Pain and severe stiffness after bunionectomy

Hii i had almost the same procedure as you but only 6 weeks ago..i was wondering how are u feeling now? Did it get any better? I hope it did..

How are you feeling now? I had a bunion surgery a month ago and im also quite young! I hope i can be as active as i was before

It's been 3 years almost 4 since my surgery and I can't move my toe up at all. It's been starting to hurt really bad too. I was reading how most of you had a second surgery and that it has really helped. My worry is that I want to be able to wear heels again some time since I've gone 3 years without it and im tired of wearing nice classy dresses with flats, it just looks ridiculous on me. But I can't fit my foot into a heel to save my life.

Feeling the exact same symptoms 9 months out :(

I have same problem! how you feeling now?

After reading all the comment I came up to a solution that I have to think twice before deciding the surgey to my dad hence his getting old.

Is it too late to do physical therapy or exercises for my toe if its been almost 2 years? I dont have much upward mobility

I had my surgery almost 2 years ago May 1 and I still can't wear heels....I don't have much upward mobility and I'm so frustrated!

I had bunion surgery 3/30/15 and I am experiencing that too. I still have sevier pains, (especially when its touched), and I can't move my toes at all, just my pinky toe(out ward). But I noticed that if I have my knee bent in the air, I can sort of move my toes up and doen, but not very well.

Who was your doctor?

I've had bunion surgery at the age of 11 and 16. I'm 29 now and still having pain. My foot looks worse than it did before. I had screws put in place as they broke all my bones in my foot to try and correct it. I'm having pain on top of my foot under a scar. I've been for an x ray and was told everything looks fine and its just scar tissue causing the pain. It hurts to walk, touch and twist my foot. Feels like my screw is gonna pop out at anytime. Regret having it done now. My foot is also still really swollen. Doctor told me the swelling would go down after 12 months. But 13 years later I struggle to fit into shoes and my foot just looks horrible. Has anyone else had pain due to scar tissue? Not sure if I should go back to my doctor and ask for more tests?

Hi, I had a bunionectomy and hammered toe surgery on all toes, which included the shortening of the second toe (all of this on the left foot) 6 months ago. At first, I seemed to be healing very nicely and the my discomfort and pain was mostly felt on the second toe. At 3 months after the surgery one is supposed to be completely healed and able to resume regular activities. I was on the post op shoe for too long- I believe-because of the pain that I experienced on the joint. There was scar tissue built up around the joint, and I thought that it would be a matter of time for the scar tissue to break down and that this would take care of the problem. My doctor thought the same. I was unable to wear even my comfortable shoes when I had the bunion. I was only wearing flip flops and one pair of tennis shoes. Well, unconsciously, I started walking on the left side of my left foot - Your body's natural reaction to avoid the pain on the big toe joint. Since I wasn't feeling pain, I thought I was improving, but the puffiness around the joint was not receding. I developed a painful callus on the left side of my foot, as a result of my incorrect walking. For about three months I went to my doctor with the same complaint about the swelling around the joint, pain on the joint and toe, swelling on my pinky toe. A cortisone shot was administered around the swelling, but it did not help in breaking down the scar tissue at all. On the contrary, I started experiencing constant burning on all my toes, every day and especially at night. Thankfully, this symptom has almost gone away, but I cannot walk correctly and the joint still hurts with movement. My joint is very stiff. Doctors don't typically prescribe physical therapy, but it is much needed. I asked my doctor if I needed physical therapy. He said "No." I asked for a prescription for physical therapy as I was so frustrated with my condition. Now I understand that the pain, stiffness and swelling are the results of not exercising the joint enough. But what is "enough"? You don't know. I moved the toe up and down myself, massaged it, etc. The therapist told me that the toe healed (stiff). Apparently, you seriously need to exercise the joint as soon as the bandages come off. It seems that 90% of patients recover just fine without physical therapy, and this is why doctors do not prescribe physical therapy. At 6 months, my surgery is considered quite old and therapy will not correct the problem. It looks like there is a surgical option to correct the stiffness (I have my reservations about another surgical procedure), but I have not found a lot information on this type of surgery. I wonder if you have come across information on this corrective surgery, since you are still dealing with this problem after two years? Thanks.

