I would absolutely never get the traditional bunionectomy. Look at the difference in these two pictures. The first one, my foot my surgery,Lapipasty Solve the root of the problem by rotating over the metatarsal bone that had rotated upwards which is what causes a bunion. No bone is shaped off under my toe. Instead the bone is rotated back over fused to keep it there, And the big toe joint is rotated back in place so that you are not working on your sesamoid bones Bones which are those two knobs sticking up. The other style is cutting a bone in half and using just two screws to hold it in. Remember all the weight of your body is on that part of your foot. Your forefront of foot takes an awful lot. And also if it’s in your area I would really recommend to look into something called Syndesmosis I was instead of a fusion it uses stitches to hold the bone over in place and then you’re put in proper orthotic so it doesn’t roll over again along with other rehab rehabilitation. I wouldn’t trust your primary care she didn’t listen to you to begin with. That is so disheartening. Good luck. Just remember to investigate as much as you can.
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Finally saw a podiatrist after years of foot pain and my old primary not taking me seriously.
Finally saw a podiatrist after years of foot pain and my old primary not taking me seriously. New podiatrist suggested minimally invasive Arthrex Bunionectomy, starting with the right foot as that one is worse than the left. I forgot to ask her (and I will ask prior to the surgery that’s scheduled for Feb 26th) but my bunions are likely the result of my ankles being pronated. If that’s the case, I would guess it’s a much higher chance that my bunions return and if so is it worth the surgery? I feel like I’d probably need surgery again. But as things are now I walk every step in pain so not doing it will just keep me in misery. Here’s my right foot, didn’t get a pic of the left foot X-ray. And my poor little second toe has fallen victim to my giant big toe crowding the limited space
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Have you tried everything else first? For example, do you wear Altra running shoes or Topo Athletic shoes or Lem’s or any footshaped footwear? Have you had sessions with a physiotherapist? If the situation is severe then it’s wonderful that there are surgical options, but it’s not an easy option and there are risks. It’s worthwhile to buy the footshaped shoes and do the exercises, there is work to that but it’s lower risk. If you’ve tried it all and the pain is still unbearable then consider surgery. I am so pleased with the improvements I’ve made in my situation (I also overpronate). I decided to buy a new wardrobe to try to work with wearing the comfortable footwear, it’s surprising how good running shoes can look when put together with an outfit that looks intentional! Anyway, to see the types of exercises that I learned at physiotherapy, check out Gaithappens and thefootcollective. They have Facebook pages but I recommend checking them on Instagram too since the reels are great for taking in the info. The Gaithappens account is run by doctors of physiotherapy who focus on foot health. Good luck, hopefully you find some relief one way or another
I’d recommend a lapidus bunionectomy, the pros: superior correction, biomechanically correct alignment and basically no chance of recurrence of the bunion. The cons being you need to be totally non weight bearing for an extended period of time typically 8 weeks but it’s definitely worth it
You may have a condition that can be easily and completely corrected. My advice (after several surgeries) is to research your surgeon’s experience beforehand and ask any and all questions you have up front. If the the surgeon is worth his salt and you have 100% confidence in him/her then trust the process and follow the surgeon’s instructions to THE LETTER. If at any time you are apprehensive about anything you are experiencing-call the Dr.’s office or answering service without hesitation. It is worth the piece of mind to ask questions because these are your feet. This is how you move. I hope everything works out as planned. I would love to hear about your experience. Sending prayers and good vibes!!!
Minimally invasive bunionectomy is a great option. Lapidus or Lapiplasty may help to correct your flatfoot to some degree and correct the bunion at the same time. If you have a moderate to severe flatfoot, consider having it all done simultaneously as you are correct, the flatfoot condition contributes to bunion formation. Odds are that no matter what, your bunion would never recur as bad as it is now with any procedure you choose and you will more than likely alleviate your pain. Just talk about these options with your surgeon before surgery.
My Lapipasty i’ll try to find an x-ray of what my Foot look like just before surgery
A Minimally Invasive surgery. That’s a joke. That’s about as invasive to the body as one can get. You can see that the metatarsal is not rolled back over in place. The bone instead is just cut with a section taken off and then screwed together basically. Solve nothing with the mechanics of the foot and a lot of stress is on that little area right there. I’m sometimes people do not fuse to the screws and they Then have severe issues because it’s a broken foot and they can’t use it.
This is my foot after surgery, then the before surgery
I should’ve worded that more clearly. I have a new primary and I got the podiatrist referral from him. The podiatrist is a she, and she was very nice. My old primary was the one that never took me seriously. But all this is new to me and she only suggested the one surgery type. I didn’t think to ask her at the initial appointment if we had to be concerned down the road since my ankles are pronated.
