First correction surgery booked for May 21st — big toe crossing second toe, both feet, spreading pain up the chain. Looking for experiences from people who’ve been through staged corrections
So I’ve been putting off posting about this for a while but I’m now two weeks out from my first surgery and my head is all over the place so here goes.
I’m 24, male, based in the UK. Both my big toes are crossing over the second toe — on both feet the big toe is now touching the third toe. I’ve been told this is progressive and isn’t going to plateau or stabilise, it’s just going to keep going. I can still get into normal shoes which I know puts me at the more functional end of things but the pain has been ramping up significantly over the last 6 to 8 months.
Here’s the thing that really pushed me toward agreeing to surgery — it’s not just my feet anymore. Over the last 6 to 8 months I’ve started getting real pain in my knees, then my hips, and now my lower back is starting to join the party. I’m pretty sure this is all connected. My gait must be compensating for the foot mechanics and it’s working its way up the chain. I work in residential children’s care and in schools so I’m on my feet constantly, walking, moving quickly, sometimes in physically demanding situations — this isn’t a desk job. I can feel it catching up with me.
The plan as I understand it:
• May 21st — correction surgery on the left foot, straightening the big toe
• Roughly 10 weeks later — right foot
• After that — tackle the bunions themselves
I haven’t been given a huge amount of detail beyond that which I’m going to push for more on before the 21st. I assume the big toe correction involves breaking and pinning/plating the toe and possibly the second toe too but I’m not entirely sure.
Why I’m going ahead:
The surgeon and the advice I’ve received has consistently been — at 24, your youth is probably masking how bad this already is. The structural compensation your body is doing is being held together by the fact you’re young and your joints and muscles can absorb it. Take the surgery now while recovery is on your side and before the secondary damage to your knees, hips and back becomes its own problem independent of your feet.
That logic makes sense to me. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.
What I’m looking for from this community:
• Anyone who’s had staged corrections like this — left foot first, then right — what was the gap between surgeries actually like in practice?
• How long before you were actually functional again, not just technically healed but actually able to walk properly and work?
• Did sorting the toe crossing deal with the referred pain up the chain (knees, hips, back) for anyone? Or does that take longer to resolve as the body relearns its gait?
• Any regrets either way — people who wish they’d done it sooner or people who wish they’d held off?
• What do you wish you’d known going into the first surgery?
I’ve spent a lot of time going back and forth on this but I think I’m going ahead. The trajectory without surgery doesn’t look good and I’m already feeling the effects at 24 in joints that have nothing to do with my feet. Just want to hear from people who’ve actually been through it.
Thanks in advance.