Post hammertoe surgery recovery

Be very careful...some people have allergic reactions to anesthetic...if it worsens, go to hospital

I am a healthy active 69 yr. old lady.  I will have surgery in a couple weeks. I will follow Dr. instruction.  I have one hammertoe and the Dr. will fix my baby toe.  The operation is on my right foot.  How long will it be before I can drive?  Thank you

Usually one month unless you have complications . It was almost six weeks for me . Good luck .

Hello, I just had a bunion and hammertoe sergury on my left foot. it's been only three weeks. from what I hear the swelling will go on and on for a while. that's what is bothering me. I'm not having much pain. every now and then I will have sharp pains. so as the days pass I will be posting how I'm recovering. I want to encourage all that God is a healer. I'm thanking him in advance for all of our healing. Be Blessed

Dee wrote:

Guest wrote:

I had my hammertoe surgery Nov. 17th 2009...and as of today March 14th 2010 still have swelling and alot of pain. Some days i wish i never had the surgery. After surgery i have had so mych stabbing pain at times it brought tears to my eyes. If i knew the pain of this surgery i would of never had the surgery. Or perphaps have the doctor who did it not do it. He claims he needed to straighten my little toe well now it is turning outward so much I can not even clip that nail. After i had the doctor do my surgery then i hear all the horror stories of what he has done to other peoples feet/toes.
So I continue to ice and soak my foot hoping some day all this will just me a painful memory.
Has anyone ever have a wire wrapped around their toe from the surgery. Yeah so where the wire was it cut into my skin which made it more painful as the toe swelled up the wire cut into the toe...I think i had a butcher of a doctor...like i said 4 months out and still in alot of pain....this is crazy!!

Hello, I just had a bunion and hammertoe sergury on my left foot. it's been only three weeks. from what I hear the swelling will go on and on for a while. that's what is bothering me. I'm not having much pain. every now and then I will have sharp pains. so as the days pass I will be posting how I'm recovering. I want to encourage all that God is a healer. I'm thanking him in advance for all of our healing. Be Blessed

I had my surgery hammertoe 4th toe on Nov. 14 2010 and as of today May 21, 2011 it still isn't right. Slowly its been less painful but I've had a cortisone and it still hurts. The bone didn't knit and 50% don't and form scar tissue. There is a hard bump (maybe swelling and scar tissue, maybe a hard cyst, no one knows) on the top of the toe near the nail, on top of the bone which is painful. 6 months and this is so tiring. We are going to wait till Sept. and then I will know. If its still bad, the doc says he will basically amputate the last digit--take out the unknitted bone and cut that tendon and sew the toe back up without a nail.

I have now had 8 toes on each foot repaired. I had hammer toe surgery a yr ago on the right foot. Four toes, not the big toe, broken and had pins put in. The initial pain came from the stitches and took longer to heal. The foot is now fine. I had four months of painful healing. A year to the date later, I had the left foot done with disolving stitches and pins. It has been almost two month now and it is just the swelling. I sometimes feel a burning pain in a few of the toes. I was told it can take a whole yr for the swelling to go away. That is exactly what happened with my right foot. I am glad it is done and over with.. I had the tendons cut when I was fifteen and now the toes are finally straight. A few of the toes were even twisting and that is no longer a problem. I am happy now. Just continuing to ice my left foot every night.

My update: Was supposed to go back to my [Butcher] surgeon to have the pins removed. I found it odd that he didn't need to see me for two weeks even though my foot had turned gangrenous.

On May 5th, my wife noticed that my foot had turned black half way up and when I removed the dressing, the wounds were black and seeping pus-like liquid. We drove to the hospital that specialized in Orthopoedic surgery.

I waited 18 hours before seeing a doctor. When he saw my foot , he explained that he has experience working on high altitude climbers with frostbite injuries and that my toes and possibly foot would need amputation. He sent me for bone x-rays. Luckily, the infection hadn't gotten into the bone.

He recommended I see a plastic surgeon, as they look for ways to save tissue-rather than cut higher like an ortho would do to save the leg.

Luckily I insisted on him referring me to see a plastic surgeon before I would leave the hospital..

