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"Once you're a pickle, you can never be a cucumber"

Fuller

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That was the answer to the question, but it was not what I wanted to hear...

For background references please see this: https://www.pugski.com/threads/the-agony-of-d-feet.14634/ in which I describe how I came to be in this unfortunate circumstance.

Today I finally got around to seeing a doctor, my new friend The Podiatrist. I had a recommendation from my GP to see a particular guy so I called the office and made an appointment. When it came around to giving them my address I started to spell my street name as I always have to do; "Ok, three words in Spanish: Paseo (P, A, S, E, O) Del Rio...

The overly chipper gal at the front desk says "Oh I know how to spell it, Dr M. lives there.”

"Oh really" I say, trying to think of all the dog walkers I've chatted up and folks speeding through the neighborhood I've cursed at throughout the years and then a long ago conversation comes to mind and the name matches up. "So he's a Podiatrist, I didn't know that - and the long ago conversation was about skiing!

So I had coincidentally made an appointment with my podiatrist neighbor who happens to be a skier - which was good because I needed a sympathetic ear to bend and someone who understands the need to get back on the snow without compromise. So what was the question?

"OK, Doc, will these bunions go away on their own?"

"Once you're a pickle, you can never be a cucumber" said Dr M.

Meaning of course that I'd pretty much done some permanent damage to my beautiful healthy feet by following the collective advice of Pugski et al and downsizing to a low volume boot that should (and did) do wonders for my skiing. Just kidding Pugskiers - I take full responsibility for my shiny new bunions but now I must tell you this cautionary tale and you must listen carefully lest you encounter the same situation.

The Tailor's Bunion or Bunionette is a painful, unnecessary addition to the "little toe edge" of your foot. The underlying condition is congenital and it causes the 5th metatarsal to wonder away from its proper alignment with age. This results in a wider foot; add to that a footwear malfunction and you can set up a stimulus / response scenario. In a surprisingly short time, about 35-40 days in my case, I was done for.

As skiers we all have to live with a certain amount of discomfort. I don’t know about y’all but if there’s 12” inches of new snow on the mountain I’m skiing no matter what my feet are telling me. As long as I can get through the day I can live with it – or so I thought. Around the 35 day mark I took my boots to the local shop and got the “sixth toe” area punched out a bit. I told him not to be too aggressive with the punch as I didn’t want to be slopping around in them like the previous pair. It helped a lot but a week later I was feeling the pinch again. I managed to finish my time at WMR without missing a day due to sore feet but I finally had to give up when my last day of the season at Grand Targhee was scrubbed. I bought a 2 day pass and only used 1 day. It snowed the last day too but I was over it and just wanted to get home.

On the way home I stopped by to see my sister in Tennessee who is a retired PA. “Soft tissue injuries can take as much as 6 weeks to recover” she says. OK, I’ll give it 6 weeks.

At my yearly physical my GP says, “I think that will reabsorb over time” I would be overjoyed if that were to happen. But this is what I now have to go through to really fix this:

They actually break and reset the 5th metatarsal to correct the angle and while they’re in there they shave off the unwanted bone from the side of the foot. Dr M tells me that he guarantees me I can be back in ski boots in 90 days. Me being me, I would get both done at once to minimize my down time. Alternatively you can get temporary relief from cortisone but I’m leery about planning a 3 month ski trip relying only on that. The cortisone should work well the first time but has diminishing effect the second and third. What the hell do I do if a week into the season I’m in agony every morning? I also have a full calendar of Swim / Bike racing this summer which will have to be compromised one way of the other if I go through with the operation.

Considering this is all self-induced I’m pretty mad at myself. I should have considered the long term effects of what I was doing. In hindsight I would have paid just about anything in the way of ski boots and custom fitting to avoid this mess. Please be smarter than me and save yourself the Agony of d’Feet.


Yours Truly,

Pickled
 

Paul Lutes

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Wow - valuable lesson; thanks for the info/warning! Given what you're faced with I. might even be considering amputation! "It's just a little toe" (in Monty Python voice).
 

Andy Mink

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My wife had the chop-and-break done on both feet. Came out fine and she's skiing with no foot pain.
 

MountainMonster

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D8E0DA42-DDC7-47B6-BF56-53BAC1649160.jpeg Foot problems are the worst..
 

Andy Mink

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Fuller

Fuller

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My wife had the chop-and-break done on both feet. Came out fine and she's skiing with no foot pain.
That's good to hear, I know i have to get it done eventually - the question is when. Did she do both at the same time?
 

James

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Nope. Just a foot.
Sorry, that was for the op.
@Fuller got a photo of how big your sixth toe was to need surgery?
What should people who have small ones do to prevent from getting too big and needing surgery?
 
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Fuller

Fuller

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Bunion1.jpg
Bunion2.jpg


Not all that impressive but it's not how big they are it's how much they hurt. Also I think they are already getting worse. Lucky for me I don't need to wear shoes for the next 6 months. If I were a normal 66 year old I could probably live with it for a while but I really don't want to slow down and if it's fixable I want to fix it.

BTW, I'd say there's about 4-5 mm of extra tissue there compared to normal.
 
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Fuller

Fuller

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What should people who have small ones do to prevent from getting too big and needing surgery?
Apart from the aforementioned cortisone, the only thing you can do to slow things down is to modify your footwear. I've cut the sides out of my gym shoes and my bike shoes to be more comfortable. I still need to wear work boots when I mow the lawn and I feel it the next day.
 

James

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View attachment 75076 View attachment 75077

Not all that impressive but it's not how big they are it's how much they hurt. Also I think they are already getting worse. Lucky for me I don't need to wear shoes for the next 6 months. If I were a normal 66 year old I could probably live with it for a while but I really don't want to slow down and if it's fixable I want to fix it.

BTW, I'd say there's about 4-5 mm of extra tissue there compared to normal.
Yeah, that's not that big! Mine's bigger, but maybe further aft. They don't hurt unless in ski boots. I had more room made.
 
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Fuller

Fuller

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I still have my old 100mm last boots, if I don't do the surgery route I think I'll stop in Dillon CO the first day of next season and get the best liner I can get. I know there are a number of shops in that area that could set me up. I'm somewhat resigned to sacrificing some performance to keep my feet from giving up halfway through the year.
 

Andy Mink

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That's good to hear, I know i have to get it done eventually - the question is when. Did she do both at the same time?
No, several years apart.
 

Kneale Brownson

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I have had "sixth toe" tenderness, but not big bumps, just small ones. I have found that the irritation comes more from BELOW the foot than from the side pressures. I can relieve the problem by filing down the outer edges of my footbeds and taking a bit of material out of the shell below the plate under the liner.
 

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