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Years of wearing cheap shoes while working on my feet have left me with mishappen and painful feet. The misallignment causes me great pain in my hip and knees, so I am getting the right one fixed in three weeks, and the left 12 weeks after. Has anyone here gone through this, and are you satisfied with the results? Bunions, hammer toes, and my toes angled about 45 degrees to the outside... they say it will hurt like hell for a couple of weeks each time. Guzzi content- I want to be able to comfortably wear boots and feel the shifter and brake lever. I also need it all done in one year so my max out of pocket expenses are capped by insurance. I am cheap, after all.
I'm an orthotist (not fancy-- an orthopedic brace guy). Your problems can not be fixed with inserts/arch supports/orthotics. I'm sure you know that by now.I've seen many, many folks after foot surgery. My advice: find the local specialist surgeon. Most surgeons would rather operate on anything rather than feet. That includes brains and hearts. Why? As you've found out, feet are remarkably complicated little machines with lots of little parts inside, lots of articulations. A specialist foot surgeon will understand that. A general orthopedic surgeon will not. Most larger areas have surgeons who specialize in feet. Find that person. Ask local orthotists or physical therapists or doctors. Ask google for reviews. You may have to travel to that person. Do it. After the surgery, follow the protocol that the surgeon lays out. Exactly. If he tells you to stay off the post-op foot, stay off the damn thing. Even if it means using a walking boot or knee scooter to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.Foot surgery can work great. Just make sure you see a specialist and do exactly what he says. Except for one thing. Your surgeon may tell you that you don't need arch supports after surgery. I'd get some anyway. They won't hurt anything and they can help you be more comfortable. Cheap ones usually work fine.
Encountered the dreaded planters ailment years ago. Began the journey of inserts/shoes/doctors/days of unbearable pain/lots of money spent/very compromised lifestyle/etc. At one point, was sharing with someone who'd been there w/worse issues than I had, and they had recently found a path of healing that was working! Sweet! Directed me to 'Northwest Foot and Ankle' (https://www.nwfootankle.com/) and Dr. Ray's journey to healing and his alternative treatment, including Correct Toes.After loads of studying, I thought 'what the heck?' and jumped in w/both feet (pun intended): Changed shoes; started using the Correct Toes; did some of the other suggestions on his site.Cure didn't happen overnite, but, w/in a 6 mo. period after making changes, I could tell I was on the 'correct' path. Now, 8 +years later, I am good to go. I can honestly say that I no longer deal with foot pain from planters..... period. The foot doctors, during earlier treatment, told me that I'd never do things like: go hiking, climb a ladder, get on a roof, jogging, or anything that stresses the feet. I can do all of those tasks easily (well, as easily as a guy north of 70 is able to do..... )Obviously, YMMV, but I can say that the insights and education re. the workings of the foot were very helpful for me to understand what was going on w/my feet, and why alternative treatment made sense. All of my foot doctors had followed the same format: shots in the foot (I still have nightmares about those- almost more painful than the ailment they were intended to address); rigid inserts; more restrictive footwear. Who knew that my solution lie in going the opposite way!I wish you the best in getting treatment that works for you. I don't think I've ever suffered more pain than my time w/planters.Rickps I have no affiliation w/Northwest Foot and Ankle; my sharing is more along the lines of 'one beggar telling another beggar where he found food'.