When people suffer from painful bunions and start to think about bunion surgery, they always ask me, does bunion surgery hurt? Bunions surgery does not have to be painful. With the obvious disclaimer that any type of surgery can be painful, it really does not have to be. There are a number of advanced techniques the skilled foot surgeon can use to ensure that you are as comfortable as possible when it comes to your bunion removal surgery.
First, make sure your bunion will provide local anesthesia before your surgery starts. This is important because making the foot completely numb before the procedure starts will help to ensure that you do not experience the “anesthesia awareness” that has recently been reported on it the news. This is the situation where someone might be unconscious for the surgery, but still actually feel pain. If your foot is numb from local anesthetics before the procedure begins, this can prevent that otherwise rare occurrence. In addition, make sure that your surgeon utilizes (so you will benefit from) all of the latest developments in post-operative pain reduction.
For instance, while in Surgical Residency, I worked on research that related to a simple yet effective and low-cost technique that was extremely effective in reducing pain after bunion surgery. In that study, 95.92% of bunion surgery patients reported taking less pain medicine and believed that there pain much less than had the “pain pump” not been placed in the surgical site and used in their foot surgery cases. I published the secrets on this technique in a medical journal called Ambulatory Surgery in order to teach other foot surgeons how to make bunion surgery a better experience for their patients.
You should also make sure that you have access to other postoperative pain reducing techniques such as cryotherapy. This is a very simple device that circulates temperature controlled cooling through a special pad incorporated into the dressings applied at the time of surgery. By continually icing and cooling the surgical site for first couple of days after surgery, patients have less pain, less swelling, and recover faster.
Post-operative pain is not just an unpleasant annoyance, but it is also generally unhealthy. Pain in your feet can actually hinder the healing of the wound and prolong your recovery. For these reasons, your foot surgeon should use every single available effective method to make sure that your bunion surgery goes smoothly and with as little discomfort as possible.
Your ability to enjoy everything from walks on the beach to dancing at the charity ball is contingent on your feet. You should only expect the very best performance from your surgeon when considering corrective foot surgery. It is important to not only imagine what your life would be like without the pain from bunions, but also to think about how simple bunion surgery could be if you chose a surgeon who would help ensure the fastest most comfortable surgery possible.