“It’s ugly, this has got to go,” my doctor exclaimed when he
saw the bunion that I had on my left foot. True, it wasn’t beautiful, but I had
had it for years and the main thing was that it didn’t hurt too much, so I
wasn’t really worried about it.
My doctor is
somebody that I have the utmost respect
for, so when he told me to go to see
the consultant who had operated on him a year earlier, I agreed.
A few days before my appointment at St Thomas’ Hospital, I
had been to see a renowned podiatrist, who had told me, that yes, you
can notice your bunion (a prominent head of the first metatarsal with deviation
of the big toe) but as I had no pain, she couldn’t see any reason to have it
removed. I was, therefore, expecting the consultant to say something more or less along
the same lines. So, I was rather taken back when he suggested that I have it
removed.
On examination of my feet, the first thing Ioan Tudur Jones, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, said on
seeing, what he called quite large bunions on both sides, was that these
were not caused by anything that
I had worn. Apparently, they are generally hereditary. If there is a history of
them in your family, you are more likely to get them. Shoes, I was told,
can make them painful, but don’t tend to be the cause.
The one on the left was significantly larger than the
right. The big toes had also tilted quite a way over towards the other toes, especially on the left,
causing problems to the second and third toes.
Mr Jones explained that the main advantage in operating on the left bunion
would be to correct the biomechanical abnormality that I had in my foot and,
given a more stable and medial column, the lesser toes would be less likely
to develop problems and, of course, the width of the foot would be reduced.
I felt from the moment that I met Mr Jones that I was in
capable hands. Therefore, if I had to spend approximately six weeks in a
surgical shoe and the first two weeks with my feet elevated, I thought I may as
well have them both done.
Like all surgery, there are potential risks and
complications. Mr Jones explained to me that the risk of both infection and
nerve injury would be less than 1 per cent. The risk of arthritis in the joint
would also be less than 1 per cent. I was told that the bunions were highly unlikely
to come back again.
When I told people I was having them done, I was surprised
at the reaction. I didn’t realise how common they were. I even got stopped in
the street by complete strangers wanting to know about my experience.
Friends and colleagues asked me to write about it as many didn’t know
what to do about theirs and also many were taken back when they realised that
bunions can be genetic.
By Daralyn Danns
Part two to follow