Well, Lapiplasty is in fact a traditional type of bunionectomy. It’s just done at the base of the bone rather than the head of the bone. There are a number of factors that your surgeon will look at in deciding which region to address. I’d also add that the Lapiplasty is really just a Lapidus but uses a jig. As well, it’s not true that you must be non weight bearing for 8 weeks. I was part of a multi center study looking at early weight bearing with Lapidus and in fact patients did well with WB 1-2 weeks post op in a walking boot.
Rotates outwards… sorry everyone about the typo
You can see that my sesamoid bones Our back underneath where they belong just by rotating the metatarsal bone over pretty much
yes I have been pretty much weight-bearing almost immediately it’s just the foot swelling was too painful. But I have been shoveling snow and walking a half a mile a day and I’m just four weeks out. But there’s a very big difference in the Lapipasty And that is it rotates the metatarsal bone back over where it should be! The bone literally rotates out with the trajectory and downward, this surgery pushes it back up towards position of 12 o’clock and in again. Look at all the MIS surgeries the bone is not rotated back and they’re still sticking out far away from the foot at that awful angle. The lapidus Doesn’t rotate the bone back properly, and it only uses one brace, plate or whatever to hold the Bone in place instead of on the top and the side which of course you know all of that . I really use my feet. I do not just go to the stores and vacuum. I run on rough trails which includes hiking, with two big dogs one of them that I must have much control over as he is dog aggressive —a rescue. I can’t mess around with anything as unstable as the c traditional surgery’s , I would rather have it rolled back over so that I’m not walking on the sesamoid bones, Although I know some people supposedly have waited so long that they do have some extra bone growth which needs shaving down.
Yes, the Lapidus can do the same thing. Lapiplasty is mostly a marketing tool imho. I’ve performed close to 300 lapidus bunionectomies. It’s a great procedure when done elegantly. Rotation of the metatarsal is rarely critical and can often be ignored. Again , my opinion , but based on many surgeries and many happy patients. Please take it easy, WB does not mean you can shovel snow 😉
oh, and I do agree with with you… I don’t like the current mis bunion procedure… having said that, by open bunionectomies use very tiny incisions, so 🤷🏻♂️
yeah I got in trouble for that one😉
nothing like you've suggested will correct a bunion. Only surgery will do that.
also try toe dividers. My bunions started affecting my second toe also so I got some toe dividers from Amazon. I'm trying to avoid surgery. I also started wearing Hokas which help and quit walking barefoot on my ceramic tile floors.
Sara how can physiotherapy help with bunions
Hi Mike, I’ve been managing bunions for decades. I am currently painfree and they are not worsening and I look at my feet in the last two months and I believe one of them is gone. If bunions run in your family, it’s worthwhile to share information from experts such as julianalucky for children and thefootcollective for adults (facebook and instagram). Even with genetic tendencies (like hypermobility for example), young people in your family can potentially have healthy feet because of information from these sources!
Yeah the spacers are good! Are Hokas making wide toe box shoes now? Can the toe spacers be worn in the hoka shoe Samia? I tried Hoka Gaviota and wore Saucony guide and Saucony omni and I thought I was doing well, then I learned about Altra running shoes and Topo athletic shoes from some members of this group and switching to Altra and Topo was a great improvement for my situation. I’ve had bunions for decades and the biggest improvement and change I’ve had with my feet has been since I started wearing these shoes that have space for the toes to splay. It would be great if the main stream shoe companies would make footshaped (not tapered) shoes so there would be more style and colour options.
The best way to answer this question Teresa is to direct you to some good sources of information. It makes so much sense now that I’ve learnt a bit from the experts. Physiotherapy can help so much, it probably won’t make most bunion sufferer’s feet return to normal but it can help and it can manage bunions from worsening. There are some drs of physiotherapy who specialize in foot health that run an Instagram account called Gaithappens. They present content about foot health. I think they have a Facebook account too, the reels on Instagram are a great way to take in their expertise. Another Instagram account to check is called thefootcollective (they surely have Facebook too, again the reels on Instagram are good and my preferred way to take in the info). If there are young people in your life be sure to look up julianalucky on Instagram too- she’s so good for children’s foot health and posture- bunions can be prevented, the children who may have similar genetic tendencies to us can learn how and practice to have strong feet 🙂 I hope sharing three sources isn’t too much, checking at least one is very worthwhile. Cheers
none of this is true 🤦🏼♂️
read a book. It is in fact all true and there are plenty of evidence based papers to prove it 🤦🏻♀️
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