I have a lot of pain at the joint and along my first metatarsal in one foot. My podiatrist says that I have, along with the obvious bunion, hallux limitus, and is recommending that I have surgery. He wants to perform the Austin-Youngswick osteotomy with (2) screw fixation. Supposedly, I should be able to bare weight immediately after surgery. I don't doubt that I'd be able to, particularly while numb, but is this wise? Is early weight-bearing a good thing with healing bones? I'll be in a surgical shoe post-op, but will this be adequate to protect my foot while it heals?

Also, my Pod says that healing takes about 6-8 weeks, and that I'll be hiking and climbing again within a few months. Is this a realistic timeframe? From some of the stories that I've read, it seems that the recovery period might be quite a bit longer. I need the surgery no matter what the healing time, but I don't want to set myself up for disappointment if reality is a bit different from the Pod's forecast.

Help!

I had the same surgery almost a year ago except with only 1 screw fixation. Your pod is a bit overly optimistic in my experience.

Yes, the surgical shoe will be enough support - remember you'll have screws in there to hold things together. However, I wasn't comfortably able to bear weight on my heel until day 18.

Week 8 seems to be a major turning point but it's definitely not the end of the healing. It's just the end of phase I.

Phase II healing takes a bit longer. By 4 months I was at about 75% where I stayed for quite a while. Around 7 months I felt that I could "jump" on the foot without fear. And at 10 months (just a few weeks ago) I achieved full range of motion in the toe.

But...
Everyone heals differently so your experience may be totally different. Rule of thumb seems to be complete healing between 6-12 months.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for replying-- I appreciate it more than you can imagine. If you don't mind a couple of more questions, I'd like to hear more of your experience.

When you say that you couldn't walk comfortably on your heel until day 18, do you mean that you couldn't tolerate your full weight on your foot? When you were able to get around, you could only walk on your heel? This greatly worries me, because there is no way that I'll be able to walk back on my heel, or the side of my foot. My ankle rolls over in a heart beat (never investigated why-- loose ligaments, I guess), and I also have a knee issue that's adding to my walking difficulties at the moment. The latter (knee) appears to have been caused by my altered gait from hallux limitus, so I'm hoping that'll resolve itself after the surgery with PT & orthotics. But... I think I'm going to be in real trouble if I can't actually bear weight in some normal fashion.

Perhaps I misunderstood, or maybe I made too many assumptions, but I assumed that 'you'll be able to walk on it immediately after surgery...' meant that I'd be able to walk flat down on my full foot, even if it was a bit painful.

My 2nd question is this-- From your experience with recovery, was the post-operative pain so debilitating in the days after surgery that you think it might be unrealistic to plan to work from home (laptop & phone) from day 2 on?

Honestly, I'm feeling like a naive fool now. I've never had any sort of surgery, so I don't have any frame of reference. I sincerely appreciate your taking the time to tell me about your experience.

Mirth, don't feel silly for asking any of the questions you are worried about. If we all knew what to expect, there wouldn't be a need for the forum to begin with, right?

To answer your 2nd question, my pain wasn't too bad. In fact, the dizzy head from the Vicodin was worse than the pain in the foot so I just took Ibuprofen. But definitely don't plan on working the 2nd day. Maybe day 5 if the anesthetic doesn't make you nauseous & dizzy like it does me and you aren't too fatigued. It was around day 10-12 that I felt less like I was recovering from "surgery" and more like I was dealing with a broken foot, if that makes sense.

I too was told I could walk on the foot the first day but my foot and the way it was wrapped just wouldn't stand for it. Instead, I used crutches the first 3-4 weeks or rolled around the house in an office chair. Does this mean you won't be able to walk flat-footed right away? No. I just means you should hope that you can (many are able to), but have a plan if you can't. You might ask your pod about a walking boot. It will stabilize your ankle and provide protection for your foot too.

Do you have a surgery date scheduled yet?

Mirth, Misfish is giving good advice. I had an Austin bunionectomy in early Feb., and was on the heavy painkillers for 2 days, in which I a) was in too much pain to think about anything like work, and b) was too googly from the painkillers to think straight at all. Maybe you could work at home on the 3rd or 4th day after. I did go back to my office on the 4th day, being absolutely stir-crazy! (and off the Percocet) As for walking - I walked out of the building after the surgery (thanks to the numbing), but didn't take another normal step for at least a couple weeks. I sent a friend out for crutches the 2nd day. My foot was so swollen it felt like every time I tried to put weight on it that the stitches were pulling apart. This meant I stayed off it as much as possible (plus, a friend of mine had had surgery and started walking on it right away, and then got complications from working it too much). It's a delicate balance. My one lasting issue is that my bad ankle (on the same side as the surgery) took quite a pounding, since you do walk funny while you're favoring the operated foot, and it's still working back up to being strong. Crutches might save you from the worst of it, though. I first started to feel sort of normal between weeks 10 and 12 - I wish the doc.s wouldn't set up these unrealistic "6 weeks to normal!" expectations... But, I'm 6 mos. out now, and have been back to all regular activities - only limited now by the ankle! Good luck!

Hi guys and welcome, Mirth,

I think what you're hearing from the group here is right on track. Yes, you can bear weight the day of surgery but that doesn't mean that you'll want to walk too far. Getting to the rest room and kitchen might be all you can do before you'll need to elevate the foot. Most importantly, you're going to find that while you have the foot elevated and iced, you'll do OK. It's when you put the foot down that you'll get some swelling and will need to back off a bit.

I also had an Austin done (not to mention that I just performed one this morning). So I have a bit of a unique perspective.

Just plan on going slow. Take the time to heal up right and don't try to push yourself.

At 8 weeks, you'll be at about 75% and as mentioned above, you'll then take a number of months for the remaining 25% to heal.

Did you read our pages on bunions and hallux limitus?

Jeff