Toe correction

[Kellyblue]

Hi Everone

Got Hypermobility everywhere . Was thinking about having my clawtoes straighened

Walking is rather painful.Got Sunken Arches aswell.They pull rhe knee is and knee pull the hip in.Balancing the Feet on the ground is difficult.But having my toes straighened Would help with my Walking i was told by podiatry.

Has anybody had the procedure done on their Feet sucsessfully ? Can Hypermobile joints cope wirh such a procedure?

Really Hope to find some answers

[Steenygirl1]

Hi Kelly blue, I didn't have claw toes but I had always had hallux valgus which only became painful in my late 40s. I had them corrected privately by a podiatric surgeon who ran other tests because he found bone erosion on xray and also notes I was hypermobile. I had it done with local anaesthetic and sedation. The second foot needed more local anaesthetic and the sedation did knock my blood pressure down a lot but the surgery had been delayed and I had very low blood sugar by then - but this was all before I was diagnosed with hEDS and autonomic dysfunction 6 years later. I had had flat feet as a child and given physio and arch supports but was never followed up on the NHS. It was very painful for the first 3 days - and I realised codeine is not good for me, nor is ibuprofen! But after that it was bearable and I healed very well, the scarring is hardly noticeable. I suppose it depends on what you are like with healing. The surgeon was very pleased about how flexible my joints were afterwards, little did we know!! I am so glad I had it done. I went back to a podiatrist as recommended by my physio after I was diagnosed and had supports again to help my knees, hips and back (all privately but no help available locally with NHS) and he was very pleased with the surgery. I am so pleased I had it done, he cleaned up all the extra bits of bone I had developed due to the early arthritis in my 40s which helped with the pain - I couldn't bear the bedclothes to touch them and walking was so painful, all so much better now. I did a lot of research and because I used my husband's private health insurance I was able to say where I wanted to go, course it was the only thing I had done on it but it was worth it. I went for a podiatric surgeon because of their speciality on the feet. I had been an orthopaedic nurse many years before and know you need someone who has a lot of experience in that area. If I were you, I would go for it. The claw toes are never going to get better on their own and you will develop early arthritis xx

[EOLHPC]

Am v much feeling for you Kellyblue.

Am also hypermobile everywhere. My claw toes began to develop in childhood and by my 50s had progressed so much that i couldn’t walk or stand due to constant severe feet pain & instability. My worst foot also as CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome). My sunken arches were less of a prob than my claw toes & CRPS because from my teens onwards i have always worn sensible shoes with bespoke orthotic insoles, and updated my orthotic insole prescriptions regularly

Because my other 2 infant onset primaries (systemic lupus & antibody deficiency disease (a PID of the CVID type) make me at ultra high risk of infection during & after surgery...no podiatry surgeons wanted to touch me.

Anyway, 5 years ago my pain consultant finally referred to a famous professor orthopaedic surgeon colleague on the other side of the UK. He told me that i could correct my severe claw toes & reduce my feet pain & instability generally by committing to an INTENSIVE regime of gastrocnemius stretching..which i’d need to continue for the rest of my life. I travelled home dreading the effort this regime was clearly going to demand of me...but OMG, within the first week of doing his daily 40 minute gastrocnemius routine i could literally FEEL my poor toes beginning to relax a bit for the first time in decades...this felt amazing

So, yes, the Prof othro surg is right: it’s clear i’ll have to continue this regime for ever, but after 2 years of doing it 40 min daily, i could skip a day now & then...and eventually i was able to reduce to 20 min most days. Right now i’m recovering from scoliosis spine surgery and can’t do the regime at all, but my toes are so much better that i know they’ll be ok until i can return to 20 min daily

I have to use a wedge at a very steep angle because my ankles are MEGA hypermobile so need the extra steepness. Here is a link to the wedge my husband found for me:

amazon.co.uk/Physioworx-Adj...

Hope you’ll let us know what treatment you go for and how you get on

Take care ❤️🍀❤️🍀 Coco

[Kellyblue in reply to EOLHPC]

Hello Barnclown.Thank you so much for your reply .Had a consultation last week

with a specialist for Foot and ankle problems.He did not recommend to have ties straightened but instead ordered a new pair if insoles which would correct the ball of the foot. Not sure now. Anyway I had a look at the wedges.Might order one.

For the moment I just stand on the step and let the foot drop. Can do it for about

3 min. than the knees really hurt. How did you manage to do it for 20 min.?

Kind regards

Rita 🙂

[EOLHPC in reply to Kellyblue]

Thanks for this news, rita! You’ve been in my mind

In my case, bespoke insoles with metatarsal domes to help the ball of the foot have been & still are key

- I couldn’t do the prof’s gastrocnemius stretching regime using steps: hurt my feet & ankles too much. - And i also couldn’t do the regime with my feet in the floor and hands pushing against the wall: this hurt my pelvis & lumbar spine too much

- but thank goodness the wedge from amazon made the regime possible

The regime is like this:

20 min session in the morning & 20 min session in the evening

During each session you alternate stretching each leg/foot for only a minute each, alternating until the 20 min are over (which equals 10 x 1 min stretches for each leg/foot at each 20 min session)

Right from the start, I made sure to see an hEDS expert physio who monitored how i got on doing this regime...and i hope you will too - you’re right: this is very hard work and you need to take care not to aggravate other vulnerable parts of your body

Hope that makes sense

Take care & good luck ❤️🍀❤️🍀

[Kellyblue in reply to EOLHPC]

Hello Barnclown.Doing the Footstretches now and it's such Great feeling.

When I am finished my Feet feel like As if Iam walking on heels.It is such agood Stretch . Doing it for Five Minutes for Starters But will be By Ten Minutes soon

Thank you so much for the Great Tip.Amazing! ☺️ Kellyblue

[EOLHPC in reply to Kellyblue]

😍 OH GOSH..kelly am so HAPPY it’s working for you too 👏👏👏👏👏...this is GREAT news, THANKS! You’re very sensible to build up the length of time gradually. YAAAAAY 🤩

[Kellyblue in reply to EOLHPC]

Hello Barnclown. Could you perhaps Tell me the Name of the Ortho Surgeon?

Also forgot to mention that the toes that Claw were fractured long Time ago

When i hit them on something ,then After while they just started clawing.

So,Not sure if the stretching would straighten them, When they had been fractured?

But in any case i will Continue the stretching for my hamstrings.It makes my Feet feel good😉 Best wishes Rita

[EOLHPC in reply to Kellyblue]

Will message you 👍