My Big Toe Surgery Healing Progress
This is my first surgery where I was cut open more then an inch. I am still amazed at how well our human bodies can magically repair itself quite well.
Out of thin air (ok, food, water, blood and oxygen play apart) our bodies will create new cells and skin tissue to repair and reconnect a once fully pried wide open surgery wound. I did nothing special during my recovery besides keep it covered most of the time, until about Day 15, where I would let it “air out” some at home.
Not going to lie, after I removed the wrap on day 3 (72hrs after surgery), it looked little gross. But it looked really f**k’d up on day 6. Since I was already doing some PT, thinking I may have over did it, so I laid off doing it until around day 9.
I think these pictures show, that even though you may see your wound f’d up , it actually comes together just fine and no major issues occur.
Day of Cheilectomy Surgery 
Few Days Post Cheilectomy Surgery 
Day 6 Post Cheilectomy Surgery 
Day 8 Post Cheilectomy Surgery 
Day 9 Post Cheilectomy Surgery 
Day 12 Post Cheilectomy Surgery 
Day After Stitches Removed Post Cheilectomy Surgery 
Week 3 Post Cheilectomy Surgery 
Week 4 Post Cheilectomy Surgery 
Week 8 Post Cheilectomy Surgery 
Week 12 Post Cheilectomy Surgery 
6 Months Post Cheilectomy Surgery 
Did you have similar results? Let me know below in the comments.
Do you have a picture of your joint before surgery? Not sure if I want to do cheilectomy or fusion of joint. My foot hurts if I walk too much (not very long). Did you have to refrain from driving after surgery and for how long?
Hi I am a little over 3 months post op from this surgery and I am having more pain again. By the end of the day it’s red, hot, swollen and painful. My doctor said it was all normal but I’m concerned. Any tips?
I am Day 18 post op and I can barely put weight on my right foot. Ball of foot is so sensitive I cannot wear surgical shoe even though the nurse insists on it to keep toe flat. Instead I ordered a soft Velcro closure slipper to have something on my foot while limping to bathroom. Walking on side of foot when absolutely necessary but am told that could cause stress fracture of 5th MT.
I had to take oxy for more than a week esp at night but did so sparingly. Actually I had leftover Celebrex which worked better esp on Day 2. Took that first shower two days ago and darned if I didn’t drop a tube of conditioner right next to incision and cut my foot! Bleeding stopped fairly quickly but worried about infection. Still elevating foot much of the day and of course at night.
I am concerned that this surgery was a mistake. At least I could walk previously mostly without pain but heck I have been accommodating this bone spur for decades with deep toe box shoes (ugly) and careful walking. Hoping the long term recovery will be better. Surgeon wants to do left foot next year. Not sure I agree.
Hello Linda,
I just had this surgery 8 days ago. Ever6seemed to be going ok pain not to bad….but then day 4 my foot started hurting so bad. The incision was not really hurting but other places on my foot was hurting horribly. At first I thought it was the ace bandage was too tight, so I loosened it, that didn’t help. I noticed my foot was turning even more red, warm to the touch, and the dressing was showing yellowish. I immediately called the Dr office after hours. I was put on Clandomycin antibiotics. It took 3 days to finally get some relief. My stitches were removed today but the incision is still warm and red. The dr said I have no more cartilage in my foot but I am too young for the rod so she worked on the bone gave me a few years. I hope you are doing well.
I had this procedure 6 weeks ago and was able to ski 5 weeks out. Then had same surgery last week on opposite foot. Pain was minimal and suggest alternating ibuprofen and acetaminophen every four hours throughout the day.
Whoever said it was similar to knee or hip replacement is terribly misinformed. this is a walk in the park compared to those major surgeries where blood loss can be extreme. I’m a psychiatric pharmacist and if you’re waiting for your next oxy then you’re either not catching the pain early enough or have another issue with med seeking.
If you’re not taking care of yourself physically or have other Comorbid issues such as obesity or diabetes then you’ll be slower to heal and should be on nonsteroidal meds and not the big guns such as oxy. That leads to constipation at the very least or habit forming at the worst.
