The surgery completely corrects your bunion and allows you to quickly wear your favourite shoes.
Every day to go to work, to the gym, to dinner, to go home we walk… and we wear shoes.
Your feet want to be comfortable in shoes: you also need to feel well when you play sports, you need to be elegant when you want to, to feel sensual too on certain occasions.
Your feet allow you all this and the big toe is one of the main actors in this theatre.
What does it mean to have a hallux valgus?
Hallux valgus, also known as “bunion”, is one of the most common foot pathologies and is characterised by the progressive lateral migration of the first toe and the appearance of the medial protrusion that characterises the disease.
The bone deformity is usually associated with constant inflammation of the joint with the frequent appearance of bursitis.
The bony protuberance involves a very painful inflammation that tends to get worse with movement or walking.
In more serious cases the deviation of the big toe can lead to its overlapping with the second toe.
If neglected, it tends to progressively worsen: it can cause intense pain and even limit personal autonomy.
Who mainly suffers from hallux valgus?
The pathology affects women more prevalently than men with a ratio of 10 to 1.
In Italy approximately 40% of women are affected by hallux valgus.
The disorder can arise at any age, but the most affected group is between 40 and 60 years old.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms can vary from person to person, but they mainly manifest themselves with:
- persistent or intermittent pain;
- swelling or redness associated with a bony protuberance on the inside edge of the foot aggravated by pressure from wearing shoes;
- hard, calloused and red skin caused by the big toe and the second toe overlapping the first or curved towards the ground (hammer toe);
- progressive alteration of the shape and biomechanics of the foot;
- if the bunion is particularly severe, it can change the overall shape of the foot; if the bunion rubs on the inside of the shoe, the shoes you wear can become uncomfortable and deformed. Finally, if your foot becomes very wide, it can be difficult to find shoes that fit well.
How can we intervene on the pathology?
Unfortunately, the cause of hallux valgus is unclear.
This does not really allow you to prevent the onset of the disease, but only to implement a series of behavioural strategies aimed at living with it, such as avoiding high-heeled shoes or particularly tight shoes.
There are also interdigital braces to prevent contact and rubbing of the fingers; generally the use of an insole can alleviate the symptoms, especially of metatarsalgia, but cannot avoid the progression of the deformity.
In painful phases it may be useful to apply ice bags and take anti-inflammatories.
However, conservative therapies have a palliative compensatory function, but not a curative and corrective effect on the pathology.
Furthermore, they can lose their effectiveness over time even in those patients who have received an initial benefit from them.
Only surgery guarantees true healing.
What does hallux valgus surgery consist of?
Today, thanks to continuous progress in the surgical field and a better knowledge of the biomechanics of the foot, it is possible to correct the deformity with a minimally invasive procedure.
The minimally invasive surgery, which lasts approximately 10-15 minutes, is done under local anaesthesia, with a single injection behind the calf and gives reliable and reproducible results.
Through three small (punctual) incisions all conditions of the forefoot can be corrected.
In practice, with this percutaneous technique it is possible to achieve, in a relatively simple way, what is done with traditional techniques, without the need for incisions and with tissue saving.
Furthermore, no “synthesis” means such as screws and metal wires are used.
This technique allows for complete realignment of all deformities.
The operation is painless and on the same day of the operation the patient walks with all his weight on the operated foot with a bandage and a shoe with a flat sole.
It is clear how many and what the advantages of this method are, just as the post-operative period is equally simple, with very few rules to follow.
How does recovery from surgery happen?
As we have said, immediately after the operation, once the anesthesia has completely worn off, it is possible to walk again, even without crutches, but with a shoe with a flat sole.
The correction is maintained by special bandages which will be renewed by the orthopedist in the post-operative period and definitively removed after 30 – 35 days.
This allows you to move and walk with little pain, if any, for the first few days or manage it with common anti-inflammatories, if necessary.
From an aesthetic point of view no scars remain.
Functional rehabilitation is rapid: after the first month you can go back to wearing a normal shoe and return to your life, while you can resume more demanding physical and sporting activities 2 months after the operation.
And after just 3 months you can finally go back to wearing your favourite heels.
This is because surgery can completely correct the deformity.
For this reason it is essential to intervene at an early stage of the pathology: in fact, the more advanced the pathology and the more structured the deformities, the slower the recovery will be.
Once the convalescence period has passed and recovery from the operation has been confirmed, the problem will be definitively disappeared.
The intervention is an operation that, most of the time, is called upon to respond to demanding needs and expectations: recovering quickly, going out, taking public transport, driving, buying nice shoes, running, working, having dinner with friends, an evening, going for a walk with your grandchildren.
This is why today, even more than yesterday, the correction of hallux valgus is an important choice and super-specialization is an added value.
Dr. Vanni Strigelli deals with all those treatments aimed at improving the quality of life of patients.
If you want to know more, come and meet us on this page.