Now remember: 3 Doctors have now told me that my toes/foot needs amputation...

On May 8th, I attended another hospital and saw the plastic surgeon. He stuck a pin into my big toe and asked me if I could feel anything...I couldn't. He said .."That's your GOOD toe." Meaning: "You're in trouble."

He stuck the pin into my two dead toes and I couldn't feel anything. With a frowned face he walked over to his desk and began writing. I felt a tear roll down my face.... I can honestly say that I was "gutted".

He stood up and walked back to me and exclaimed "Whoa!"

I looked over the gurney where my foot was hanging over, and the floor was full of blood. He said " You're bleeding.....I can work with that."

I have to tell you..after the ordeal I've gone through...that was the best thing anyone had said to me in over 7 weeks!!!

On May 15th I went back to the plastic surgeon for day surgery, he removed all the gangrenous tissue, the tops of my 2 toes and nails and pulled the pins out. He needed 3 different sets of pliers to finally extract the pins. I almost fainted/threw-up several times from the pain.  I had to be awake for the entire procedure as I had to hold my foot steady throughout, due to the shaking my foot has now developed since my hammertoe surgery. I can tell you, watching the operation ...my brain could barely take it.

The nurse told me that after what I've been through, I may experience symptoms similar to "post traumatic Stress disorder" patients.  The Doctor said that I have nerve damage so I may never feel my 'normal' toes again and may have pain possibly for the rest of my life. The "shake", similar to a Parkinson's Disease Tremor may remain...there is no way of telling. I think it's my brain's way of dealing with all the pain in the foot...

Today is May 25th and I am scheduled for a follow-up with the plastic surgeon on May 29th.

At the writing of this, my foot is extremely swollen and my toes continue to try to cramp up[ but can't] which causes constant pain.

But.....I have my toes. They don't look like toes...but they're there! 

and for this.....I'm thankful.

 

If I could do it all again: I would have dealt with the foot pain in my 80's.....at least I would have been able to use my foot in my 40's!

Learn from my experience.

How are your toes now?

At this time I am three week post op for surgery of a bunion and three hammer toes. The surgery was performed on my right foot. I am still in bandages. I take a shower daily with a cast bag that I purchased from a pharmacy. The bag is made of heavy plastic and has a hard plastic rim, with an inner soft rubber that fits and seals your leg to avoid any water from entering the bag and your foot wet.

i have had the operation and the after pain in my case was non exsistant

Oscar wrote:

radbear wrote:

Saw the surgeon yesterday a.m. The pain removing the bandages was so bad that I was screaming and almost past out. They had difficulty removing the bandages and the assistant said that they were on very tight.
When finally all were cut off, there was silence. The surgeon looked at my 3rd toe and said " I'm not happy with the way this looks.." His next words were:' You may lose this toe."
My toe was completely black. It was so painful that they could not remove any stitches from anywhere on my foot...and there are ALOT. The assistant suggested they give me another week to see if it gets better with a new dressing.
I'm home and my foot is swollen. The pain isn't as bad as yesterday...but all I can think about it losing the toe and possibly my foot...as the 4th and 5 th are half black.
It felt like the bandages were so tight this past week, but how do you know what it's supposed to feel like? And you trust your surgeon.
My wife and I are monitoring the pain and if the foot continues to change color...straight to emergency.

How are your toes now?

I attended the plastic surgeon this past Tues.
The toes cannot move, although when I try to move them with my brain it feels like I am.
The pain is constant...resultant of the nerve damage.
My Plastic surgeon said that I will never be able to jump, run and will have a limp. He said" Pick yourself out a nice cane." He wasn't being a jerk...just trying to add some levity to the whole situation.
I'm very thankful for him. I still have my toes,,,although they are horrible.
He told me the toes on the outside are looking better..no signs of the gangrene anymore. The inside of the toes could take 6-8 months to heal. I asked to see a physiotherapist to try to get some mobility in them.
I take the "never walk without a limp" as a challenge. I have started to try to walk as normal as possible, be it ever so slowly to try to correct the limp. My hips and side of my foot has become painful and affected from the change in my walk. I need to stop that.
I haven't taken ANY painkillers for over 2 weeks[ although I've wanted to at times] and I am able to shower, which is a godsend after so many weeks without.
Little by little....

radbear - How did your April 25th appointment go at the hospital? You really are living a nightmare. Mine is not that bad.

