Great Toe Hemi-arthroplasty implant for First Joint

[Tonice]

Hi, In June 2007 I had surgery on my right great toe.  An implant was put into my right great toe due to arthirtis.  It was called a First Metarsophalangeal Joint Hemiaroplasty with the Arthrosurface HemiCap Implant.  I was told that in a few months I would be dancing at my daughter's wedding.  That was never to be b/c of the severe pain in the big toe.   It is now March 2008 and I still have bad pain in that toe.  I cannot walk for exercise.  It doesn't matter if I have sneakers or low heeled shoes on.  The doctor said I would be able to wear my heels again - no way.

The toe gets stiff & hurts in a pair of shoes or sneaks but when I take the shoe off - it is stiff & stuck and to move it - it really is extremely painful.

Does anyone know if this is normal to still feel this way?  I was better off without the implant, in my opinion.  Any advise is greatly needed.
Thanks,
Tonice

[pam_i_am]

I had this surgery on my great toe on January 11, 2012.  Having read this discussion thread before the surgery, I was worried about making this choice.  I'm 39 years old and a runner. I wanted to have several decades of distance running left in me.  My podiatric surgeon told me that just shaving the bone spurs would help but the more I run, the quicker the arthritis will build back up.  He said I could have it fused, but that would involve 6 weeks of non-weight bearing which I just couldn't consider because I have a 2-year-old.  The middle-of-the-road option was the hemicap which he felt would offer me relief now and give me 10 years before I needed something else, even if I ran long distances again.  I started a blog on WordPress about it called Great Toes Shrink Alike.  I posted regularly after the surgery so that people considering it would know what one person's post-op experience was.

It's now been 13 weeks, I believe.  It's far from perfect.  And I have yet to make a final determination about whether it was the right decision.  The swelling is gone.  The scar is still very visible.  The toe is stiffer than it was pre-surgery, but gradually loosening up.  I am trying to be better about "working it."  I just had my left toe done last week, but this time my podiatrist recommended the less invasive option because it wasn't nearly as arthritic as the right.  So now the hemi-cap foot is the "strong" foot and it's having to work harder than it ever has, which I think will help to loosen it up.  

I'm still optimistic that I'll get back to running by fall, if only a 5K distance.

[Sweetpea1615]

Hi Sonia, how did your surgery go with the bone chips??  I just had a plastic joint replacement in my right big toe last September.  Since then I've had nothing but problems.  My toe is 1/4'' shorter and is very painful. All of my toes hurt and my toe will not touch the ground. I'm walking on the side of my foot and only a couple pairs of shoes fit.  I just found out from another doctor that plastic joints are very really used because the material that they're made from can break down and get into your limph nodes.  I want it taken out and the doctor tells me the only thing he can do is remove it and perform a bone graft.  That sounds like what you had done.  How is your toe now???

[Sweetpea1615]

Hi, going through the same thing...I would NEVER have had a joint replacement knowing how much pain it would cause me.  I'm going to have it removed and a bone graft like you had.  I'm a little scared.  What really pisses me off is that my right big toe is 1/4" shorter than it used to be.

[Marsha1980]

I seriously need to know what Doctor you went to for the repair work, I am in so much pain after 7 months of my Hemi Implant.

Thanks!!

Marsha

[WayneBh]

I had the surgery in April 2011, I have been is so much pain. I did a year of physical therapy and I am in more pain then before the doctor has made 3 different types of orthotics to help with the pain nothing is working. I am really tired of the pain. The doctor is now talking about fusing the joint. Had anyone done it the fusion asnd does the pain get any better?

[PattyMarie]

I would like you to keep me updated on how the "bone chips" worked on your failed partial big toe replacements (hemicaps). I had hemicaps surgically placed into my right big toe Nov. 2009 and the left in Jan. 2010.  My feet go into spasms because it hurts so much to put weight on my big toes ....the big toes are over lapping my second toe are not supporting any of my  weight, thus the spasms from too much weight on the ball of my feet.

A podiatrist did the surgery and I went to a very competent orthopedic foot specialist who is recommending I have bone chips taken from my hip bone and used to fuse the big toe joint to relieve my pain.  I "think" this is what you just had done.  

I hope you are doing well and I would love to have you keep me updated on you progress.  Thanks.  Patty