Author: Foot Doc
Date: 6/24/2007 6:39 pm PDT
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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.
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Without actually examining your toe and being privy to exactly what was done surgically, I can only make guesses, based on previous experience, which may or may not pertain to your individual situation. But it sounds as if you are describing a flail toe. Among other possible causes of this, one can include too much bone having been removed, and the tendon(s) being severed and not properly repaired. If scar tissue were expected to take care of this, I would judge that it should have done so by now (3 months post-op). Baring preexisting venous and/or lymphatic problems and/or a predisposition for edema, three months after the typical hammertoe surgery is an inordinate amount of time for a toe to be so markedly swollen that no closed shoe can be worn, so it may be that you now have what is known as a "sausage toe." This can (but not necessarily) result from rough handling of tissues and/or damage to lymphatic drainage. If such a complication is indeed the case, I would think that that should have been picked up long ago, and treatment instituted. Delay in effective treatment can result in a chronically and intractable fat toe.
But all of this is conjecture, and if you are not getting satisfactory answers from your surgeon, the generally recommended procedure to get a handle on the situation is to get a second opinion from a well-chosen surgeon. |
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