Bunion foot surgery is a common procedure, but even so, nobody wants to have surgery of any kind if they can help it. As with any surgery, you have some serious issues to face if bunion foot surgery is in your future. Going to the hospital for surgery even if it's on an outpatient basis, takes a big bite out of your important schedule. Plus, there's always the concern of how much your insurance will pay. Another major consideration is recovery time, which unfortunately is not always what your doctor leads you to expect.
Surgery on your feet has it's own particular implications, in that you have to stay off your feet for what might be an extended period of time afterward. This is never a good situation, unless you are content to spend lots of time - perhaps weeks or longer - in bed with your laptop or a pile of books. Of course, this situation means that someone trustworthy has to be around all the time to wait on you to bring you lunch, help you to the bathroom, etc.
These are good reasons to avoid surgery on your feet it at all possible.
The most common type of foot surgery is surgery for bunion removal. Bunion foot surgery, also called a bunionectomy, is usually performed on an out-patient basis, but nevertheless all the concerns mentioned above are the same. Keeping the swelling down is of paramount importance after bunion surgery, and this requires ice packs and keeping your feet elevated. If you don't take care of your feet properly and keep the swelling down, then your bunion surgery recovery can last for months. No one is happy in this situation, but it is one many people have to deal with one way or another.
Of course, avoiding getting bunions on your feet in the first place is a guaranteed way to avoid surgery for bunions. Many doctors in the field of podiatry believe that the tendency to get bunions is inherited, but the whether or not a person actually develops bunions is due primarily to the kinds of shoes she wears.
Notice that I wrote "she" in the last sentence above. This is because over 90% of the people who get bunions are women. And women are the ones who wear shoes with high heels and pointed toes. So...whereas bunions have a genetic component which relates to abnormal bone structure, many if not most women could go their whole lives without even knowing they have something different about the bones in their foot (around the big toe joint) or by ever being bothered by bunions.
Avoiding surgery is a goal for any reasonable person, but unfortunately, most surgeries are unavoidable. Illnesses, diseases, and accidents place thousands of people everyday on the operating table. We are blessed to have such advances in the medical profession that allow for life-saving medical procedures.
Bunions are by no means life-threatening, but they can certainly put a major dent in your life-style when they become severe. The experience of debilitating bunion pain whenever you put on a pair of shoes will definitely curtail your activities and diminish your enjoyment of life. Bunion splints and other bunion aids help a lot of people, but if you are not among those who are significantly helped by non-surgical bunion treatment, you will most likely end up having bunion surgery.
Certainly, shoes with high heels and pointed toes have a certain sexy appeal... why else would women subject themselves to wearing these shoes that are murder on their feet? Of course, wearing sexy shoes occasionally will not cause any lasting harm, but if you wear them on a regular basis, you are issuing an invitation for bunions to make their ugly appearance.
All of this leads to one question for the reader: Is bunion foot surgery in your future?
