Hallux rigidus cheilectomy experiences

[canyonhunter47]

I have a hallux rigidus, which is a bone spur on top of my big toe that also causes arthritis in that joint. I plan to schedule the operation pretty soon as elective surgeries are open. Has anyone had this surgery and can comment on short and long term recovery?

 

[ol490]

I can sort of comment. I had that procedure in conjunction with a procedure to fix the first metatarsal in each foot due to structural issues in both feet.

I did have the condition and procedure you refer too, almost no range of motion left when trying to bend the big toe up, and large bone spurs. They removed bone spurs, cut the metarsal in two to shorten and lower the front end of it, and they micro fractured inside the joint.

The bone spur procedure itself is straight forward. However, by the time I had it done, I had ruined the cartilage inside the actual big toe joints and micro fracturing didn’t help.

I can hunt and have even been on sheep hunts in tough country - once right before surgery, and a couple since. However, I have to wear super stiff boots to keep my big toes from getting flexed up due to no cartilage.

I would guess that just the bone spur removal won’t take too long to recover from as bone heals quick and doesn’t have much for nerves to transmit pain. Keep in mind I am sort of guessing as that part of my surgery was the least invasive. My two cents is don’t wait until cartilage damage occurs within the joint, if that is a possibility in your situation.

I had the surgeries in January and February and hunted fine that fall.

Hope this helps.