Brachymetatarsia One Step Surgery FAQ
The short fourth toe.
How did you (do you) get your toes in heels after surgery? How did you get rid of toe stiffness?
My toes were still pretty stiff after surgery. This was the only complaint I had for Dr. Siddiqui afterwards, I loved the length but the toes sat so weird which made them seem shorter than they were. He assured me that this was nothing to worry about and that I would start to see improvement once I started to stretch the toe around and walk more. I did so many Google searches on the types of to stretches I could do. I started with just twisting the toe around, back and forth, stretching them up against the wall, walking lunges, trying to stand and walk on my tippy toes. Once I was able to get into heels I made sure to walk around the house with them because this gave my toes a good stretch. I would even try standing on my tippy toes in the heels. Before the toes were straight enough to get into heels on their own I would assist them, pulling the toe up so that I could slide my foot in. I also have a pair of Nike Flyknit sneakers that I walk around the house with, the way they support my feet lets me feel the stretch in that toe as I walk, it is all about stretching, stretching, stretching!
Was this an implant?
They took a bone out of my heel and used it as a bone graft, so moving it from one spot to another you can read about it on The International Center For Limb Lengthening website under acute lengthening https://www.limblength.org/conditions/brachymetatarsia/
How long was the recovery process?
I got my right foot done first and it took about a month before I was able to drive, I waited that month before I got the left foot done. So about a month where I was in a walking boot and then they’ll switch you to medical shoes so you’re able to do more. My second surgery was done in April and I had pretty good movement again in May. I felt as though the second surgery recovery went a lot faster and seemed less painful, this may have just been because I knew what to expect the second go around.
Were you able to weight bear right away? Did they recommend walking after a few weeks of surgery?
The first night after surgery I was pretty scared to walk, but for the first month I was able to walk first using a walker which was the best option for me and then once probably after a week or so I switched to just using a cane. They recommended walking right away to get blood flowing but I was in a walking boot for a month and then they switched me to medical shoes, once I got switched to medical shoes I started wearing like Nike slides and sandals, I was more active once I came out of the boot i hated that thing just bulky.
Do you have a big visible incision (or scars) on your heel?
There’s no scarring on my heels at all you can’t see where they took it, the top of my foot does have scarring though it’s light after it’s faded and doesn’t show much in pictures but it’s there.