bunion surgery / North West

[magicfarawaytree]

have been told unless i get my Bunions done now it will be a much bigger procedure. has anyone had the surgery / what type was did you have and would you recommend that procedure it? if you had in done the North West where did you have it done /would you recommend it? There is an NHS choice initiative which means it can be done at a hospital other than my local one but its a nightmare trying to find out who and where. And would you have them both done at the same time? TIA

I have had both my bunions corrected and it's been v successful, I'm really glad i had it done. I can't remember the procedure i had done on the left foot but i had the right foot done last year and the "scarf" procedure was used. Much less down time, i was running again in six weeks. sorry I can't recommend anywhere though, I had one foot done in germany and the other in singapore as that is where we were living at the time. I think it would be hard to have both feet done together. you do get special shoes afterwards but you definitely can't walk straight away, and need crutches for a while. i would have the surgery sooner rather than later though, if possible as the whole procedure is just a lot simpler. Bear in mind you need to rest a lot after surgery, sitting with your feet up etc, so if you can arrange some help, this will make things easier. Let me know if you have any more questions !!

thanks rumbletum - how much mobility do you have in your feet? and was it the same procedure used both times? Did you have any arthritis in your bunions? also how much pain do you get compared to pre op? my bunions are unsighly and are getting worse. the pain is manageable and the time pressure on getting it done no is because it looks like only my big toes are affected at the mo although I will know more after the xrays next week. The podiatist has warned me that other toes on my feet are starting to dislocate which would make it a much bigger operating to have done in the future. am weighing up having both feet done together vs one at a time because of down time after op. All my family live miles away which means a lot of planning and organising with 3 childen 6 and under.

interms of mobility can you walk as far. spin on the ball of your foot, dance etc?

Now i have no pain at all in either foot. i can do everything i could do before, dancing, standing on the balls of my foot is absolutely ok. I didn't have arthritis before but i couldn't wear any sort of boot/nice shoes cos it was too painful and only wide practical shoes!!

I had two different procedures. i was in hospital for 3 days first time round and it was done with epidural. they basically put a screw in the big toe joint and a staple-type thing in the second toe to hold it in place. Had to sit down for two weeks afterwards with leg up...so tricky to organise. I also have 3 kids under six and i had to get my MIL to help loads. You can hobble around on crutches, but your foot swells a lot if you put too much pressure on. Complete swelling won't go down for three months, with either procedure.

the second foot was much better, with the scarf procedure. i had it done under general anaesthetic but as an out-patient so was home the same day. I didn't have to sit down for two weeks, in fact i could hobble out of hospital on crutches and the special shoe you get. Much less swelling, and everything just healed a lot more quickly, but you still need to rest it when you can. wish i'd had this procedure the first time !

Now i just have a five cm scar running down the side of each foot and you can hardly see it. pain-wise for both feet it was really ok. you get pain relief for the first five days post-op and that was enough for me.

i have heard of people having both feet done together, but i'm not sure how this would work, just because i was on crutches afterwards. you will need a lot of help, i.e. someone will have to do everything at first, even if you just have one foot done.

having said that, for me it was still worth it, even the hassle of organising so much help for the kids etc. i really have no pain now, both my feet are completely straight and i can wear any shoes, i'm so pleased with the result.

hope this helps !

thank you! You have been an enormous help. so much information to process from so many different places that it is hard to get things in perspective. I think hassle wise it will probably be better to get one done at a time. Thank you again.

no problem. ask away if you think of anything else.