Hammertoe Surgery

Far more valuable than a couple of individuals who might offer their view of their generally singular experience would be comments from someone who has performed uncountable numbers of hammertoe surgeries over several decades and has seen how those patients have done.

First of all, there is not one-size-fits-all hammertoe surgery, as there are different severities of hammertoes. Some can be corrected with a simple soft tissue minimal incision surgery, some with bone procedures, generally arthoplasties, some with fusions and some with bony procedures along with creative tendon and plastic procedures. Of course, neither I nor anyone else who might respond knows the degree of severity of your hammertoe or which procedure you had, but generally, for all but the most severely deformed, results are statistically excellent and even those severely deformed can often be returned to almost normal clinical condition. As far as pain is concerned, that is a totally individual thing, but in my experience, the vast majority of patients admit to less discomfort than they had foreseen. in all, it is statistically one of the most frequent and successful bone surgeries performed on the foot. But as with ANY surgery performed on the foot, because of the nature of the function of the foot, the resulting disability often exceeds the actual trauma of the surgery.

 

Thank you for your reply and your informative answer. However, I would like to receive a response from people that have had the surgery. Last Friday I was having extreme pain in my left foot. Went to the doctor and I think the bandage was wrapped so tightly that it hurt. Also, the doctor said I could be a little more active; well it went to my head. I was on my feet more than I had been and notice swelling. So, I think both of them had something to do with the severe pain. I did not know I had hammertoes but only knew I could not bend my toes and that it hurt so much. Silly what women will do....I put my foot in a smaller shoe so my parents could save money and get shoes for my brothers.

Again, I thank you so much for your response and only look forward to other people respond.

 

Dear Foot Doc,

Perhaps you can tell me if someone has hammertoes does that mean that the person has arthritis in their toes automatically. Before the surgery, I was not able to bend my toes and I guess after the surgery I won't be either from what the doctor has told me?? Do you have any idea how long it takes people to get over the surgery? I know it depends on folks but I was wondering does it generally take six months to a year? Since I have not received any other responses, some questions have come to mind.

 

Hammertoes can but do not necessarily feature arthritis. What you will be able to do with your toe as far as movement depends on the procedure that is necessary to correct your problem. Recovery time varies, and depends on the procedure and the patient, but I generally advise considering a period of about 4-6 weeks before getting back to normal activities. Your experience may be different.

Following is a response I gave to another questioner some time ago. It might help give you a general understanding of hammertoes and their treatment.

 

I must be one of the "lucky ones" to have a pretty easy experience with hammertoe surgery. I had the surgery on both 2nd toes on Thu., April 5, 2012. The worst days for pain were Thursday evening/night, Friday, and Saturday. By Sunday I had switched from Percocet to regular ibuprofen. I used a wheeled computer chair to scoot around the house (rancher style). I was given crutches at my 1st follow-up appointment (Monday following surgery) but was able to walk in the post-op shoes by Tuesday. I was cleared to drive/return to work 10 days after the surgery. My pain has been minimal, thankfully. Today, April 20, I had my stitches taken out and will be wearing the post-op shoes for another 2 weeks. I'm hoping that the remainder of my healing process will be as easy as it has been thus far.

 

I'm a master orthopedic shoemaker (European title, went over there for my education) and I've seen literally hundreds of hallux valgus operations over the years. In my experience many people (and I see the "patients" over a time span of years after surgery so I see the long term effects) are worse off in the long run than before the surgery. I'd go as far as to say that 20% of the patients that I have seen have had satisfactory results.. I have seen so many people come out of the whole thing a year later saying that they are far worse off than beforehand, especially if it was only done for cosmetic reasons. By no means am I trying to be negative but those are the things I have seen. Wish u a smooth recovery.

 

Hi,


I wanted to make sure and write about my surgery experience after I was healed up. I spent so much time researching before, during and even after my surgery that I wanted to give anyone doing the same a true reality about their surgery experience.


About 6 weeks ago I got hammer-toe correction surgery on both of my feet and on 3 toes each (a total of 6 toes). Since, I had prior experience with my bunion surgery, which I also did on both feet at the same time, I wanted to do my research to find the best doctor for my hammer-toe procedure. When I got my bunion surgery I had medical, so the first doctor I was sent to I signed my surgery date right away. This is a big no-no! Do your research before you put your feet in someone else’s hands. My bunion doctor wasn’t the worst doctor, however, I wish I had done my research and found someone who didn’t cut so long of an incision leaving me with 4” inch scars on the inside of my feet. Luckily, my scars are barely noticeable (because I put scaring cream and took good care of them during my recovery), but I can imagine if you do scar, then you should consider a doctor with minimal cutting techniques. I also have a damaged bunion on my left foot because something went wrong either during or after the surgery that didn’t allow my bones to align evenly during my healing. I do not need surgery right now, but I eventually might since I can’t fully bend my toes back and forth. This limits me from wearing 5”inch or higher heels.


