I'm 18 male in my 5th week of recovery and things are going well now that the wires have been pulled out. Pulling the wires out does not hurt at all. The first week of recovery was painful and uncomfortable but with pain meds it feels better.
I have had hammer toe surgery on my second toe on both my right and left feet. I didn't have much pain at all and the 6 weeks went by really fast it was very easy and I had no problems afterwards either. If you need the surgery the worst thing you could do is to put it off. Go get your toe fixed it is worth it :)
Hi Dawn, can you provide the name of the doctor who did your surgery? I am in NYC and considering having the same surgery done in the near future. Thank you!
I am a 64 year old male. I had the hammertoe surgery performed Jan 29th. The 4" pin was removed 3 weeks later. There was little or no pain throught the entire process. I took no meds except antibiotics.
Now after almost 2 months, I get jolts of pain on occasion. Elevating my foot helps some. My toe is still swelled twice the size of all my other ones. Nothing I do takes the swelling down. I can walk normally but with pain jolts occasionaly. My surgeon says this is all normal but I am skeptable. He wants me to bend my toe for flexability but that can not happen as long as it is swollen. Any one else experience this?
I had the surgery 11 months ago on my 2nd toe. The fusion didn't take and I just had have it again and it affected the 3rd toe so I had both done. I am at the 2nd month mark of recovery and still have swelling (wearing wide supportive sneakers now) at the end of the day. I sit most of the day at work. I am in my early 40s. I am in pain still and have been told by the podiatrist that it may never heal and that I may end up getting cortisone shots. I will NEVER do this again. I hope you have better luck.
I am a 46 year old female that just had bunion removed and 4 hammertoes fixed on my left foot. He also shortened the bone in my second toe. I have 3 inch pins in all my toes. The pain has been so excruciating I feel like I’m going insane. If I had known how bad it was going to be, I would of never of had this surgery. I am praying that the healing process starts soon and at least some of the pain is alleviated. I pray for all that have been through this process as it is not an easy one. It is a very long and painful road to recovery. Best wishes to all in this posting thread as many of you also have had a very difficult time. God Bless.
I had claw toe surgery (procedure same as hammertoe surgery) on my 2nd left toe 4 months ago. Even though my doctor did a stellar job, I was mortified at how long it took for the swelling to go down! The doctor thinks at least 2 more months for it to go away completely. Since I am very athletic, it's kind of depressing. Initially I was bummed, because the only shoes I could fit was my old hiking boots (ones where I can pull the tongue all the way out so I could put my foot in without bending it much). Later I found this to be a blessing, because the short walks/hikes that I took each day with my boots helped the swelling go down (not to mention the boot was ergonomically correct for a healing foot so did not hurt it on walks/hikes). Also wearing hiking boots made me feel healed psychologically. When I am at home, shopping or driving, I am able to put a cold pack in my boot (under the tongue) and constantly change it when it warms up (this really helps reduce the swelling everyday). Yes, the recovery is long, but I hope everyone can find a silver lining in their rain cloud like I did. I wish all of you the best!
for several times after hammertoe surgery (2nd toe) and correction for bent big toe, I, of course, had gauze pad and ace bandage on my foot. With the surgery shoe boot on, we wrapped my foot in a thick hand towel using a bit of duck tape to hold together. Then we placed two grocery bags over the towel tying one gently and putting tape around leg area, then tying second bad and taping it. Sounds complicated but is not and of course, my husband stood nearby when I was in shower. I showered quickly with spray offset from center and got out immediately. Nothing was wet...Hope this helps you. Nothing worse than not being able to shower and wash hair etc.
I am so sorry to hear that recovery from your toe surgery has been such an ordeal. I need to have hammer toe surgery on the toe next to my big toe on my right foot, but I am feeling very frightened right now. I do hope you feel better soon. Sincerely, Ann
I am scheduled to have bunion/hammertoe surgery in a month. I'm a runner and afraid that I will never be able to run again. My toes have just gotten to that point where it's really painful to run at all. Only running couple of times a week spinning and swimming. Are you glad that you had the surgery and are you able to run?
