Foot surgery?? How did it work out for you?

[chanteuseCarey]

Hello ladies, I'm interested to hear from anyone that has had surgery for HAMMERTOES. My mother had surgery so many years ago I cannot remember how it went for her afterwards. I do remember the recovery she had was not fun. She's dead now, so I can't ask her about it. I think she was laid up (it was at my house for the first week) for two weeks after. I have one hammertoe on my left foot, and one serious one and a second minor one on my right foot. The worst of the three is making it practically impossible these days to wear any type of dress shoe that does not have an deep open toe. I'm a social ballroom dancer, and my dance shoes are open toe. At some point I'm most likely going to have to get my toes looked at and no doubt they will suggest surgery.

 

[Louise Anne]

My sister had her's done when she was 16 or 18 that's 30+ years ago, they did one toe on each foot both the same time , so for the first few days she could not stand or walk at all , and had to pull herself around for a few days on her bottom to go to bed, she had a wheel chair for a few weeks then when onto crutches for a little while.
It was done deliberately in the 6 weeks school holidays for obvious reasons and I think she only had to go to school for a couple of weeks with crutches.

I think all the pain was worth it for her, thinks should have moved on a lot from them and might not take as long these days.
She never said it was a mistake or not worth having done.

 

[Kitty_Sheridan]

Hi Carey! My aunt had it done a few years ago. She had a good 20 yrs on you age wise and she made a good recovery in about 6 weeks. She was a shoe fanatic and was so glad to be able to wear nice shoes again. She was also ballroom dancing again about 3 months after surgery.
Good luck!
Kate x

 

[sheeplady]

The one thing that is very important is that you discuss with your doctor what may have caused the hammertoe(s) in the first place, and make sure that is corrected as well. If you just have the toes corrected, the deformity will come back if something else is causing it. Your foot could be weak, flat, or you could have a bunion that pushes them over. It might be as simple as doing a few toe exercises each night, having to wear an insert in certain shoes, or it could be that you need an additional procedure done on your foot. If you go through the 4-8 week recovery time, you don't want to have to go through it again in a decade or two because there was an underlying cause that wasn't corrected.

 

[Lotta Little]

Have you looked into YogaToes? I have a pair and I swear they have kept my hammertoes from getting worse and might even help more severe hammertoes. You can even pop them in the freezer for extra relief on hot days. I wear mine when I'm soaking in the tub or watching TV, and I also use them as toe spacers when I paint my toenails. I have even heard of people sleeping with them on. Just DON'T try to walk with them on. Good luck!