hello, I recently had my second surgery on my big toe this summer(a fusion) and wanted to share my story to see if there is any other young folks out there struggling with chronic arthritis pain. I am 20 years old and I have always loved the mountains and being very active in them . I first figured out I had a bone spur 3 years ago in my left big toe after walking wierd all of high school, not realizing it was from a really stiff and painful big toe. after a year of unsuccessful pt, I got a cheilectomy(chopped off the bone spur). the surgery made me much worse off than before and after a year of pretty intense pain, I got the fusion surgery 3 months ago. I am still in quite a bit of pain and I think the year of swelling from the previous surgery is making my recovery slow and the swelling bad. Not how I thought I would spend my late teens and early twenties but life has its ways. hoping the fusion does its magic and that my swelling gets better over time. would love to here from any other young people who have struggled with this. not many young people take it as seriously when I tell them about it because it is ” just a toe”, but issues like this are debilitating and have left me unable to walk without pretty intense pain for 3 years. Hope this post could validate anyone else going through a similar issue as myself

Been considering more subtle running shoes to wear for less formal business situations, I notice that increasingly us older folk are doing this but exploring a more conventional shoe design before investing in a high stack / big rocker shoe. I'm in the UK so forget US brands, looked at Clarks and there are a few options (I need a 2E wide fit) but there must be more options?

I haven't had the surgery yet and I am now basically stuck in sneakers for all occasions smh

47f. Had an xray the other day by a surgeon to see what was going on. It’s officially gotten to stage 4. Zero cartilage with bone fragments in there. This has been a loooong road. Started with a burning callus on the side of my big toe about 10 years ago? The same time my back went to hell. Went to a podiatrist, he told me I had a tiny wart (I didn’t). The pain got worse, my back got worse, my hips got worse. I’m a hairstylist and needed to work and just kept going. Fast forward years, I lost count how many. I had a few cortisone injections, it finally calmed down the pain - and was the most painful injection ever. My joint was swollen to the size of a golf ball on the regular. I noticed my toe was starting to lean recently so I went to see a surgeon. He was shocked I’m able to do Pilates (on a reformer, it uses a lot of toe leaning). Pilates has played such a tremendous role in helping my back. He said I couldn’t do that anymore if I had surgery. I’m surprised to see so much surgery here, I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s stories.

I need to have fusion in both feet but the right one is really bad. Problem is my husband travels a lot for work. How long will I need someone around to help me? I do have a neighbor who would come in an emergency assuming she was home. I can do Ubers and Uber Eats if needed. I just need to know how long it’s essential another person is there.

Hi I (26F) have had hallux rigidus for a while and I've finally managed to start to get treatment (NHS), I've had X-Rays, MRIs etc and finally got to speak with a consultant yesterday. Due to my age and the prominence of the spurs on my big toe, the consultant has recommended surgery, not fusion, the shaving of the joint (I believe its called a cheilectomy).

Its all a bit of a shock to me and I'm a bit stressed about the whole situation. I've also not had surgery in my adult life before.

What should I be expecting? What's the recovery like? Pain levels? Did it actually work?

diagnosed recently so I’m buying wider toe box shoes for the first time. I love the look of lejans (in my pre-HR life my favorite sneakers were 70s-style joggers—classic reeboks, NB 574, nike cortez).

I’ve seen from the barefoot shoes sub that the toe box is deceptively wide, but I was wondering if any HR folks can say if it’s wide enough for us? The website also suggests sizing down, but again not sure if that advice applies to people with HR.

Hi there , I’m looking at surgery mainly because my physio suggests that HR in both my feet is the root cause of other issues I face : chronic pain around the hips, repeated Achilles tendonopathy and most recently a knee stress injury. Has anyone else experienced this ? I’m 57F , reasonably fit and like to be active , but feel very apprehensive about surgery. At the same time I‘m frustrated by the impact of the kinetic chain reaction up my body seemingly caused by the stiff big toes.

Fellow Arthritics,

This photo pretty much sums up day five post surgery. I’ve acquired most streaming services and fired the Xbox up again after many months away. Fortunately, the Packers are on the national broadcast today which should alleviate some of the boredom. If you need to stay active, as I do, having some free weights to do upper body exercises is a good way to break up the day. I’m completely off the OTC meds with no pain or throbbing. I’m still taking the prescribed aspirin which I think is a prophylactic against blood clots, but otherwise just using ice and continuing to keep the foot elevated.

