In one sentence, getting that bunionectomy on my left foot was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Even though it cost a lot (my school’s medical insurance wouldn’t cover any of it), I’m not in pain anymore! When I had the bunion, it was always so red and swollen and painful just to touch. I tried all the remedies mentioned in one of my previous posts, but they only helped temporarily. Since getting the surgery, I can walk without being in pain – well, my left foot isn’t in pain, my right one still is! But I will get the right one operated on when I graduate from school, because I don’t have a long enough break before then.

A bunionectomy, especially an austin bunionectomy, is very painful, and has a long recovery time. I couldn’t walk for a good eight weeks – six of those on crutches, then another two in an air cast. And, after that, walking was still painful for a couple of months. But as of right now, I have full range of motion back in that toe/foot and NO pain at all. None.

If you are going to get bunion surgery, I highly recommend getting physiotherapy afterward. I cannot stress that enough!! It can be costly depending on your insurance company (luckily my insurance covered 80% with a note from my doctor) but it is so worth it. My foot healed so much faster because of physiotherapy, and without it, I think the joints in that toe would still be very stiff and sore.

As for the scar… well, I don’t have any very recent pictures, but this was the scar in December:

It basically looks exactly the same now except a little less red. I will post a more recent picture soon!

So, all in all, I am very happy I got this done and can’t wait to get the right one done! More updates, pictures, and articles to follow soon.

I also ordered two Pro-Tec Achilles Tendon Supports which helped quite a bit. Those combined with shockwave and ultrasound therapy have made me able to walk again, which is so great!

As for the, what used to be a bunion and is no longer, it’s doing great! Like I said, pretty much full range of motion, no more pain, and the scar is not as bad as it was before either. Pictures to follow I promise. I have a nursing gala in the middle of this month so we will see how the foot does in high heels!

Hi,

I’m wondering if you tried any home remedies for the bunion pain before opting for surgery? I really don’t want surgery just yet, and I’m wondering what would help my poor feet!

Thanks!
Liz

Thanks for the question, Liz.

If you have bunions, you may wish to try some simple home remedies for relief instead of opting for painful surgery. Wearing the right kind of shoes to start with can certainly help, and the following natural home remedies have been shown to have some effect on bunion pain:

Ice

If your bunions are swollen or inflamed, ice can help relieve the pain. Wrap an ice pack in a towel and apply it to your bunions for ten to fifteen minutes, up to three times per day. The ice will reduce the swelling and help the throbbing pain.

Massage

Massaging your bunions and the area around them can often help with pain relief and stiffness of the joint. Rub in a circular motion, gently at first, and press harder as long as it’s not too painful. Peppermint oil brings soothing, cooling relief to painful inflammation.

Toe Spacers

Bunions cause your big toe joint to become enlarged, which pushes your big toe in towards your other toes. This unnatural alignment puts pressure on the big toe joint which, eventually, will make walking even short distances a painful exercise.

At the drugstore or online, you can find toe spacers that can be slipped between your big toe and second toe. These spacers help push the big toe back into its regular alignment, which takes some of the pressure off of the joint.

Epsom Salts

Soaking in Epsom salts has been used as a home remedy for many ailments. Soaking your feet in Epsom salts and very warm water can help relieve the pain and swelling of bunions.

You can also try some of the commercial foot soaks you find in the drug store.

Try Over-the-Counter Pain Relievers

Over-the-counter pain relievers can ease the pain caused by your bunions. While OTC medications that contain acetaminophen (Tylenol) can help with the pain, anti-inflammatory agents such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) will relieve both the pain and the inflammation.

Hope that helps!

The bad news is my achilles tendonitis is still bad, but the good news is physiotherapy is slowly helping, and also physio has helped so much with my post-op bunionectomy I can walk pretty much normally and have quite a bit of range of motion! So for anyone getting bunion surgery, I highly recommend going to physiotherapy afterwards. I don’t know where I would be without it. The scar is still quite red and prominent and there is still some swelling, but overall it is much better.

My right bunion is still hurting quite a bit but it is tolerable with my bunion splint and also by wearing my toe spacers. I will need to get surgery on that one too though eventually.

I am doing quite a few physiotherapy exercises which is helping with the tendonitis and post-op bunion pain. I promise I will update more frequently now!

I had a seven hour shift, and I wore good insoles and good shoes. About two hours into my shift I could barely stand up any longer; partially because of my post-surgery foot, partially because of the sore bunion on my right foot, and partially, but mostly, because of my achilles tendonitis. It’s so difficult because I don’t want to overwork my post-op foot too quickly; it’s still quite swollen and often very sore. But when I try to put most of my weight on my right foot, I’m in even more pain because of my achilles tendonitis, and also my bunion. So I’m standing at work on Sunday, shifting my weight from my swollen left foot to my excruciating right foot. When I try to take the weight off of my heal, my bunion gets sore. And I can’t figure out what’s worse, the bunion on my right foot or the tendonitis; but truthfully, probably the tendonitis.

I somehow survived my shift by taking a lot of tylenol and advil, and leaning on the deli counter. When I got home, I sat down on the couch, iced both of my heels as well as both of my bunions (rather, non-bunion, on my left foot), and didn’t get up again until it was time for bed.

On Monday I had an appointment with my podiatrist, Dr. L, in the morning. I could barely walk on Monday as my post-op foot was extremely swollen and sore; I could hardly fit it into a normal shoe. In hindsight, I probably should have worn my Air Cast. I went to see Dr. L about my orthotics as well as my heels. He didn’t really look at my heels, but he did adjust my orthotics so that they were less high in the arches, as I was getting blisters from them. He also prescribed me a topical anti-inflammatory to rub on my heels three times a day, which I had to get at a compounding pharmacy.