Years ago I had surgery to remove my 2 big toe nails and the roots. After about 6 weeks I was back to normal with no pain.

For about 10 years I had been suffering with one other toe that had a fungus toe nail and a callous at the end of it. When I was on my feet for a long period of time I would have pain and have to get off of my feet and elevate my foot for awhile to get rid of the pain.

After seeing 4 different doctors who each said I needed hammer toe surgery to relieve the pain at the end of the toe, I finally had the 4th doctor perform the surgery on June 14th, 2011. I expected it to be healed in no more than 6 weeks but with swelling for up to a year, as I was told.

On November 7, 2011, still being in pain, I went back and the doctor agreed that the nail was ingrown so a procedure was done to eliminate the ingrown nail. After another 5 months, still being in pain I asked again about having the nail removed. So on April 12, 2012 the nail was removed but not the root. The doctor said that the nail could grow back normally.

The next procedure, since I was still in pain, was on May 8, 2012 when a procedure was done while the toe was numbed. With a liquid (I don’t know what it was); a Q-Tip was pushed up and worked under the cuticle on that toe to destroy the root.

Also due to a back problem, just before the toe surgery I had joined a gym, paid the annual fee and used their treadmill 3 days per week to help my back. Since I could not walk without pain, the back problem got worse and I had 9 weeks of physical therapy. I now exercise every day but can no longer use a treadmill.

It is now June 4th. I can’t even shop in the grocery store for more than a half hour without getting swelling and pain in that toe. I am still using ice to get the swelling down on occasion. I doubt the results would be any different with a different doctor because 4 doctors told me I needed hammer toe surgery. My surgery anniversary date is in another week. Do you think it will miraculously stop hurting on JUNE 14, 2012? If I could start over again, there would not be a Hammer Toe Surgery. Don’t do it!

I had two hammer toes and two bunions repaired on Mar 8 this year . Nightmare indeed. I now have lymphedema in foot and leg and constant pain. My other foot is trying to do the same ...but there is no way I will have this surgery again !

Today I received a notice from the hospital that I will be referred for physio therapy. I'm on a waiting list and should expect to be contacted within 6-8 months....my nightmare continues.

It would be comical if it wasn't so ridiculous!

Redbear, my sympathy and anguish goes out to you for all you've been through and will continue to go through.  I must say, that I have learned a lot from reading this board.  I found it a few days after having my own surgery (shorten 2nd metatarsal, fix two hammertoes). 

I must say, all went well!  Please don't misunderstand, I don't say that to diminish any of the pain and troubles many of you have had from your surgery but to clarify that it isn't all bad.  True, if I had found this board BEFORE I had my surgery, I'm not sure that I would have gone through with it!  That being said, I couldn't stand the pain I was having wearing shoes (on my right foot).  My doctor would only do the surgery on one foot at a time.  When that is healed, I am going to go ahead and have my left foot done because ALL of my weight is bearing on my 2nd metatarsal head.  It all makes sense to me considering I have a genetic Morton's toe.  (Check it out on the web - also known as Greek toe - it was very fascinating).

I believe the lessons learned here is to find a surgeon who specializes in the field, who will listen to their patients even if it means following up with them a day or two after.  My surgeon insists that he sees his patients 2 days later, does a follow up x-ray, takes the bandages off to make sure things look well and he supplies "the big boot". 

My surgeon does surgery either on Tuesdays or Fridays.  Since I tend to be a worrier, I chose Tuesday to be my surgery day because I hate the thought of bothering medical staff on the weekends (I know that's what they're supposed to be there for) and IF I needed any special care, I knew that the next day would be an office day.

My surgery was May 15, 2012.  Yes, it's still too early to know how the end result will be but so far - no complications.  This board has been a great deal of comfort in that I know not to set too high of expectant results.  My foot is slightly swollen and I expect that for at least 6 months to a year.