Going back to my hammer-toe surgery experience I wanted to share that I now have PPO, Blue Shield that I make monthly payments for, but this insurance allowed me the freedom to go searching for the best doctor in town. I live in Los Angeles, so I had many doctors to pick from. I visited about 15 doctors (that I had narrowed down from about 40 in Los Angeles), ranging from Beverly Hills to Pasadena, Ca. It was interesting to see how every doctor looked at hammer-toe surgery and gave me so much information on the pros and cons. Some doctors denied the surgery and some said it’s a piece of cake.


From my prior experience with my bunion surgery I knew I wanted to narrow down my doctor to 3 important factors that mattered to me. 1) They agree to do both feet at the same time, 2) They have a modernized surgery technique. 3) They use no hardware. After 3 months of searching, I found my doctor who was located in Woodland Hills. The first thing I loved about him was that he cared about the aesthetic of my foot. I am young and want to flaunt my feet and the last thing I need is about a 1” inch scar on top of each one of my 6 toes. This doctor has a modernized technique where he makes the cut (1/4 “ inch long) on the side of the toes and uses a machine he created that drills into the joint from that small incision and slowly shaves the center away. This technique is what made me realize I found my perfect doctor. His gentle approach to my toe did play a big role in my great recovery.


The day of the surgery I was so nervous and didn’t sleep all night. I hate going under and I just wasn’t ready to have my feet cut into. The whole experience was so calm, relaxing and quick actually. I went into surgery at 8 am and opened my eyes looking at the clock at about 9:30 am. My doctor made the small incision, drilled into the joint and shaved it completely away, vacuumed the small bone matter left behind, stitch me up and placed metal pins into my toes holding the two now separated bones together for healing all in a matter of 15 minutes a toe. I woke up to an amazing team who made this experience so pleasant. I was in recovery for about 30 minutes and then walked myself to my ride waiting for me outside the facility. During the surgery my doctor had injected really strong medication into my feet to numb it so I could enjoy my first two days of recovery, which is why I was able to walk so easily. I came home and relaxed with ease. The surgery is the best part of all this but the recovery is the hardest. Please, take 6 weeks off from work. Even if your job is a desk job, you still need to be relaxed and have your legs elevated all day to speed up your recovery. This surgery has been expensive for me. I didn’t pay a dime since my insurance covered the whole thing. However, I couldn’t work and had lot of bills to pay during my 6 week recovery that I didn’t really prepare myself for. My job consists of me working on my feet so even the first week back to work was hard for me. I am still trying to stand on my feet the whole day with elevating my feet but they do swell up and hurt. You have to keep your feet iced and elevated during the 6 weeks right after surgery. This is very important. You will need help the first 1-2 weeks since the only time you can walk is when you go to the bathroom and back. After the second week you will be able to walk around and feed yourself without any help. Also, showering is really difficult. I have a stand up shower, so I purchased a handicap shower chair and used that to do a sit down shower during those 6 weeks of recovery. You can’t get your feet wet, so I suggest you use saran wrap to wrap your feet first, then use small towels to cover that and keep your feet sticking out the shower. Time to time I would have water leak inside but the saran wrap did help to keep dry. If you get your feet wet you can risk getting an infection, so you really have to consider all the extra work to prep for every single shower.


