Talking to a Foot Surgeon About Bunions

With the help of a foot surgeon, you can get relief from a bunion. This abnormal bump that pushes your big toe up against the others can be painful and frustrating. The joint ends up going in the opposite direction, away from its normal alignment. Instead of solving the problem or providing any relief, this causes even more pain as the joint gets larger and the toes get even more crowded. At some point, it makes sense to consider surgery.

Symptoms

Once a bunion begins, the pain and frustration alone are enough to send you running into the office of the closest foot surgeon. The bulging of the big toe begins to change the shape of one of your feet, making it difficult to find comfortable shoes. Without a shoe on, the toes are crowded; when you try to put any type of shoe on, the crowding is worse and the pain is often unbearable. There are not a lot of place that a person can go without wearing shoes.

The overlapping of the toes often creates corns and callouses that ensure that patients feel pain throughout the foot. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of relief when it comes to the pain and eventually the big toe loses some of its mobility. When that happens a person needs to talk to a foot surgeon as soon as possible to ensure that he or she gets some type of relief.

The Surgical Procedure

A foot surgeon will talk to the patient about the type of anesthetic that will be used. Some patients are okay with just a local anesthetic while others needs to have some type of sedative to make sure that they feel comfortable with the procedure. Once the area is numb, it is time to go in and make adjustments to the big toe. There are multiple ways that the operation can be handled and it is important that both the doctor and patient talk about which procedure will be used and how it will affect the person's feet.

It is possible for the operation to remove the area of the toe that is bulging out. This is called a bunionectomy and it only takes about an hour to have the work completed. Other patients opt for realignment of the ligaments, removal of some of the bone of the toe, or a fusion of the big toe joint. In some cases, if the bunion is severe enough, it may require that an implant be inserted or a completely artificial joint.