[wdfifteen]

Over the past 15 years or so the hallux (big toe) on my left foot has gotten progressively more stiff due to arthritis. I had to stop running about 10 years ago because of it. For the past 3 years or so I’ve had to limit walking. I walked by rolling my foot off to the left because forcing my big toe to bend was so painful. The messed up gait was damaging my knee. I went from wearing size 10 ½ shoes to size 13, and tried a whole bunch of different orthotic insoles with some success, but the stiffness got worse. I could only bend my toe 15 or 20 degrees without pain. It got to the point where I was walking around like a penguin and not getting the exercise I should be getting.

Last summer my podiatrist said it was time for a cheilectomy – opening the toe up and scraping out the arthritic bone growth. I would be down for 4 weeks, so I scheduled the surgery for winter when I wasn’t so busy. I went under the knife last Tuesday, and I feel better already. I can already flex my toe through about 45 degrees without pain and it is expected to get better as the trauma from the surgery heals. I’m pretty optimistic about this, and actually looking forward to getting my right foot done next winter. It’ll be great to wear soft-soled shoes and I might even get into my old Fry boots again.

Don’t look at the next post if you don’t want to be grossed out.