Glad to hear of your success after reading so many stories. Thanks also for including a doctor. I live upstate ny and a physical therapist told me I should go to the city. Will definitely look up your doctor
I had mallet toe surgery (procedure same as hammertoe surgery) on my 2nd right toe a little over 3 months ago. During my recovery period I was reading this forum and I thought I share my experience with you.
I had a mallet toe since my early teen (it is genetic, my father has them). Over the 4 last years, it had gotten worse: while playing soccer and ultimate frisbee, my toe nail felt 3 times due to the impact of the sport on my feet. I wore a little "toe sock" and while it helps a little bit, I was still in pain. Then in the last 3 years, wearing high heels was painful after 1 hour and I was limping after walking for more than 1 hour. I decided to have the surgery.
I had the operation on July 2nd and for the 7 next days I was in a bandage and was told to not put any weight on my right foot. I was using crutches to move around the house but I mostly was in bed with my foot elevated. The pain after the operation was around 6 out of 10 and I was on pain medication for the 5 days after the operation.
A week after the operation, I went back to see my doctor and got the bandages removed. I had a wire in my toe (put during the operation) and I was given an orthopedic boot for my feet. I was on the boot for the next 5 days. I initially was given a too small boot so it hurt like hell especially because the metal wire coming out of my toe was touching the insole of the boot when I walked (I was in worse pain than after the surgery). The next day, I went back to the hospital and was given a bigger one and they made a special sole for my feet so the metal wire coming out of my toe was not touching the ground when I walked. You should be comfortable in the boot, if you are not, then ask the orthopedic shop to make you a sole or to customize your boot so you have no pain when walking.
For the 5 next weeks I was in the orthopedic boot: initially it was a little bit uncomfortable to have the boot for more than 2 consecutive hours but I did get used to it. I also did not wear my boot while sleeping: I make sure to keep my foot surrounded by pillows and it was fine. The most annoying thing is a that you cannot have you foot wet so I had to put a plastic bag around the boot when I was taking a shower. However, at least with the boot I could stand up and take a shower, when I was in bandage for the 7 first days, I had to take a bath since I could not put any weight on my foot.
I could not drive with my boot since I had the operation on the right foot and you use this foot to drive. I did go to Paris for work and was fine in the plane. I took aspirine before flying to avoid risk of phlebitis as my doctor recommended. In Paris, I walk around the city and I was glad to be out of the home because I was starting to feel like a prisoner in my own home, not to be able to go out or see anyone besides my boyfriend.
After 5 weeks, I had the metal wire removed. I must say it was not pleasant but it was removed very quickly so I did not suffer too much. I had taken a pain medication pill 2 hours before my appointment so it must have help.
Once the metal wire and bandages were removed, I was told to exercice my foot for the next 2-3 weeks in warm water which I did. I lost a lot of muscle in the foot so I was limping for the next 2 weeks: I was not anticipating this but after 2 weeks, I was fine.
Now, after a little bit more than 3 months, my toe is fine. It is a little bit swollen but you have to know that it was operated, it is not obvious. My toe is shorter than it was before and sometimes there is a little bit of incomfort. I have wore high heels last week to go out and it was fine. I am not planning on wearing high heels every day but I will start to wear heel more often in the next month. My doctor told me I could: of course, I will not be wearing the 6 inches heels, but between 2 to 4 inches heels.
My reccomandation to all: you really need to have someone with you to help you. For the first 5 days after the operation, I could barely move around the house. My boyfriend was cooking and taking care of me. He came with me to all my appointment and was taking notes at each doctor appointment. He helps me with my cleaning routine and was doing all the errands.
I am glad I had the surgery. It was painful at the beginning but once I had the correct boot, it was mainly a nuisance. However, this is already behind me. It was worth it.
Yikes! I had swelling 4 weeks after surgery on 3 toes--and it turned out that they were badly infected. Badly--it was pretty scary. This was after the doctor had adjusted the pins in his office. By the way, my post-operative pain was just hell. I don't think I've ever experienced anything worse. Toes have lots of nerve endings.
I've been checking to see how many people were making a full recovery, since I'm in my sixth week and still in a surgical boot (and still with pins in the toes). The two posts above scare me. I didn't have much of a choice about surgery because my toes were hurting to the point where I could barely walk. But I do want to walk, and I was hoping pretty soon. Any similar experiences? Miles