro sandals by Propet right now - easier than dealing with shoes with a foot that swells. Still early for me here, but so far I am thrilled with the change. Eager for the swelling to stop, but I think that just needs some patience. Also you do have to exercise the toe - starting by manually moving it. It will loosen up gradually. Mine is still stiff but getting better all the time. Follow doctor instructions on that - mine told me to start gently moving it after about a month. I could not move it at on its own at first, and now it bends pretty good - not like before, but enough so that I would not be heart broken if it stopped there. As for long term reassurance - two women I work with had theirs done and are doing great years later. As with any surgery, some people have complications, but I think most will be happy they had this done. I had gotten to the point where I could not enjoy travel or walking, and it was affecting my weight and general health, so for me there really was no choice but to get them fixed so that I could get my life back to normal.

Well, here I am almost 5 months post op, the bursitis is gone for the most part but the ball of my foot is still quite tender if I hit it just so..additionally, the toe joint itself is ver tender and like many others, I can't move my toe downward like my other foot and mooving it up is very limited...it will be a very long time before I let the dr do my left foot...if ever....definately more pain after the surgery than before the surgery...

Oh, and I should add, that like many others, my foot swells at times (especially if I sit all day, such as at my job which is sedentary)..it stays larger than my other foot at all times...I have keloided scar tissue above my toe joint where the incision was and the scar is numb but generally is not painful.....

I cannot believe your surgeon said that to you! If that is the case, then most of our surgeons have lied to us that have had the same surgery. And I had the bunionectomy done and can move it up and down, just more challenging downwards.

Hi, I had bunion surgery on November 8, 2013. I had severe pain and stiffness and prior to surgery asked the doctor for a script for PT. I am a runner and wanted to stay that way after the surgery. Doctor finally gave me the script for PT 6 weeks later when he took the boot off. I went 3 times a week and diligently did the exercises. Pain was unbelievable, but slowly my range of motion improved as I pushed through the pain, stiffness also improved, but, it still felt unbelievably painfully wrong. I told the Doctor I did not have a good feeling about the screws staying in on my first post op follow-up and asked if we could just schedule a time to remove them. He talked about how they usually stay in, but, after research I have found so many patients that have bad experiences with them in. But, he talked me into it and I really was hoping to avoid a second surgery. Three months after surgery- in February, Doctor prescribed a bone growth machine because the bone was healing too slowly-- of course these machines are super-expensive, but if your insurance covers it, I highly recommend this machine to anyone who has had this surgery done. I also found out that a side-effect of the screws is slow healing. I am not diabetic, or a smoker, i am actually quite the health nut, so my slow bone healing had to be the screws. The top of the operated bone also was swollen, overgrown and also was actually the part that had slow healing or difficulty re-attaching. Was it a coincidence that the heads of the screws are in the same spot? i think not. to make a long story short, I did the bone growth machine therapy, in addition to my pt exercises, every day from February to June--- both PT (important to start as early as possible after surgery) and bone growth machine (I literally saw swelling and pain go down immediately i after I would use it) were life savers and if it weren’t for them, I probably would still be in excruciating pain and without my ability to bend my toe as much. June 21 the screws came out, and healing/recovery was less than 15% as bad as the first surgery. I hardly had any bruising this time. Anyways still have pain, but compared to before, it is so much better. The battle continues though, but I am improving pain and stiffness-wise. In terms of your calf and watch out for your knee- I had the same thing happen and learned a lot... so here is what I learned: you did not move your leg/foot for a long time after surgery. All of your foot muscles tendons, nerves, etc, in addition to muscles tissues joints, ankle, calf, and knees, weakened due to the lack of activity and trauma from the surgery. So, if you pay close attention, you might even notice the calf and knee muscles on the operated leg slightly smaller and less pronounced than the other ( i did). so, the solution, is also one that requires a lot of work, but is basically strengthening exercises for foot, ankle, calf, and knee joints, muscles, etc. I thought it was alignment too, when my pain started and was soo worried, but as soon as I began doing strength exercises, I noticed an immediate improvement, pain in calf and knee as it was before is almost non-existent...still there but sooo much better. there are many different excercises that would help, but there are some of the ones that helped the most: 1) calf raises 2) hop on that one foot (operated) but make sure that you bend that joint as this will cause the stress to promote strength 3) the machine where you sit and lift your foot forward pushing a weight, if you don’t have that machine in your gym try ankle weight or two of them and sit and lift your leg forward-- this one is super helpful. Try to do them at least once a day but more if possible. Stretching your calf will help them to not get stiff between exercises....NOTE: I am not a physician or considered an expert, but this is what I have learned and found helpful. I have hope that the pain and range of motion will continue to improve- hopefully by a year after they took the screws out. Dr. actually admitted, after they finally took the screws out, that they (the screws) may have been irritating the tendon that ran almost right on top of them (i knew something was wrong) so, I would recommend to everyone to make sure the screws come out--- don’t leave them in. Hope this helps.

The recovery is that long for the bone to heal, the muscles and nerves however do not like to be moved around and it could be a year or more. Be sure to go to physio and keep up your regular exercises at home.