Anyone had experience of cheilectomy ( big toe)- Still hurts 4m post op?

[angiekk]

I had the surgery end of July , went back to work full time 4 weeks after ( 10+ hours standing a day, manual labour). I am still in pain. The joint is swollen and misshapen , does not have any more bend that before.
Does anyone have any experience of this ( or could give me a glimmer of hope, that things do get better)?

Long shot but if you are still around @angiekk how did this pan out? I am in this exact position now. Wish I never had it done

Hi there ! Yes I am. Different user name. ..
How can I help ?

How many weeks since your operation ?

Great! Thanks for responding.

It’s been 13 weeks. I have less mobility than before, especially if I try and bend my toe downwards rather than back/up. It doesn’t move at all in that direction.

It’s also still very painful, I can’t even sleep on my left as the part of the ball of my foot that touches the bed if I do so is too sore!

How is your toe now?

That sounds worse than mine ! I know it was a while back , but it literally took ages for it to feel any better. I'm taking months and months. But I did not have sensitivity, like you. I actually went back to the surgeon after about four months had another MRI scan on it ( very fortunate to have it done in private health care from work). Which they did and couldn't see anything going on. Spoke with the surgeon about my options. At the time there was one replacement toe joint available, which he wasn't prepared to do , as he said they are not long lasting enough. The other option was toe fusion or a toe splint. Which I went for. It was a rock hard toe splint thing , which was bloody horrible to stand and walk in all day. So I gave up with that ! Was weighting up my options for fusion. Downside toe will not been at all. Anyway I got a new job , off my feet. Which really helped , obviously , but I can walk for miles now without toe pain, but cannot wear nice shoes, no flexibility.

That aside,I would go back , definitely just to question if it is ok . Have you had s chance to rest it and did it make any difference ? But I would still say it early days yet. Keep your toe in so to speak and don't let the surgeon take you off his books until you are happy .

Sorry about the typos.

Thanks! Also private so I can go back to the surgeon if needed so also pretty lucky in that respect. He has already told me that I might need another steroid injection (had one before but it didn’t do much) to help with the pain but he wouldn’t do it until at least 4 months after the surgery.

I think the hyper sensitivity is nerve damage rather than the joint itself, it’s getting better but still very uncomfortable. I can live with that though I just want to be able to bend my bloody toe!

Yes next step is a joint replacement but apparently they don’t last long so you are basically committing to having one every 7-10 years which I’d rather not do just yet as I’m only 37. I’m not keen on the idea of having it fused either.

I will give it another couple of months and see where it’s at. I’m probably just being a bit impatient. It’s mad though because the op hasn’t even left a scar, yet it’s clearly far from healed internally!

I think it should be said to people considering the op, that yes healing process it 4 weeks BUT it takes months and months after that, to feel any improvement. My scar is amazing, i can only see if i really try hard, but it is the healing that need to take place on the inside, that we need patience for.
I was way to ambitious with mine. I had the op over the summer hols ( worked in a school) and literally it was 4 weeks to the day, that I went back full time 10 hours a day standing and I feel, that it really wasn't enough time. It would swell and be really painful at the end of the day.
I remember writing this, as I felt really deflated and a bit anxious that I had made a mistake actually having the op in the first place.
Thinking back, honestly, I would say it was a good 6months (sorry), to say that I felt an improvement.
If I were you, keep in touch with the surgeon. Have you spoken to them about the sensitivity? But I agree I think that may be the nerve endings healing. I had the op due bony growths ( arthritis). Why did you get yours done?

Thanks, yes the same reason - bony growths. I told him about the sensitivity at 3 weeks and he said it could take a long time to settle down but nothing to worry about.

It is actually reassuring to hear that the issue is probably that it is simply not healed, rather than that anything has gone wrong. Given the current situation with the pandemic, it is quite fortunate timing to have to take it easy for a bit longer than planned, which is a sad silver lining I suppose.

Mid-May will be 6 months post-op so I have now got that date firmly in my mind as a target for it either having healed or needing to be re-visited.

Do you have a much better range of motion once healed fully? In one or both directions?

I have to say , no unfortunately I dont really. The toe really doesn't want to bend upwards at all. It bends down ok. So that means , no heels and I tried yoga but couldn't do a lot of the poses, as it means bending the toe. Years ago my mum had the same operation ( thanks mum ), but I remember she had to do physio , where she put a band round her big toe and gently pull toward her, so it was flexing the big toe to gently bend up. I don't know if this would be helpful to you, maybe ask surgeon of this is ok for you to try. I am great believer in , if you don't use you lose it ! Unfortunately,I think mine is growing back again. No pain at the moment but rubbish flexibility and it looks a bit weird. I am going to leave will alone, it works . No pain and I can even run on it, but I think in the future another visit will be called for. Good luck with everything and remember to update in a few months 😊

I think I will look into physio long term. Sounds sensible. I do have movement upwards but not down, so the complete opposite to you!

Hopefully I will come back in a few months with a positive update!

Ah that sucks that it’s growing back but I am kind of expecting that in future.