Hi, Thank you for your post as your experience is the closest description to my current situation. I had a bunionectomy and hammered toe surgery on all toes, which included the shortening of the second toe (all of this on the left foot) 6 months ago. At first, I seemed to be healing very nicely and the my discomfort and pain was mostly felt on the second toe. At 3 months after the surgery one is supposed to be completely healed and able to resume regular activities. I was on the post op shoe for too long- I believe-because of the pain that I experienced on the joint. There was scar tissue built up around the joint, and I thought that it would be a matter of time for the scar tissue to break down and that this would take care of the problem. My doctor thought the same. I was unable to wear even my comfortable shoes when I had the bunion. I was only wearing flip flops and one pair of tennis shoes. Well, unconsciously, I started walking on the left side of my left foot - Your body's natural reaction to avoid the pain on the big toe joint. Since I wasn't feeling pain, I thought I was improving, but the puffiness around the joint was not receding. I developed a painful callus on the left side of my foot, as a result of my incorrect walking. For about three months I went to my doctor with the same complaint about the swelling around the joint, pain on the joint and toe, swelling on my pinky toe. A cortisone shot was administered around the swelling, but it did not help in breaking down the scar tissue at all. On the contrary, I started experiencing constant burning on all my toes, every day and especially at night. Thankfully, this symptom has almost gone away, but I cannot walk correctly and the joint still hurts with movement. My joint is very stiff. Doctors don't typically prescribe physical therapy, but it is much needed. I asked my doctor if I needed physical therapy. He said "No." I asked for a prescription for physical therapy as I was so frustrated with my condition. Now I understand that the pain, stiffness and swelling are the results of not exercising the joint enough. But what is "enough"? You don't know. I moved the toe up and down myself, massaged it, etc. The therapist told me that the toe healed (stiff). Apparently, you seriously need to exercise the joint as soon as the bandages come off. It seems that 90% of patients recover just fine without physical therapy, and this is why doctors do not prescribe physical therapy. At 6 months, my surgery is considered quite old and therapy will not correct the problem. It looks like there is a surgical option to correct the stiffness (I have my reservations about another surgical procedure), but I have not found a lot information on this type of surgery. I wonder if you could comment on the results of your second surgery, since it has been quite some time since you had it. Can you wear the shoes you were wearing prior to the first surgery? Can you walk and exercise normally? Do you feel pain after exercising? Has the flexibility improved on your joint? And lastly, can you describe the type of surgery you had? Is it just removal of the screw(s)? Does it involve shaving more bone off? Thank you.

Hi, Thank you for your post as your experience is the closest description to my current situation. I had a bunionectomy and hammered toe surgery on all toes, which included the shortening of the second toe (all of this on the left foot) 6 months ago. At first, I seemed to be healing very nicely and the my discomfort and pain was mostly felt on the second toe. At 3 months after the surgery one is supposed to be completely healed and able to resume regular activities. I was on the post op shoe for too long- I believe-because of the pain that I experienced on the joint. There was scar tissue built up around the joint, and I thought that it would be a matter of time for the scar tissue to break down and that this would take care of the problem. My doctor thought the same. I was unable to wear even my comfortable shoes when I had the bunion. I was only wearing flip flops and one pair of tennis shoes. Well, unconsciously, I started walking on the left side of my left foot - Your body's natural reaction to avoid the pain on the big toe joint. Since I wasn't feeling pain, I thought I was improving, but the puffiness around the joint was not receding. I developed a painful callus on the left side of my foot, as a result of my incorrect walking. For about three months I went to my doctor with the same complaint about the swelling around the joint, pain on the joint and toe, swelling on my pinky toe. A cortisone shot was administered around the swelling, but it did not help in breaking down the scar tissue at all. On the contrary, I started experiencing constant burning on all my toes, every day and especially at night. Thankfully, this symptom has almost gone away, but I cannot walk correctly and the joint still hurts with movement. My joint is very stiff. Doctors don't typically prescribe physical therapy, but it is much needed. I asked my doctor if I needed physical therapy. He said "No." I asked for a prescription for physical therapy as I was so frustrated with my condition. Now I understand that the pain, stiffness and swelling are the results of not exercising the joint enough. But what is "enough"? You don't know. I moved the toe up and down myself, massaged it, etc. The therapist told me that the toe healed (stiff). Apparently, you seriously need to exercise the joint as soon as the bandages come off. It seems that 90% of patients recover just fine without physical therapy, and this is why doctors do not prescribe physical therapy. At 6 months, my surgery is considered quite old and therapy will not correct the problem. It looks like there is a surgical option to correct the stiffness (I have my reservations about another surgical procedure), but I have not found a lot information on this type of surgery. I wonder if you could comment on the results of your second surgery, since it has been quite some time since you had it. Can you wear the shoes you were wearing prior to the first surgery? Can you walk and exercise normally? Do you feel pain after exercising? Has the flexibility improved on your joint? And lastly, can you describe the type of surgery you had? Is it just removal of the screw(s)? Does it involve shaving more bone off? Thank you.

I had bunion surgery and hammer toe surgery this past March it s now 5 Months my bunion is bigger than before surgery with constant pain through my whole foot ,my big toe is bending to the other toes .my foot is a mess Iam truly sorry I had this my only problem was the hammer toe pain. Now pain alday every day ,I went for another opinion Dr. Said I need a pin in upper part of foot with a cast 4 to 6 weeks no weight at all even after. Iam a mess.I don't want to look for more problems and pain.