Any one had a cheilectomy? I’ve put this off as long as I could but now that the pain is bad enough in my big toe joint that I’m messing up my mechanics I think it’s time. I’ve gotten a couple opinions from orthos - one a foot/ankle specialist - and they’re in agreement this is the necessary course of action. I have an appointment with a podiatrist today to confirm but I’d be surprised if there was another recommended course of action.
I guess the main questions I have for those of you who have been down this road are: how was the recovery? Did you do anything that sped up the recovery? Anything that made it take longer? How are you feeling now? I realize these are all personal results and will vary widely…just looking for some insight. Thanks in advance for any feedback. (Feel free to PM if you don’t want to respond in the post.)
I’ve done a hundred cheilectomies (nice round # estimate :)) Most do well if your pain is primarily at the dorsal “bump” part of the joint or with end ROM or shoe gear irritation. Those that don’t do as well have more underlying arthritis of the joint and will need another procedure down the road (or just live with the pain) or should have had a different surgery altogether (i.e. joint implant, OATS procedure, joint arthrodesis).
I’ll leave the recovery responses to those who have had the procedure. Best of luck.
I had one done about 3 years ago, The recovery wasn’t that bad I had the surgery in April and did IMLousiville in Aug. Granted I didn’t have the run miles in but my swimming was pretty good! I used a static stretching device that just gently pushed my toe up and then another one to push it down. Apparently this helps with the range of motion and seemed to work for me. I still have pain in the toe but I do have underlying issues, I think my joint was at a stage 3, very limited movement and a cartilage damage.
I also had a lot of pain in the joint after I started using it, Hot and cold therapy worked wonders for me. The important thing is to make sure everything is healed before you start running. Oh the doc also said my running days were over and that I would be seeing her in about 5 years if I kept running. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.