Bunionettes

[Guest guest]

Hello All,

Here is a topic that I have wanted to address for some time and I have

not seen much on the subject in the past.

At the age of fourteen, a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon removed the upper

phalanges ( the first toe bones next to the ball of the foot (

metatarsals ) of all of my small toes as a treatment for the presence of

claw or hammer toes. This did not help my running or jumping at all and

the notion that the remaining toe structure would mate up with the

metatarsal ends a make functioning toes was a fallacious conclusion. In

short it didn't work and I have been walking on the naked distal ends of

the metatarsals since the operation.

This condition provides many a callous that has to be trimmed on a

regular basis. The Varus Heel condition on my left foot takes 75% of the

walking pressure on the outer metatarsal bone which produces an extremely

painful callous about 3/4 inch in diameter called a bunionette or

's Bunion ( from sitting cross legged .) This callous has to be

trimmed weekly to get any comfort at all. Of course, all of this uneven

gait has produced tender lower back muscles prone to spasm and a somewhat

arthritic left knee.

I am wondering two things. First, how many of us have a bunionette with

or without the Varus Heel. Second, how many of us might have had a

similar operation on the small toes. I have found that it was a

recognized surgical technique at that time and was an alternative to the

fracture and wire through the toes treatment.

It remains to say that I am now 70 years of age and am in the process of

acquiring new AFOs for both sides with hinge joints at the ankle and

strong Varus Heel control hoping to ameliorate the very painful

bunionette.

Thanks for reading this and hopefully reporting on your experiences or

any in your families.

EdM from NH