I had 4 visits in total after my surgery. My 1stone was a week after surgery where the doctor opened up my bandages and I saw my feet for the first time. This experience is not going to be your best. My toes looked so funny and swollen like hotdogs. All my toes looked different from each other and the length of my toe didn’t seem short enough for me. I was sad since I went through all of that to not have a result I liked. But don’t worry, you will notice your toes change every single day. I am starting to love my toes more and more. I can’t wait until about a year when all the swelling goes away and I see a more final result. It is important that your doctor takes x-rays for every visit after surgery. This will allow the doctor to make sure all your bones are evenly aligned and ready for the best recovery. I had metal pins sticking out of my toes so that looked really weird and uncomfortable when he opened up my bandages. I did get used to them after a while and by the 6thweek I was already twisting the pins around (but obviously not pulling them out, do not do that). I think I started to spin the pins around because I was so terrified how the doctor was going to pull them out that loosening them up made me more at ease. This was the worst for me because I thought about it from day one and couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I was not going to be put to sleep when the doctor pulled the pins out of my poor swollen toes. This happened on my 3rdvisit and to be honest it didn’t hurt as much as I thought. I did take my strong pain killer (Norco) that my doctor prescribed for the recover but didn’t end up using any until that 3rdvisit. I will tell you that not looking at the pins being pulled out does help and also holding your toe does too. The only pain you feel is the pressure of your toes being pulled along with the pin. Therefore, holding your toe keeps everything in place and only the pin slides out the bone without any single pain. Since the metal pin is placed inside the bone, we have no nerves there, so pulled it out does not hurt at all. Its just a little bit of discomfort, but to be honest if I could stand it, I think anyone else can. My second visit was the most painful since my doctor was removing my stitches. Luckily, with my doctors advanced technique he only has 1 small stitch on each toe so that saved me a lot of pain. Week 2 is still a sensitive time for your toes so when the doctor tugs on the stitch to cut it free, it does really sting and hurt. It is not the worst pain, but I wish I took my pain medication for that visit too. It would have helped a lot with my nerves. Please consider an innovative doctor because the doctor that makes the classic 1’ inch cut o top of the toes will also have a lot more stitches to remove then I had. The last appointment is the last check up which is 2 weeks after the pins are removed to check on how your bones are healing with the help. I did keep my 3 toes taped together after the pins came out, this will help to support the pin-less toes going into week 8 of recovery.


Overall, my experience was great. I always hated my feet and hid them away from the world. I missed out on so many events because I could not open my feet in front of my friends and family. I also had a lot of pain during my long shifts at work standing on my feet. Since my toes were longer then my big toe they would curl and jam into my shoes making them irritated and painful. I am still recovering and I think I will for the next year. The swelling is the hardest part of all this. Blood is circulated to the feet throughout the day, so keep your heart healthy if you want to heal fast. I did not smoke 2 months before and 2 months after my surgery. Smoking does slow down your recovery, so its something to consider as well. My doctor said I could return to exercise and heels at 8 weeks but that was not true for me. I think I need a good 5 more months for that. I can barely walk in flip flops since its so painful for my foot to hit the floor and tilt my toe back. I love my toes now, I actually cried the first time I wore flip flops and weren’t ashamed of my feet. That feeling was worth every hour and money spent during my long recovery. If you do your research, prepare mentally and financially for this surgery then you will not regret it. I can’t wait to visit the beach next summer for the first time in over 8 years. I will be recovered and ready to live my life without digging my feet into the sand to hide them from the world. Oh yeah, and no visible stitches also is a plus. No one in a million years would know that I had hammer-toe surgery on 6 of my toes. Its like magic I swear !!!!

 

Hi-My question is for Foot Doc ,

I am EXTREMELY active, and lived in a boot for months as I had multiple issues with my left foot (the boot allowed me to continue to walk without pain and remain active). It started with a Tailors bunion to which they removed my metatarsal head . Honestly, at the time I questioned it-had a 2nd opinion and he agreed. It did alleviate the pain so I really did not care. I know some Docs have never heard of that and others say whatever works. At the same time, I had a bunion that was creating a hammertoe, increasing pain and inability to get around like before, I finally bit the bullet and had a Weil Osteotomy with hammertoe repair/implant. No issues with the Osteotomy, healed beautifully BUT, the problem is the implant= flail toe . This has been the MOST challenging hurdle. The Surgeon informed me that I would have to wait a year for correction(3/21) and I have been miserable with this. The 2nd toe has severely deformed the 3rd toe and that has formed a callous. I cannot wear any shoe comfortably (although Altra is hands down the best). I have to tape the toe down, I cannot bear weight to the ball of my foot(?metatarsalgia). The stiffness, pulling, and nerve discomfort is driving me crazy! I think I have tried EVERY pad, silicone sleeve/toe separator, strap. I have had Lithotripsy on my foot, and mega doses of Vitamin-D(I have to say it did help temporarily). PLEASE-I am desperate, this surgery changed my life and not in a good way . Is my ONLY option surgical repair/correction? I really do NOT want to have another surgery as that could increase the damage to the nerves but if there is any chance I could actually wear a shoe comfortably and walk normally I would do it in a NY minute.
Thanks for your time-Stay safe