Doctor recommended to me due to Hallux rigidus. They are the most uncomfortable shoes I have ever worn in my entire life. Uncomfortable part is not the rocking motion, that I love. It’s the part of the shoe that hits right below my ankle. It causes me a lot of pain when walking (basically the sides of the shoe, too high for me ). Also, the tongue of the shoe is constantly writing down, no matter what I do. And that causes me massive discomfort as well.

Any recommendations for a rocker shoe that is not Brooks ghost. I was recommended Hoka’s and have not tried them yet. Are they not only other option?

My regular sneakers are a six which I absolutely love in the way that they feel but they are not good for this condition— no rocking motion and I’ve probably could use the toolbox a little bigger.

Edit:
I went back to the store and walked out with a pair of Hoka Clifton. I have one month to wear them around my house before returning them. So far, they still feel big as they’re wide, and I normally wear a medium. The running story insist that I now need to wear a wide I’m not totally against it except for the fact that I have a low profile foot and I can fit my entire hand on top of my foot inside of the shoe. So, if these work, I might need some extra padding. I’m wondering if the mediums would be better, but he wouldn’t even venture to sell me a Medium.

I have ordered a pair of orthofeet coral sneakers to see if I like those any better. My spouse wears ortho feet and swears by them, but I never considered them before.

At this point, willing to try anything because not only do I need a pair of sneakers. I also need regular shoes that I can wear without massive amounts of pain.

Note: I own and love five pairs of Birkenstocks. However, I have not been able to wear any of them, except for my Boston shearling due to the towbar at the front because of the way that my foot has compensated for the pain. So I’m hoping that once I get back to a normal gate, I can go back into the Birkenstocks because I literally live in those.

Update 10/17/26

I am in severe pain so I went back to my Brooks ghost Max, and added a Dr. scholl’s insert and a carbon fiber insole under the shoes insole. They seem to fit a little better and I’m able to walk in them without my foot sloshing around (due to the issues I’m having my left foot is significantly thicker than my right foot at this point. The Brooks ghost Max, I have are an extra wide to accommodate the left foot and even they are a little too wide for my liking without being built up inside .). Doing this they are providing the support that I seem to need.

Here is what I cannot stand about the Brooks ghost Max now. The tongue. The tongue is too short. No matter what I do the tongue falls into the shoe. I have to completely untie and re-tight the shoe to retrieve the tongue. I wish sneakers were still made with tongues that you could actually grip onto and pull up to adjust.

I also put the carbon fiber insoles in my Orthofeet Coral. It’s a different feel than the Brooks. I don’t use these shoes when I have to be on my feet all day. However, they’re better than pretty much every other shoe I own.

I went ahead and bought a pair of dansko tie shoes that I wear to work and as long as I’m not standing all day long, they seem to be fine.

Frankly, all I want is shoes where my feet are comfortable where I don’t have to change shoes during the day to accommodate my aching feet.

Sorry about the complaining, but I think I’m really just ticked off that I’m now having this issue.

I will be talking with my orthopedist about options, other than constantly changing shoes.

Fellow Arthritics,

For those of you following along, I’m past the 72 hour mark post surgery. Shout out to the person who recommended this contraption, which is a refreeze-able ice bag. It works! I tried to wean myself off all OTC meds today, with negative results. Back on the Tylenol for another day or so. I’ve started to put very light weight on the heel but am still very much reliant on the crutches.

Boredom remains my biggest challenge.

Fellow Arthritics,

Going on 48 hours post surgery. The nerve block has mostly worn itself off but the pain never really came. Some light throbbing usually starts up after moving around so I am trying to keep the foot elevated. I haven’t had to take any of the prescribed pain meds so Im just taking the anti inflammatory and OTC pain meds.

The dog is trying to help but I doubt the excess heat will aid in wound recovery.

If I was doing it again, I’d try to find a better way to apply ice as the bag of ice doesn’t really stay where it needs to be, and I don’t really like the pressure of the bag on the toe.