I went to physiotherapy yesterday, and she did some more ultrasound therapy on my heels. It has actually helped quite a bit, as the pain is lessened today. Which makes me really really wish I could afford this. After how expensive physiotherapy is, it’s probably a worthy investment. But I just paid tuition, so I won’t be buying that yet. Anyways, physio is helping a lot, I just wish it was helping my heels more. My range of motion in my post-bunion foot now is fantastic though! Pictures (and maybe a video) to come soon.

For now, I’ll keep icing my heels and waiting for my tendon support to arrive, while trying to deal with the pain.

I’m sitting here at the moment with ice on both heels. The post-op pain from the bunionectomy is also still pretty bad. Some days it’s okay, and other days I am limping. I’ve been in physio twice a week for two weeks, and it helps, but not enough. And the last two days have just been sitting in class; I start clinical on Friday! Man oh man, what am I going to do. Between my bunion, my post-op bunion, and my heels, the only time I’m not in pain is… well, never. And walking makes it even worse.

I bought some new running shoes after school today, for clinical, but I can’t wear them to work because of differences in colour restrictions between clinical and work. I think they’ll be better than my other shoes I’m wearing for nursing though. I’ve also ordered one of these for my tendonitis; really I need two but I want to see if it works before I spend the money on two. I’ll let you know.

I am also going back to see Dr. L (podiatrist) on  Monday for ANOTHER adjustment of my orthotics and to see if there’s anything else he can do for my achilles tendons, because last time he didn’t do anything and the pain from the tendonitis is way worse than the pain of the bunions.

I’m so depressed about my feet right now. I can’t stand this pain anymore.

At the moment I am sitting here with three ice packs: one on my post-surgical bunion, and one on each heel. Jaymie, my physiotherapist, did some more range of motion exercises today with my post-op, which hurt a lot.  The entire area where I had the surgery has been really painful the last couple of days, but especially today, even before I went to physiotherapy. I could barely fit into a normal shoe, and it looks like I may be going out in an Air Cast tonight. It’s very swollen and Jaymie said it looks like I’ve overdone it in the last couple of days with the amount I’ve been walking in a normal shoe. She’s definitely right; I have been going out and walking on it way too much. In fact, I should have stayed in an Air Cast for a little bit longer than I did. I guess I am not patient enough!

Jaymie worked a lot on my heels today, which was great. I wish my physio appointments were longer, although I do go back on Thursday. She did some ultrasound therapy on my heels to try to reduce the inflammation, and did some soft tissue massage in my calves to try to release some tension. It helped for sure, it already feels less painful. I really hope that conservative treatment measures work, because severe cases of achilles tendonitis can only be treated with surgery. It certainly is deblitating though.

I’m still also having pain in my right bunion. Even with my orthotics and toe spacers, it hurts. Pain pain pain! This is not fun at all, and I start my 3rd year of nursing school next week. I am certainly in the wrong profession to have bunions and achilles tendonitis.

I did buy these heel cups and they have helped a little bit but not much. My physiotherapist said she can help with my heels but she mostly focused on my bunion, which is fine. I think on Monday I’m going to call and make an appointment with my podiatrist (Dr. L), who didn’t help with them last time but I just need to be firm. Maybe my orthotics need some more adjusting (they’ve already been adjusted about eight times just for my bunions alone!). I don’t know. My right bunion is causing me a lot of pain lately too, more than the left one I had operated on! It’s summer, it’s hot outside, and I’d like to wear my capris and sandals, but I have to wear closed shoes so I can wear my orthotics and toe spacers and try to lessen my heel pain!

I’m thinking of ordering these as they have good reviews and may help. I’m open to other suggestions too!

Thanks for reading about my pain

I will admit that I am in quite a bit of pain now since having physio, but it is a good kind of pain, because it is increasing the movement of my toe/foot and I go back to school two weeks from today.

Most of the appointment was her flexing my big toe just slightly past where it was comfortable for me. The pain remained at about a 4 out of 10 and she didn’t push my toe more than that. She said that I should work on moving it at home, also to the point of moderate pain. She also said that starting physiotherapy is painful, but that in two weeks my foot will be so much more flexible and less swollen that going back to school will be much easier. She also gave my scar a good massage, and recommended for me to do the same thing, massage the scar quite deeply, while rubbing Bio Oil into it.

The exercises I will be doing at home will mostly be the following: While sitting in a chair, put feet flat on the floor, and raise my heels up so that the toes, including my big toe, bend at the base of the toes, and my foot lifts up. I have to make sure to keep my feet straight because if my knee turns outward, my foot will also roll outward, meaning I’m not getting that stretch in my big toe where I need it. I then lower my feet to the floor and, keeping my heels on the ground, lift my feet the opposite way so my toes come off the floor, and spread out all my toes for a stretch.

I’m supposed to do these exercises 3-4 times per day, so I’ll have to be really disciplined with myself. I am going to physio twice next week. It will hurt, like it does now, but it will hopefully be worth it! No pain no gain, right?

It was actually a sandal I wore, but nonetheless. I said goodbye to my Air Cast and went to the barbecue in a pair of sandals. Now, sandals aren’t the best shoes for support, and they certainly didn’t help my heels, but they didn’t put any pressure on my bunion which was nice. I am still limping, but overall my night in sandals went okay. At first I just sat down the entire time, but I ended up playing a game of croquet on the field with some of my co-workers, sitting down in between turns. My foot was a little bit sore at the end of the night, but not too bad. It was great to see everyone again and they were fascinated with my awesome scar!

My foot doesn’t look too different at the moment from when I first got the pin out a week ago, but I will take some more pictures as it progresses with its healing.

My heel pain is still there, still bad, and I’m not sure what to do about it. It’s bad enough trying to recover from bunion surgery without having to deal with my heels as well.