Hi, I'm looking for advise about toe fusion and toe straightening opperations.

I'm due to have both opperations one on each foot later this year. (not at the same time though).
Has anyone had any problems after surgery, would you have it again or deffinatley not recomend it.

Any tips for getting about, what about footwear afterwards, did life improve.? All those sort of questions.


Thanks for any help i'd really appreciate it. Kath x

Hi Sheila, thankyou for your reply. Doesn't seem to be anyone on here had this opperation so i'll try somewhere else.
Thanks again , hope your well. Kath xx

Hi Kathleen

I have had joint surgery on both feet but not the ops you mention. I had both feet operated on at the same time ... the surgeon said if he did one at a time the likelihood was that I wouldn't return for the second! He was probably right!!

Everyone is very different in how they are able to deal with ops both emotionally and physically. I has a couple of weeks non weight bearing but that was more than enough for me and I was raring to be off again! At least you should be able to remain active using crutches. The ops you are having should make a good difference to your comfort levels but like anything it's a case of taking it slowly at first. Big slippers might be in order until the swelling goes down. My sister in law had a toe straightened last year and after a few initial problems things settled and it is now vastly improved.

I had metatarsal heads removed so quite different really. Good luck with it Kathleen, I'm sure it will be very worthwhile.

Lyn x

Thankyou all for your replies, i'll give NRAS a ring.

I'm feeling a bit more confident, although no one likes opperations sometimes they're the only answer. I've tried all the other options.

Pain with every step is very tireing, it makes no difference what footwear i use, as i'm sure a lot of people understand.

As yet i've no date for the first opp but i'll let you know how things go, and maybe i'll be able to pass on some advice to others. Thanks again Kath x

I had most toes straightened on both feet some years ago, in two operations. Both were successful and I'm very, very pleased I had it done. I can actually wear flat, fashionable shoes now instead of trainers all the time. I do sometimes get a little pain in the toes, and underneath my toes and on the ball of my foot I have a degree of numbness which feels strange but it's not really a problem. I think, like Julie, it is just arthritis pain.

After the first op I did have a lot of pain for the first few weeks and lots of problems with the bandages getting caught on the wires but the second op on my other foot was completely different. I had no pain whatsoever, only discomfort for a couple of days. In fact after 2 weeks I kept forgetting that I had had anything done and forgot to put the special shoes on given to me by the hospital or use crutches. I actually think the wires were tightened too close to my toes in the first op which is what caused the problems. The wires were secured at the end differently in my second op.

After the op you are on crutches, not so good because of hand and wrist problems, but easy enough. Your foot is bandaged up and you are given a special soft shoe with quite thick, very comfy soles to wear until the wires come out. They fasten by velcro so easy to put on. I got a cover (like a fabric wellington) to wear when I went out if it was raining or cold and you can buy a waterproof cover for use in a shower. It's 6 weeks until the wires come out.

I can still bend my whole toe downwards a little but obviously not from the middle joint but I can't say I have ever noticed a problem with that.

The consultant did advise me that they may need doing again in the future because of RA but I haven't had any movement yet and it's been 4 years since the last one was done. My big toe is on the move now so I expect that will have to be done at some time.

I hope you have a good result from your ops and be really glad you had it done. Let us know how you get on.

Best wishes
Jo

Don't worry about the wires being removed. If you get a nurse who knows how to do this, it just feels funny, it does not hurt at all. You need to have your feet so your toes are pointing straight up to the ceiling, heels on the bed and your foot at right-angles to your leg. The nurse then needs to just pull on the wire and make sure she pulls it in a straight line going upwards (hope this makes sense). If she pulls it at an angle then it isn't pleasant (although it's over in the blink of an eye).

I was really surprised that it didn't hurt because, like you, I had been dreading it. The nurse who removed the wires from my second op did not have my feet facing up and that meant that she actually pulled the wires at an angle which wasn't pleasant. Just make sure that she does it the right way and you will be fine.

Wishing you all the best for your ops.

Jo