Have you been frightened off having bunion surgery by horror stories of failed surgeries long painful recoveries times and bunions that come back?

Me too but fortunately I didn't listen.  I'm going to be charitable here and say that if the tales came from your GP I would hope it's just that's he's misguided and a little out of date with regard to modern bunion surgery by a good foot consultant.  If it's to do with cost cutting on the NHS well shame on them because the sooner you get your bunion sorted out the easier and cheaper it is.

I decided to go privately after negative comments from my GP about how painful and unsuccessful bunion surgery was and I'm very glad I did.  After much research to find the best foot consultant I could I went to Mr. Stuart A Metcalfe FCPodS Consultant Podiatric Surgeon for my bunion surgery.  He operates in Birmingham and London.

Let me say up front that:

• I had no pain at all - absolutely none

• The mild discomfort during the first 2 to 3 weeks bothered me less than the bunion did on a regular basis.

• At 2 weeks I was walking albeit carefully without aid.

• At 4 weeks I forgot I'd even had surgery

• At 6 weeks I returned to normal activity including dancing and exercise

I had my first appointment 14th July 2008 and on the 5th August I went in for my surgery arriving just before 6pm.  I chose a general anaesthetic which was not really necessary but I personally find it removes any stress.  Dr Steve Parr of Parr Anaesthetic Services dealt with that and an excellent job he did too.

At 6.30pm I went down to theatre by 7.30pm I was on my way back to my room and by 8pm eating sandwiches waiting for my husband to take me home.

Now here's the crazy part.  24 hours later I actually rang the hospital because I was worried that I couldn't feel any pain.  No they said I had been given a good anaesthetic block during my surgery and that was why.

When that wore off I began the painkillers only to find I didn't need them.

August 12th I had my first check up and all was well healing nicely and just starting to walk with a crutch.

I was a bit late for my 6 week check as I was on holiday but by then things were back to normal.  No 5 mile runs but I was walking and swimming normally.  After my hols I had my xray and it was perfect.

Here's my advice if you are looking for Bunion Surgery

• Have a look at Foot Consultant . com for lots of useful information

• Do it as soon as it starts bothering you - don't leave it.

• Go private if you can afford it and travel if it means getting the best surgeon to sort out your bunions

• If you need to go NHS insist your GP takes note of the fact that you want to deal with it sooner rather than later.

• Make sure your surgeon is specialised in this type of surgery.  If he does hip knees and everything else then he's maybe not the right choice for you.

• Read a little about modern techniques and ask the right questions if in doubt.  Nothing wrong with asking how many bunions he's done in the last year.  See technical stuff about my bunion surgery

• Ask about anaesthetic options for your surgery and aftercare.  There's absolutely no reason to suffer a poor service here private or NHS.

• Don't waste your time looking for natural remedies.  There is no scientific evidence to say they work once a bunion starts to bother you (and yes I did try them). Don't get me wrong I'm the first to stay away from prescribed drugs and go for the holistic approach but surgery is one area I also hold strong views on.  In my opinion if minimal risk surgery prevents you taking long term medication anti-inflamtories and painkillers it's the better option. 

Technical stuff about my bunion surgery

The procedure I had is called a Scarf/Akin and when I decided to have bunion surgery I read a very interesting article in Podiatry today about this very procedure.  My interest was mainly discovering why if I was going to ignore my GP should I expect a much better outcome than he was predicting.  This article on Scarf/Akin Bunion Surgery although not meant for patients was very informative.

I personally never want to think about what goes on once the surgery starts.  I just want to go to sleep and wake with it done.  However for those of you that aren't as feint-hearted here is a bunion surgery video of the scarf/akin procedure.