My Mallet toe surgery and recovery

I have had mallet toes or what some would call hammertoes my whole life. It runs in my family. So no it's not from too small shoes or heels. The mallet toes were painful. Especially in shoes, even in sneakers at times. Aside from that I hated my feet. I was too embarrassed to show my ugly feet so I rarely wore sandals. For the longest time I wanted to do something about it. So i finally mustered up the strength and scheduled an appt with an orthopedic foot doctor. (After researching doctors for weeks) I had my first appt and from there we scheduled my surgery. The mallet toe is a deformity so the surgery was covered by my health insurance. I just had my surgery on Feb 13 and I'm going on 3 weeks post op.


Here are my toes before: 

I was scheduled to have the second and third toe corrected. As marked below (getting ready to go into surgery)

I was under general anesthesia for this surgery.

2 hours later 

I felt great after surgery. I had absolutely no pain. I started taking my meds as soon as I got home to avoid pain later on. The first night went ok. My dad carried me up the stairs (I live on the second floor). I was able to walk from the living room, bathroom, bedroom, etc. I didn't feel anything due to my feet being numb. I tried to ice my feet hourly. I did forget at times. The second day I still had no pain. I stood in the shower. It's a better idea to get a shower bench. It's much easier and feels better for your feet. I began to feel pain the 3rd day. The pain wasn't crazy. I could control it with my pain meds and icing. After the 3rd day I no longer needed the pain meds. I could not get my feet wet and they had to stay in the bandages until my stitches were removed. (2 weeks) 

The first two weeks haven't been bad. I have left the house a couple of times. I haven't driven. I haven't felt any pain. 

2 week post op visit: The Unveiling 

My stitches were removed. It didn't really hurt I just felt a little sting. The pins at the top of my toes will be removed at week 3. As you can see the 2nd and 3rd toe were straightened and shortened a bit. I still can't get my feet wet until the pins are removed. My 3 week pre-op is tomorrow. I have been keeping track of the healing. 

Day by day they are getting better. I notice less swelling and redness daily. I can't wait til the pins come out. I'm going to use mederma to help with the scarring. The black that you see is from the marker he used before my surgery. I also have a couple of scabs. Overall I am very happy with the results so far. over time the skin will flatten, the swelling will go down, and the scars will fade. I will update after my appointment tomorrow.