***********************************************************
DISCLAIMER:
THE FOLLOWING IS OFFERED GRATIS AS GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY, AND, AS SUCH, MAY NOT BE APPLICABLE TO THE SPECIFIC QUESTIONER AND/OR HIS/HER PROBLEM. IT IS CLEARLY NOT BASED ON ACTUAL KNOWLEDGE AND/OR EXAMINATION OF THE QUESTIONER OR HIS/HER MEDICAL HISTORY, AND IT CAN NOT AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS DEFINITIVE MEDICAL OPINION OR ADVICE. ONLY THROUGH HANDS- ON PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH THE ACTUAL PATIENT CAN ACCURATE MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS BE ESTABLISHED AND SPECIFIC ADVICE BE GIVEN. NO DOCTOR/PATIENT RELATIONSHIP IS CREATED OR ESTABLISHED OR MAY BE INFERRED. THE QUESTIONER AND/OR READER IS INSTRUCTED TO CONSULT HIS OR HER OWN DOCTOR BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH ANY SUGGESTIONS CONTAINED HEREIN, AND TO ACT ONLY UPON HIS/HER OWN DOCTOR’S ORDERS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. BY THE READING OF MY POSTING WHICH FOLLOWS, THE READER STIPULATES AND CONFIRMS THAT HE/SHE FULLY UNDERSTANDS THIS DISCLAIMER AND HOLDS HARMLESS THIS WRITER. IF THIS IS NOT FULLY AGREEABLE TO YOU, THE READER, AND/OR YOU HAVE NOT ATTAINED THE AGE OF 18 YEARS, YOU HEREBY ARE ADMONISHED TO READ NO FURTHER.
***********************************************************
Here's the video you requested.
http://www.physicianwebpages.com/animator/flash/SADDLE.swf
But it has nothing to do with hallux limitus or its treatment, and I see that that's about.what you appear to be posting.
I have no idea of what an "ectimi" is, but in my view, a fusion of the first metatarso-phalangeal joint is among the last considerations when treating a hallux limitus. It had been more popular among orthopedists than podiatrists, and I can't speak to your doctors decision to proceed along those lines, but, depending upon the nature of the condition there may be other more functional procedures which might be considered. Fusion of the joint is generally considered when there is not a more functional alternative feasible, which could possibly provide a greater range of pain-free motion. Other procedures such as removal of a bony block if one is present, joint implants or even the old fashioned Keller procedure, where the joint is totally remove, allowing the space between the metatarsal head and the great toe to scar in with fibrosis would be my consideration before a fusion. But my opinion might change if I actually saw your foot and your x-rays.
The space you saw on the x-ray was not a space at all. It was the joint cartilage. Since x-rays pass through cartilage far more easily than they do bone, the bone is far more radio-opaque than the cartilage and the bone shows up whitish while the cartilage black. Thus the joint with the "space" was healthier as it had joint cartliage and the other one was tending toward bone to bone contaction, a routine finding in osteoarthritis
As your surgery in only 2 weeks, and as you've apparently been aware of this condition for years, I assume that you've obtained other opinions . . . NO? |
