Thread: I am seriously thinking of having bunion surgery repair

Any advices and/or comments would be very appreciated ..g.:

I got the name of a good orthopedic surgeon in Montreal. I’ll call tomorrow to see if I can get an appointment (not an easy thing in Quebec, could take months maybe a year!) I want to know if I am a good candidate for this.

As anyone of you Bhuzers had their “hallux valgus” under the knife? My right foot is not a pretty site: I would be very embarrassed to dance barefoot. .w.:

Most of the time I am wearing custom made shoes made by a orthopedic lab, it’s ok when I wear jeans or casual pants, but even with those shoes after a long walk is start to hurt, and I am not talking about the condition of my other toes. Yurk! Callous, corns, etc.

When I wear a casual skirt in the summer, I don’t mind pairing it with cute, flat sandals. But shopping for something more fashionable (does not have to be stilettos) that I can wear with an evening dress is just discourage me… ..cr.: My feet are two different sizes!! ..c::

I had surgery on this foot in 1993 to correct a hammer toe but I wasn’t a dancer at that time. I remember I started walking properly without limping only after two months!

I wary about the recovery time after a bunion surgery, is it long…? Very painful or more or less painful?

Thanks in advance

Qamar

Have you tried other, non-surgical approaches to fixing the bunion?

Over the last 2 years, I have been healing my feet. The small bunion that used to be on my right foot is completely gone. The larger one on my left foot is much improved and rarely hurts any more. I'm still working on it to continue the improvement.

Here's a thread on tribe.net which includes what I've been doing to create this improvement: Share your bunion wisdom! - Bellydance Health, Fitness, and Anatomy - tribe.net

You also mentioned hammer toes. Those can be caused by wearing flip flops, clogs, or other shoes without a heel in them. When wearing such shoes, your toes try extra-hard to keep the shoe on, which in turn causes hammer toe.

You also said you have a problem with corns. I used to have corns when I wore pointy-toe pumps with skirted suits to work every day. When I had a job change that allowed me to wear nice "walking shoes" with slacks to work, the corns went away on their own.

OH, I'm just starting to develop some small bunions (they run in my family, my mom's feet don't even look human). I'm off to read what you're doing, Shira!

A Bunion Regulator did wonders for me. My right foot is biggetr than the left so it got squeezed into a shoe that was half size too small all of my adult life. Now I'm paying. This brace is used after bunion surgery but can also be used to prevent it. I wear it only at night, I see and feel a major differene!
The cheapest I found it was on eBay
BUNION REGULATOR (Nighttime Relief) **FREE SHIPPING** - eBay (item 140253258569 end time Aug-03-08 19:16:22 PDT)

This book has great info on bunions and chronic pain areas in general: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Pain-Free-Revolutionary-Stopping-Chronic/dp/0553379887/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217800045&sr= 8-1]Amazon.com: Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain: Pete Egoscue, Roger Gittines: Books[/ame]

Originally Posted by Lauren_

OH, I'm just starting to develop some small bunions (they run in my family, my mom's feet don't even look human). I'm off to read what you're doing, Shira!

They also run in my mother side of the family, fortunately she add perfect feet, but her sister, her niece and my brother suffer from bunions. As for my brother, he alway buy and wear expensive walking shoes, the Mesfito brand type. His doctor told him that sometime bunions are a factor of heredity.

I was never addict to very high heels, but OK I like purdy looking girl shoes once in a while. But now even my leather ballet slippers that a wear for rehearsing are starting to hurt (well for my right foot of course) after two to three hours.

From what I found on the Net: by the shappe of my bunion, it looks like it's into a phase III, meening it's getting severe.

Thanks Whisper: for $12,99 and free shipping I'll give it a try with the bunion regulator! Will order one tonight!

Qamar

Originally Posted by kiyaana

This book has great info on bunions and chronic pain areas in general: Amazon.com: Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain: Pete Egoscue, Roger Gittines: Books

HOLY MACARONI!

Kiyaana, I have this book! It was recommanded by friend Azhia!

But since my major problem was neck pain, I never read all the other chapters concerning other kind of chronic pains...Duh!

Going to check that too, tonight!

Merci beaucoup everyone, see you!

Qamar

I had bunion surgery a little over a year ago. I had a "tailor's bunion" on my left foot (that's on the outside of the pinky toe, not on the big toe). I don't know how much of this is standard and how much is particular to me, but the surgery went quickly and the recovery went well (didn't even really need painkillers for more than a day). I was in a walking cast in 2-3 weeks and started wearing normal shoes again two months after that.

Learning to walk again was all well and good; dancing again was much more difficult. Even now, a year later, my balance on that foot is not nearly as good as the balance on my right. I was blessed to have a yoga instructor who helped me a great deal with my recovery but it's still not perfect -- and for the record, the joint of my pinky toe hasn't bent since then! I would suggest that if you feel like you could work on this with the therapies the other gals here have suggested, surgery should be a last resort. It's so hard not to dance. Though I did get some good bellyroll practice in there. ;-)

Good luck to you,
Eve

Originally Posted by eve_adelfi

I had bunion surgery a little over a year ago. I had a "tailor's bunion" on my left foot (that's on the outside of the pinky toe, not on the big toe). I don't know how much of this is standard and how much is particular to me, but the surgery went quickly and the recovery went well (didn't even really need painkillers for more than a day). I was in a walking cast in 2-3 weeks and started wearing normal shoes again two months after that.

Learning to walk again was all well and good; dancing again was much more difficult. Even now, a year later, my balance on that foot is not nearly as good as the balance on my right. I was blessed to have a yoga instructor who helped me a great deal with my recovery but it's still not perfect -- and for the record, the joint of my pinky toe hasn't bent since then! I would suggest that if you feel like you could work on this with the therapies the other gals here have suggested, surgery should be a last resort. It's so hard not to dance. Though I did get some good bellyroll practice in there. ;-)

Good luck to you,
Eve

Thank you so much Eve for your feedback! I will work first with the other alternatives before going with surgery. Also that I know that there is a possibility that I might need and abdominal surgery to remove a fibroid next to my uterus in the beginning of 2009 and I will need between 4 and 6 weeks for convalescence.

So I not very thrill with the ideal of having two surgeries during the same year!

Happy dance! ..g.:

Qamar

Hi, Qamar -- a dear friend of mine had bunion surgery about three years ago, and was out of commission for dancing for several months (I'm thinking at least six...I know you didn't want to hear that.....c:: ) That said, she is glad she had it because she isn't in pain any more and can dance on releve easily. So...maybe you could time the surgeries??? Or try Shira's advice and see if it helps? Good luck!