Shoe Gear After Bunion Surgery

You have gotten your bunions surgically corrected and have grand expectations of wearing any shoe you want, when you want, for as long as you want.  Sound familiar?  Let’s talk about realistic expectations after you have bunion surgery.

First, your shoe selection immediately after bunion surgery will be dictated by the amount of swelling you have.  When you are allowed to transition to regular shoe gear from your post op shoe or boot, we always suggest a thick soled athletic shoe.  Often a mess style is better than a full leather upper.  This allows you to continue to control your swelling, but is the most accommodating type shoe.  You want one with great support as you will have considerable arch strain if attempting to wear shoes without arch support.  In the beginning, you may not be able to wear an insert inside your athletic shoe, mainly due to swelling.  But as this subsides, put your custom orthotic or Healthy Steps insert in your shoes to improve your recovery process.

Once you are allowed to wear different types of shoe, please don’t expect to return immediately into your 4 inch heels or ballet flats or Cole Hahn loafers.  Your foot is going to retaliate and give you a lot of unwanted pain.  So be patient.  Want to wear a dress shoe or sandals?  That’s ok, but think supportive, thicker soled shoe, not thin, flat and flexible.  The stiffer the sole of the shoe, the more comfortable it will be.

What about flip flops?  You can wear them only if you want to go through the surgery process all over again!  No joke, not kidding.  The only way you keep a flip flop on is to grip the small strap between your toes with your first 2 toes.  This causes your big toe to move outward or lateral.  This is the same direction it was going before surgery and causing increased pressure on the metatarsal head inward or medial.  If worn immediately after surgery, you risk the chance of causing an immediate recurrence of your deformity.  Sooooo not worth it!  Now in many cases, I will often let my patients wear flip flops occassionally after the first year.  But there are some cases when they are just not ever an option.  But same holds true for the type of flip flops you wear.  Think thicker soled and not Old Navy throw backs!

Ok, what about those heels? If you are a lover of high heels, they will feel comfortable in 6-8 months after surgery.  But don’t expect to be able to wear them all day long in the beginning.  Again, be patient.  When in heels, you walk directly on the area where surgery was performed, so that bone has to be ready for the increased pressure.  Otherwise, you’ll have pain.  And as always, we love for you to keep heels to a minimum.  But for some, they are a dress code requirement.  In this case, think wider heel, not narrow and thicker support under the ball of the foot.  34 Minutes shoes are a great example of supportive heels that maintain great style.

Now for you gentlemen, the options are a little easier.  You will still start with your athletic shoes, but your next step if you are needing dress shoes is a lace up or full upper shoe.  Avoid loafers or slip on style shoes where the tongue of the shoe stops just passed your toes.  When wearing these shoes, there is a forced toe gripping effect that must happen to keep your shoes on, which in turn causes pain.  Make sure your shoe fully covers the top of your foot.  And you are no different than the women when it comes to the sole of the shoe...think thick and rigid.

Everyone is different in their healing process and we help you through shoe transitions based on what we see during your recovery.  Just be patient with your foot and don’t force it into a shoe that it’s not ready to be in.