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The response to the question below was authored by Marc Mitnick DPM

pin removal from left hammertoe area, four months after surgery

by Theresa
(Colorado Springs)

I need to have pin removed after bunion -hammertoe surgery. It hurts when I walk and is trying to poke through the bottom of my foot. I had the surgery because of pain in the ball of my foot. I am a nurse... need to work for ten more years or so. Like to hike, like to walk. Surgery was four months ago. I have been in tennis shoes since December and back to work since December. Shooting pain started shortly after I returned to work. I am turning my foot all the time to the left to prevent putting pressure on the area where the pin is hurting. My doctor is finally going to get the pin out next week. Hope I can start walking normally again as I am gunshy about putting weight on the surgical part of the left foot. I want to start jogging this summer. I am 56 years old and very active. My main question is just... am I going to feel better eventually? So far, my foot is worse than before the surgery. To make matters worse I found out that my surgeon recently sued my employer for something so I am in the midst of changing doctors because he no longer does surgery at my hospital. Fortunately his partner has agreed to take the pin out. I am not making this up!

RESPONSE

Hi Theresa,

This is fairly straight forward, other than the part about your podiatrist suing the hospital you work in.
Anyway, if a piece of hardware is protruding through the

skin, it is going to hurt. This is particularly true on the bottom of the foot where every time you take a step you feel the pin pressing and thus your pain.
Removing a pin, although it does require surgery should be nowhere as involved as was the original surgery and your recuperation should be a lot quicker.
The only real issue is that your doctor has to decide is the surgical site is stable enough to remove the hardware. I do not know what kind of procedure you had done, but at sixteen weeks, with no history of complications, the hardware should be able to be removed safely.
You state that the surgical area is more painful now than it was before surgery. Is that all because of the hardware or are you having other issues?
In general foot surgery, where bone is cut and fixated can take upwards of a year to fully "mend" itself. It does not mean that you have to wait a year to return to an active life style; it just means you have to accept some limitations.
I tell my patients that even though they may not feel great, as long as they are noticing improvement on a week to week basis, then they are doing fine, as every one heals at a different rate.
If you are not seeing some improvement on a week to week basis then you need to have a conversation with your surgeon (or his partner) to make sure there are no other issues to deal with.

Marc Mitnick DPM
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ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

Mayo Clinic

Johns Hopkins Medicine

MedlinePlus

Arthritis Foundation

University of Rochester Medical Center

Harvard Health

Drugs.com

American Academy of Pediatrics

Penn State Medical Center

National Institutes of Health

Columbia University Department of Rehabilitation

ScienceDirect

Stanford Health Care

Illinois Bone and Joint Institute

Mount Sinai Hospital

Institute for Chronic Pain

University of Florida Health

American Family Physician

Cedars-Sinai

University of Maryland Medical Center

MY PRODUCT RECOMMENDATIONS(items I prescribe in the office)

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(location unknown)

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(location unknown)

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Placentia, California

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Unknown location

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Unknown location

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New Zealand

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Sincerely

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Arizona

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Florida

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Poland

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South Carolina

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location unknown

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Bre

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anonymous

Dr. Mitnick, Thank you, you were 100% correct. The pain finally brought me to the ER. I spent 8 days in the hospital. The Doppler you spoke of was able to show that there was no pulse in that foot. This was an arterial clot that split and traveled throughout my leg. My leg was almost amputated. I am in rough shape but have all my parts intact!! You certainly know what you are talking about. Thank you for taking the time to answer. Yours Truly!

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Poland

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Seattle, WA

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location unknown

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New Jersey

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location unknown

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location unknown

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Evansville, IA

Dear Marc

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Jackie

San Diego, CA

Dr. Mitnick, Just want to say thank you so very much for your quick response and very informative reply! After reading what you had to say, I called the doctor's office and was able to get in and see him the same day as my injury. Toe was x-rayed and luckily, it is not broken or fractured. Very badly bruised and will probably lose the toe nail. And although my toe and toe nail are still very black and blue and very sore, they ARE both starting to feel a little better. So again, thank you! I am so very happy that I came across your website. The service you provide is outstanding and immeasurable!

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Albany, NY

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Jill S.

location unknown

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Jackie

Whichita, KS

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Boston, MA

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....Keep up what your doing. Your a life saver.

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Colorado

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Colorado

Wonderful advice

by: Anonymous

This is the best site for foot problem info.

Thank you for this information. This description fits my pain and inflammation behind my 2nd toe perfectly.

by: Max

location unknown

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Canada

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location unknown

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Wisconsin

Thank you for your response. You have provided some great insight (to my question)....

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location unknown

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Renae

North Carolina

Many Thanks Dr Marc!
Thank you for your response. It sounds like a good plan to me. He did not cut the wart out first ...

KG

location unknown

Thanks again doc for having this website and we STILL need qualified Podiatrists in beautiful sunny Tampa Bay (Bradenton) Florida.

Bessie Mae

Florida

Dear Dr. Mitnick, Thank you so very much for taking your time to answer my question. You have greatly relieved my anxiety related to the continual tingly I feel in my feet. I will share your response with my podiatrist next week. God bless you for having this question and answer page on your website! Most gratefully,

Lynne T.

location unknown

Your webpage is excellent, I commend you on sharing your knowledge to the public.

Robert

New Jersey

Thank you. you were more detailed than what others have told me they finally called from the last xrays and my son is now in a cast for 2 weeks he did have a fracture that was not noticeable.

a mom

location unknown

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Lenoir, NC

Thank you so much Doc for a quick and thorough response!

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Bellevue, WA

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Jodi

location unknown

pin removal from left hammertoe area, four months after surgery

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