Re: Bunionettes

[Guest guest]

Ed,

What a horrible sounding procedure! I guess that they have since moved away

from that as a treatment for CMT

My mother has a lot of problems with hammer toes and bunions (she's 81). She is

also walking on a basically broken foot (it broke at the ankle a couple of years

ago and never healed properly because she refused to stay off her feet!

Stubborn lady ) Instead of

meeting up with the ankle, the bone has slid down and you can see it poking out

at the arch on the bottom of her foot. She still walks on it

Anyway, she wears various ballet-type toe pads to help with bunions, etc. She

either gets the toe tubes that slip over a toe or she wears a soft 'cup' that

slips over all her toes and covers down to the ball of her foot. I think

ballerinas in toe shoes wear them.

She also puts lidocaine patches in the pain points and it has helped her

tremendously.

Maybe not what you wanted to try but thought I'd at least put the idea out there

for you

[Guest guest]

Thank you Edwin for the information. The left side of my left foot HAS developed

something, but it is under the skin and does not resemble a callous. It CAN be

quite painful. I thought it might be a bone spur of some kind. I also have

developed a painful bunion on the right foots ball. I treat this by using a

common bunion pad found at drug stores. I also change shoes every 4 months or

so. Usually when the pain begins I buy a new pair. The pain comes from when the

shoes break down on the sides.

[Guest guest]

Hi Ed,

I had the same procedure done but only on my big toe. I too got calluses at the

surgery site.

[Guest guest]

Hello ,

Thank you. That is an interesting thought. I wear an older shoes most of

the time. The left one with the bunnionette is a New Balance 925, but it

actually is on my AFO and has a synthetic unisole. The right one has a

molded shoe some twenty years old. Since I'm getting new AFOs for both

sides, I hope the left ankle will be straightened out and take some load

off of the outer edge of the foot.

EdM from NH

[Guest guest]

Hello ,

The surgeons specifically avoided my big toes even though the left one

was also hammered. I really can't imagine what having that done on the

big toes would be like. I'll try to find a picture of the operation to

confirm what that it was the same procedure.

EdM from NH

[Guest guest]

Hello again ,

A quick search produced this reference. In my case they did not just

shorten the bone segment, but removed it entirely. That left the joint

halves to somehow make a new joint. In My case this was a very

unrealistic goal. Notice that the bone is labeled as growing too long!

They told me that one too and I believed it for about 49 years!

EdM from NH

[Guest guest]

Ed in NH,

I never had any difficulty with the procedure. I've noticed over the past year

that when the weather is damp or cold the joint will ache.

[Guest guest]

Hello Ed,

I had the tendons snipped in the small toes of my left foot to release their

clawed positioning, not perfect but what in life is? I also had the achilles

tendon lengthened on the left side to give me more flexion in the ankle. The

outer bones on both feet were shaved down as well because of those huge

callouses. The pain was terrible in those!

I used to cut them away myself (which probably wasn't the greatest idea since my

hands are not very strong or all that steady-did a lot of bleeding) I will say

the bone shaving really helped! I don't have the callouses like I did before,

the skin is definitely tougher and thicker but nothing like it was and I can

touch the area without almost fainting from the pain.

I also had padding (thin layer) put in the bottom of my AFOs. It makes them a

little more comfortable.

Hope