Getting a bunion removed (having a bunionectomy) can be a painful but necessary medical procedure. Swelling after surgery is common, but if your foot is still swollen for more than six weeks after your bunion removal surgery, your podiatrist may have committed medical malpractice.
What Are Common Ways to Help a Foot Heal After Bunion Surgery?
A bunionectomy usually takes between 1-2 hours to perform and another few weeks to heal post-surgery. Doctors will usually recommend the following steps as you heal from the surgery:
- Keep the foot elevated. Doctors will usually recommend keeping the affected foot elevated for at least one to two weeks post-surgery. This will help reduce swelling.
- Wear a surgical shoe and limit your physical activity. A surgical shoe will further help reduce post-operative swelling, but doctors recommend that patients limit their physical activity to no more than 10 minutes a day. Doctors also recommend refraining from putting excess weight on the affected foot.
- Ice your foot as needed. Podiatrists will frequently recommend that their patients apply ice packs to swollen areas as needed, which will go a long way in helping further reduce post-operative swelling.
Typically, a bunionectomy will require no more than three to four weeks of recovery time — and you should be feeling much better at around the three-week mark. But if you’re still experiencing swelling and pain in your foot six weeks or more after surgery, the bunionectomy may have failed.
Can Your Bunionectomy Fail?
Yes, it is possible for a bunionectomy to fail. A failed bunion surgery can compromise the quality of your life by causing you intense and constant pain and causing you to struggle with basic tasks like walking.
How do you know if your bunionectomy failed?
- Your bunion comes back. This is the most common type of failed bunionectomy, and it may indicate that your podiatrist failed to properly treat your bunion in the first place.
- Your big toe is “overcorrected.” This overcorrection, known as hallux varus, occurs when your podiatrist takes too much soft tissue (such as connective tissue or tendons) out of your foot during a bunionectomy, resulting in muscular imbalance.
- You have post-operative arthritis. There is cartilage between all of our joints, including between our toes. When that cartilage degenerates, it is called arthritis. When it occurs after bunion surgery, it could happen because the podiatrist took too much cartilage out of your foot during the surgery.
Let The Dental & Podiatry Malpractice Lawyers of New York Help You
If your foot is still swollen more than six weeks after bunion surgery, you may be the victim of a failed bunionectomy. You may wonder, too, if you have any legal recourse against the podiatrist who botched your surgery — and that’s where The Dental & Podiatry Malpractice Lawyers of New York can help.
With 25 years of experience in podiatric malpractice law, The Dental & Podiatry Malpractice Lawyers of New York pride themselves on vigorously defending victims of podiatric and dental malpractice. We are prepared to take on your case and work directly with opposing counsel, insurance companies, and the New York court system to fight for the compensation you deserve for your injuries, pain, and suffering. Best of all, our firm offers a free initial consultation, and there’s no fee unless we recover money for you.
Lawrence M. Karam, P.C. serves clients in the Five Boroughs, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties. Contact us today. During your initial consultation, we’ll discuss the details of your case and your options for moving forward to pursue the compensation you need. Let’s work together to get the justice you deserve.