My advice is to realize there are other options for pain and take some accountability for your health. Maybe your surgeon screwed up or maybe he didn’t and you’re trying to blame your poor results on someone else.
Seek true professional help and stop reading blogs.
My Cheilectomy was 8/20/20 & due to other ailments crutches are to difficult
& I’m using a wheelchair. My post op appointment is 08/26/20. I stumbled across this website searching for information. According to my surgeon, my bone spur was one of the biggest she’s ever seen. It actually looked like a penguin. My spur extended upward and the branched across. If it’s possible to share pictures, I will. I will read more from others & share my experience.
Hi Ken, Interesting you got Oxy without requesting it. At the hospital facility I had the surgery at (Wisconsin) they would not even prescribe it unless the Hydrocodone didn’t appear to be enough. Which in that case I was suppose to call the hospital and request “upgrade” to oxy. But as dangerously addicting Oxy is, I was fine with trying Hydrocodone (400mb every 4-6 hours). But was told to alternate Hydrocodone with just pain relievers, which actually worked pretty low. Iceing and eleavating the foot laying down made a big difference for the first several days.
I had my cheilectomy 4 days ago and I too was lead to believe it was a relatively minor procedure which it likely is compared to hip and knee replacements. My experience has been painful. I have yet to see any blogs from patients about their pain medications. I was prescribed Oxy for pain and I have needed them. Now, it could be i have a low tolerance for pain but regardless I didn’t realize this procedure would result in taking these narcotics. I am in a sandal now and bandage off which is better and I am encouraged by the positive results being posted here.
I just had this surgery a month ago but my big toe was also dislocated and my plantar plate was torn. I would say the cheilectomy surgery portion went well but I had to delay my PT until 5 weeks post-surgery due to the bruising from my big toe to the arch of my foot. I still have a slight limp since I can’t roll through my foot 🙁
Hello, sounds like there was a good amount of items to account for during the surgery, so glad it went well. And you will absolutely have to slight limp for a couple months (in my experience) to get the flex (without healing pain) needed for a normal bend during walking. Which is about the 75-80% upward flex movement needed (don’t need the full 100%). I will be posting my 6-month cheilectomy surgery progress which just occurred, and am around the 80-85% upward flex and able to walk with any limitation with shoes on. And if I remember to stretch it well in the morning, can walk barefoot with little to no adjustment to walk. Good luck.
My cheilectomy was and is very painful. Not a simple surgery for me. My incision tore open and oozed and still is. Took antibiotics for two weeks. I’m at weekly 5. The incision is still open in the center with the ends finally closing. I’m still limping. I have to elevate my foot a lot. I can tell if I’ve been on it a lot it throbs and I have short stabbing sharp pain. The doctor said it looks good. When I asked how long it will Liz he said until it’s closed. I asked for pain meds and was given 10 Percocet and Motrin. Motrin really doesn’t help but that’s all I have. He said if pain doesn’t go away he can fuse it. With the way this surgery turned out, there’s no way I would let anyone cut into my foot again. It still looks bad.
Sorry to hear your having these troubles Lauretta, I have to say, your experience is not the typical progress & outcome expected.
Having to receive and take the strong opioid long after surgery for pain is concerning. I am not sure if it was a bad surgeon or the damage to the cartilage joint needing the cheilectomy prior to surgery was too severe. I would give it a couple months at least, if there still much pain and not much progress, I would get a second opionion on the results prior to committing to fusion. Good luck with the recovery.
Hi. How is your foot now? I am at 5 weeks post op and have the same issues you were having.
Thank you 😊
I hope you are doing better. I had surgery 5 weeks ago. At Week 4 the incision started oozing. Got put on antibiotics.. At Week five I have a scab 1/2 wide and 1 inch long. My foot has never been painful after 3 days post surgery. Have not need any pain medication. My foot is still swollen and discolored. All of my toes on my right foot are not very mobile. I’m in my midsixties and extremely active. Just want my life back.