Bunion surgery

[lyssykw]

Just wondering if anyone has had bunion surgery? What was your experience like?- ie- pain, recovery, how long did it take you to get back to skating?

I have bunions on both feet (hereditary, but not helped by 30 years of ballet and figure skating!) but my right foot seems to be getting much worse, with near constant pain. I also work at my rink, so have to wear skates for long periods of time, which isn't helping.

I'm considering looking into surgery, but kinda worried by all the horror stories about long recovery times. I don't even know if it would be possible to continue skating afterwards?

Any thoughts or experiences?

[Loops]

I read the thread title as "Brain" surgery.  What a relief we're talking about feet.

I'm also curious.  I got custom skates for my bunion.  They help.  But I'm also in near constant pain, and have been thinking like you.  The only person I know who had the surgery had some weird complications.  It's all good now, but she's neither a dancer nor a skater.  So she's useless. (not really, but for our purposes, yes).

Listening in......

[dlbritton]

One of the men that skates at my rink said his daughter, who was a ballet dancer, had bunion surgery and had to give up dancing after the surgery. Another woman at the rink chimed in that the same thing happened to her daughter. I have heard anecdotally from several other people that they or a family member regretted having bunion surgery.

I may have only heard from people that regretted having surgery and have not heard anything from people that had a successful outcome.

[AgnesNitt]

I have mild bunion issues. I'm avoiding surgery by using physical therapy. I heard that surgery can ruin skating and dancing. However, the PT has been working--also, some in boot tweaks have helped--I'll post a picture about what I do to protect my foot when I skate. It's arcane--duct tape is involved, but I can skate without pain.
Here's the post.
http://icedoesntcare.blogspot.com/2018/10/non-surgical-therapy-for-my-figure.html

[Bill_S]

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MOD NOTE: THIS POST CONTAINS SOME UGLY TOE SURGERY PHOTOS!  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
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Not exactly bunion surgery, but I had toe joints removed back in 2012. On the outside, it looked like this...



..and the X-Ray looked like this...



I still have the steel pin in my little toe, but the long "skewer" holding the jointless big toe bones in alignment was removed after a month.

I tried to skate about 6 months after surgery, but found it too painful. I waited until the 11th month, and I could skate OK, but I was very rusty of course.

I skate now about 4-5 times per week and it doesn't bother me much. I like socks with a little padding on the bottom to keep the sharp edges of the big toe bones from digging into soft tissue. The best thing about skating, unlike dancing, is that you don't need to bend toes inside your boots. In that regard, the surgery didn't reduce my ability to skate.

[lutefisk]

Bunga has a number of products that may reduce the pressure between the outer edge of your big toe or the outer edge of your pinky toe, depending on which side of the foot is involved: 

http://www.bungapads.com/en/gel-pads-en/forefoot-toe-and-finger/

I can vouch for the smaller "bunionette" pad, designed for the pinky toes.  I use those on both feet as a preventative measure. I started doing so after my feet hurt enough to get me to look for a remedy.  I think these pads have kept my feet from developing full blown Taylor's bunions.  At least there's something cushioning between my pinky toes and the side of the unyielding boot. 

They may ease the pain of your feet and allow you to continue skating while avoiding or at least postponing the knife.  Good luck.

[Query]

Run, don't walk to a good skate tech, and have them punch out the area of your boots next to your toes, so the boot touches the sides of your toes as little as possible, if at all! I believe a properly fit and modified skate boot should NOT give you a bunion, or make your existing ones worse. And next time you buy skates, get ones with extra wide toes, from Jackson or Harlick.

Perhaps you can do something similar to ballet slippers?

Also, you might look into a bunion spacer - improvised or purchased, so your big or little toe can't be pushed into the one next to it. Though I guess that only helps the toe itself - not the metatarsal. I looks like that would be true of the bagapads device just discussed too - it at least looks like it might INCREASES the inwards pressure on the metatarsal.

I was told I by Phil of Harlick that I might have a slight bunion, which would make sense since it took me a long time to figure out that boots can be punched - but I'm not letting surgeons anywhere near my feet.

[lyssykw]

Thanks for the responses everybody!
I have had trouble trying to fit bungapads/toe spacers etc into my skate, as there just isn't enough room in the toe box. I suppose trying to get them punched out may be the way to go.
I've been trying to wear a bunion splint at night to try and pull the toes back into position. Not sure if it really does anything, but it can't hurt.
Would definitely like to avoid or at least put off surgery until i'm older!

[lutefisk]

I had to get my last two pair of Jackson Freestyles punched out on the pinky toe sides--and Jackson has a reputation for having a wide toe box.  Even so, I find the bunionette pads, held in place underneath bunga's boot bumper to be beneficial in preventing further problems.  But each foot/boot combo requires its own solution.  Good luck in finding a solution that works for your feet.  You're not alone in this quest.  Just about every skater I talk with about boot  fit has a love-hate relationship with their boots.