Bunions can be extremely painful.  They can make everyday activities uncomfortable.  These can be things like running or hiking or climbing or even just trying to wear shoes.  The pain is often described as a dull ache or even a burning type sensation.  Plenty of patients relate other things like trying to wear a shoe again after being in a sandal all summer or a sudden sharp pain on the bottom of their foot.  The symptoms and problems associated with a bunion can be diverse and understanding the pathology can be helpful.

A bunion is not a growth on the side of the foot.  Quite a few patients come into the office believing that they have a bony growth that is causing the bunion.  However this is a common misconception. The bunion is caused by a change in position of the 1^st metatarsal bone.  This bone begins to deviate towards the other foot and as it changes position the big toe drifts towards your 5^th digit or pinky toe.  This deviation gets worse with time.  There are factors that influence the bunion.  Primarily it is genetics.  Your bunion develops because one has a family history of bunions.  There are factors that will increase the speed at which it occurs like high heel shoes for example.  Eventually it becomes big enough or painful enough to have it fixed.

Fixing a bunion is my specialty.  I really enjoy helping patients to get back to the activities they love.  Bunion surgery can be relatively straightforward and provide excellent results.  The vast majority of bunions can be fixed in 1-2 hours as an outpatient procedure.  The surgical recovery depends on the procedure selected and the fixation utilized to repair the bunion.  If you are suffering from bunion pain I can help!  Give me a call at 425-391-8666 or make an appointment online today.

Sincerely,

Dr. Brandon Nelson

American College of Foot & Ankle Surgeons

Bunions are primarily a genetic foot structure that is inherited from mom or dad.  We see that it can skip generations as well.  There seems to be a misconception that the bunion is just a growth on the side of the foot.  However, this is not true.  The bunion is a misalignment of the first metatarsal.  It occurs when the first metatarsal separates or begins to deviate from the second metatarsal towards the other foot.  This in turn causes the big toe to deviate or point towards the second digit.  The growth or bump that one sees is the first metatarsal pointing out of the joint.  This concept is important to understand as it will make sense when I discuss bunion correction. 

Bunion correction refers to removal or reversal of the bunion.  Well now that you understand it is a deviation, more correctly a progressive deviation of the first metatarsal, you can see why certain things will not correct a bunion.  I have seen all sorts of strapping, taping and splinting techniques to correct a bunion.  Now that it is clear this is a movement of a bone you can clearly see why none of this works.  It is not possible to move the first metatarsal back into place once it has deviated via any sort of appliance or device you apply to the outside of the foot.  Once the bone has moved the only option to correct the bunion is surgical. 

Surgical correction of the bunion is the only way to reverse this misalignment.  This is the only avenue we have to bring the big toe back into the correct orientation.  There are many different techniques based on the size of the bunion and the rest of the foot structure.  If you have a bunion and need help please schedule an appointment. Give us a call at 425-391-8666 or make an appointment online today.

Sincerely,

Dr Brandon Nelson

There are a few things patients can do to heal faster from bunion surgery.  I will review some ideas that patients can utilize that may decrease healing time frames.  Most importantly one must follow the postoperative course as directed by your surgeon.  It is important to realize that 2 things need to heal following surgery: soft tissues and bone.

Soft tissues consist of skin, subcutaneous tissues and capsular tissue around the joint.  These structures are primarily sutured closed and will typically have sutures in for 10-14 days depending on the site.  There are a few supplements that can help to improve healing.  I like to have my patients take collagen and zinc and hydrate as these can influence skin healing.  Once the wound is closed I encourage the use of silicone and moisturization of the wound.   Additionally it is important to start the range of motion of the toe to free up and adhesions.

Bone is the other structure that must heal after bunion surgery.  Usually, a bone cut, or fusion is performed.  This is dependent on the procedure but there are a few things you can do to speed bone healing.    The first being additional calcium and other bone healing nutrients.  I like to have my patients take a bone healing supplement and increase the consumption of green leafy vegetables.  Additionally, if a bone stimulator is available this can be helpful. 

Regardless of the bunion procedure these tips can be helpful in your recovery process.  Take care and wish you a speedy recovery. If you are experiencing foot or ankle pain, give us a call at 425-391-8666 or make an appointment online. 

Dr. Brandon Nelson

There are many different types of bunion surgeries.  The majority that are performed currently can be divided into two types.  The first being a procedure at the head of the first metatarsal and the second at the base of the first metatarsal.  The recovery and healing time frames vary according to which procedure a patient has.

Head procedures or an Austin type bunionectomy is the most common bunion surgery in the United States.  I believe this represents something like 70% of all bunion surgeries.  These procedures are much faster to heal and typically a patient can bear weight the entire postoperative course.  The typical patient can be back in a shoe at about 6 weeks and return to full activities about 3 months. 

Base procedures or a Lapidus type or Lapiplasty often requires longer to heal.  Additionally there is variation among weight bearing with these cases.  Some doctors will allow immediate weight bearing and some will require 6-8 weeks of non-weight bearing.  Again, most people can return to activities about 3 months and into a normal shoe around this time as well.

Things that can improve bunion healing are diet, supplements and bone stimulators.  From a dietary standpoint it is important to incorporate lots of green leafy vegetables during the postoperative phase.  Supplements can play a role in healing as well.  One of my favorites is called ProBono.  This product provides all the minerals and nutrients for bone healing and helps to reduce time to heal.  Bone stimulators can be applied to stimulate bone growth.  These are harder to come by and often insurers will not approve these devices unless you have significant comorbidities.  If you have a bunion and would like to have it fixed and have the least amount of down time I can help. Give us a call at 425-391-8666 or make an appointment online today. 

