Truth about Bunion Surgery

I need to know quite honestly just how bad bunion surgery is--to use the layman's term.  I have heard of no actual "success" stories.  Almost everyone says the recovery is longer than the doctors ever tell.  Mine is apparently not an easy one--I'm OK with the sawing off of the bump, more nervous about the breaking and straightening of the toe and really jittery about the "pin" they place in it.  Most nerve wracking, to me, is the "twilight"sleep they insist on.  I would prefer to be deeper, which they will do, but then you risk being sick upon awakening.  I don't want to be a wimp about this but I must take public transportation and I can't really see being out of work for three weeks and then in that "boot" for considerably longer and no one has been able to say that I will be able to wear normal aka fashionable shoes (never high heels but not sneakers either) someday.  I have to be able to walk miles without a car.

[Dr Vinod]

No one can force you to surgery, this would be your choice.
Bunion surgery involves breaking the toe bone (metatarsal) to correct the alignment. There is also a tightening of the ligaments on the outside of the toe, and a release of the ligaments on the inside, so the tension on the ligaments points the toe in the proper direction.

The major drawback to bunion surgery is that you will have pain in the foot, and probably not be completely healed for about three months. The most common complication of bunion surgery is a recurrence of the bunion months or years later. That said, if bunions are causing you problems in walking, it is certainly reasonable to consider surgical bunion treatment.

Take care!

[frillydonkey]

I see your comments about bunion surgery.  I had mine on my right foot 1 week ago and have suffered with moderate to severe pain ever since.  According to the discharge notes from the hospital I had a osteotomy & chrondroplasty and large bunion resected.  I received mixed information from various sources, both medical and non pre-operatively, my inital procedure on 18th March 2011 was delayed by 3 weeks due to suspected shingles (my consultant wanted to wait until I had finished anti-viral medication) I have a plaster cast halfway up my foot and bandage to the ankle. I was sent home from hospital with only an outdoor sponge walking shoe and told to 'heel walk' I was told to take paracetamol tablets for the pain.  My foot had been numbed during surgery and I was told this would last around 24 hours.  Once the anaesthetic and the injected pain relief wore off I was in chronic pain and had 3 visits from emergency doctors to the home to get the pain relief management right and I was told to keep the leg elevated.  This has worked mostly until today when the foot has gone very cold and numb from the top of the plaster down and I have pain under the cast surrounding what I think is the pin that has been inserted into the foot to straighten the toe.  Heel walking is impossible as it's too painful, I had to borrow some crutches to get about on upstairs and have been housebound for a week - that's not a concern right now I expected this recovery to be long - but should I be concerned about the inability to heel walk due to pain, the coldness of the foot under the plaster (which came on suddenly a few hours ago) and the pain medication I have is now only barely touching the pain.  Any help or advice appreiciated.  If I had known how bad this was going to be I would most certainly have thought longer and harder about surgery before going ahead and would have done far more research.