Bunion surgery for me is a very exciting procedure to perform.  I really enjoy fixing a large bunion and seeing the satisfaction on a patient's face.  Bunions can be debilitating and really interfere with life.  They make activities painful and are frustrating when buying shoe gear.  I have now been fixing bunions for 15 years and have truly begun to love the Lapiplasty.

The Lapiplasty is an exceptional procedure for patients that have large bunions.  It really has helped to create better outcomes and improved techniques for bunion repair.  The Lapiplasty is based on the Lapidus procedure first described by Dr. Paul Lapidus.  The procedure was popularized by Dr. Sigvard Hansen who was a local physician in Seattle.  Some of us had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Hansen and spending time with him.  He was truly an amazing physician that helped all of us foot and ankle surgeons.

If you are contemplating bunion surgery I would love to discuss your options with you.  It is important to get an x-ray and to see a surgeon that performs a lot of bunion procedures.  It is also convenient that at my practice we have an on-site surgery center.  Having our own surgery center is extremely valuable to patients as it is not affiliated with a hospital or an ASC and therefore saves each patient thousands of dollars in comparison to having it done at one of the above locations.  If you have a bunion I can help get you back to normal shoe gear and activities. Give us a call at 425-391-8666 or make an appointment online today. 

Sincerely,

Dr. Brandon Nelson

Bunion surgery is one of the most common surgical procedures in the United States.  It is usually performed in an outpatient setting and no overnight stay is required.  The majority of bunion surgeries take less than 2 hours and have great long term outcomes.  The most common bunion surgery is an Austin bunionectomy as it is called. It has been utilized for almost 100 years and is a powerful tool in bunion correction. 

The Austin bunionectomy traditionally involved a cut in the 1^st metatarsal head.  It was cut from medial to lateral in a chevron type fashion.  This allows for correction of the abnormally aligned joint and removal of the bunion.  It usually involves some sort of fixation to hold the bone in place like a screw or a pin.  Some surgeons require a period of non-weight bearing and typically 3 months before back to normal activities.`

I personally have performed this type of bunion surgery 1000’s of times.  I like to make a longer arm with my but on the bottom of the bone as opposed to a chevron style cut.  This allows for a more rigid fixation and faster recovery.  The typical patient can return to activities at 6 weeks. 

If you have a bunion that is causing pain and want to have minimal downtime give me a call and I can review all your options.  Remember I have an onsite surgery center that saves thousands as compared to having your procedure at a hospital or ASC.

Sincerely,

Dr Brandon Nelson

Bunion surgery involves one of two things.  These are either cutting the bone and realigning the joint or realigning the joint and fusing bones together.  The two different procedures depend on a whole host of variables like size of deformity, quality of bone, activities levels and age of the patient.  Both of these types of procedures have excellent outcomes and are utilized extensively.  Healing from either of these two procedures can be increased by concentrating on healing soft tissue and bone.

Soft tissue i.e. skin healing is part of the recovery process after bunion surgery.  Incisions are required to access the boney correction and often soft tissue release.  There are often incisions in joint capsules, release of ligaments and even release of tendons.  Additionally, sometimes soft tissue balancing or plication of capsular tissues are required.  Regardless, there are things you can do to heal skin faster after surgery.  These include taking biotin, collagen and zine.  Supplements are important to ensure adequate nutritional support happens and the building blocks of soft tissue requires certain minerals, peptides and proteins.  A good diet and avoiding things like alcohol and Tobacco is important as well for both skin and bone healing. 

Bone healing also can be increased with dietary supplements.  I recommend Pro-bono for all my post-op patients.  This supplement is extremely powerful in healing bones and I often see recovery time decrease by 1-2 weeks.  Another tool that can be helpful is a bone stimulator.  These are devices that help the body produce bone.  Each device is a little different but they work by stimulating cells that produce bone.  These usually require a prescription from your doctor.  Lastly, make sure to follow your surgeon's advice.  If you have a bunion I would love to help you decrease your post-operative healing course!                            

Sincerely,

Dr. Brandon Nelson

Bunion surgery has been performed for over 100 years.  There have been many adaptations and changes since the first bunion surgery.  There are now over 150 different techniques to address bunion deformities.  It should be noted the majority of these can be divided up by anatomical location.  We now classify bunion surgery as either a head procedure of a base procedure.  Head procedures refer to operating on the head of the first metatarsal (out towards the toes) and base at the base of the first metatarsal (or near the arch). 

The decision on which bunion procedure to utilize typically involves the size of the bunion and the underlying foot type.  Typically we see smaller bunions are amenable to head procedure and large base procedures.  However it should be noted that certain foot types will require base procedures for even small bunions.  The goal for bunion surgery is to have lasting results and reproducible results. 

I personally perform a lot of Lapiplasty type bunion surgeries.  I find these have great long term results and provide incredible corrections.  The recovery from the Lapiplasty is longer than a head procedure but the results can be much better.  If you suffer from a bunion and would like to have it fixed schedule and appointment today, I can help. Give us a call at 425-391-8666 or make an apppointment online today. 

Sincerely,
Dr. Brandon Nelson