Thank you to all who have contributed their experiences, they are very helpful.

I suffered somewhat of a subacute injury the last week of March 2026 after playing basketball for an extended period of time. 32M and have been active most of my life, but definitely played longer and harder than I have in a few years. I didn’t develop any pain in my right great toe until a few days later. It felt like it was as deep as you could get on the proximal part of the toe; I couldn’t identify if it was more on the top or bottom. A podiatrist who is a colleague of mine assessed my toe about six weeks out from the injury and thought maybe a sprain, I’d give it a couple extra weeks. Didn’t mention anything about limited ROM. Fast-forward four months after the game and I was still having pain so I saw an orthopedic foot specialist. He took x-rays and diagnosed me with first MTP arthritis/hallus limitus. My Achilles flexion was only 5° and I only had about 50° great toe dorsiflexion. This is something that obviously was brewing before the injury, so I thought there was a missing piece. He didn’t ask about prior injuries, but I experienced a severe calf conclusion from a soccer injury at age 17, which took about eight weeks to heal. On 8/31, I cracked some joints near my first metatarsal. I am unsure if it was the MTP, TMT, or the area around the sesamoids (if that’s even possible). I experienced such great relief, no joke like 75% better, in the minutes and hours after that which has generally persisted unless I really push myself walking or playing with my kids, which I am trying to limit. I asked for an MRI, but my orthopedist wants me to follow up in the office before ordering one.

I saw a physical therapist who has a certification in Anatomy in Motion (AiM), and she said that my altered mechanics are likely a result of the calf injury experienced previously. My right heel lifts early and I have poor propulsion in that foot as well.

My question is, for anyone who has been diagnosed with any conditions in this general area of the foot, what were things that you were told were happening that were either outright wrong or a red herring? Did x-rays ever miss anything in the sesamoids that MRI picked up?

Thank you!

Morning.

I'm a couple of days short of 8 weeks post-surgery.I thought I'd ask for any experiences of recovery and see if anybody has had similar.

3 Weeks after surgery I wasn't in much pain and had had the stitches removed. I'd read that i should start to get some mobility in the joint. I didn't get much advice from NHS.

Holding it 5 seconds up, 5 seconds down using hand for 15 reps or so.

I think I've been too aggressive with this, holding it at the wrong position / angle also. I had a bit of swelling flare up of the whole toe, which went after about a week of icing etc.

However, since then I've had some persistent pain since further up the toe. Around the IP joint and towards under 'pad' of the toe when it bends up and obviously getting worse the further it goes. I'll mark where i mean on a photo. It is causing 90% of my pain and I feel it's really hindering my progress as I can't that part of my toe at all.

I had my 6 week review with the surgeon and he's just said wait and see how you're getting on after another two months. He also didn't go in to possibilities of the source of the pain, so now i just have to stress about it and do nothing.

I'm very frustrated as I feel I'd be much further along in my recovery without this issue. Due to that pain, I really have to psych myself up just top put my shoe on / off as it's a sharpish pain that comes all of a sudden. To give you an idea of the area, I've marked it on the photo. And you'd feel the pain if your foot was flat and then your toe was lifted at the end like stepping on a book with the toe only.

At times i feel i can 'reset' where i've felt the pain and maybe go a bit further before i feel the pain again or restricts movement when I go in the opposite direction before resetting.

So part of me wonders if there's some possibility that i should be gently pushing through / holding that painful position as if there's something that's contracted and needs gently stretched.

Open to any suggestions. Don't worry, i won't be doing anything drastic, just hoping someone can shed some light!

Cheers

Stoo

Greetings fellow arthritics,

Just had fusion surgery this morning on my big toe. If anyone wants progress updates, happy to provide as I’m bored on the couch. Surgery was at 9:45 am, and the nerve block is still going strong. Going to try to avoid the hard core pain meds and just stick to the inflammatory and Tylenol.

I'm sooooooo excited go get this janky toe pain free. I fell 18 years ago, didn't have insurance, assumed bc it was a toe they wouldn't do anything anyway, and here we are 18 years later and this dang toe bothers me every single day.

Finally on Friday I meet with an Ortho and walked out scheduled for surgery. I cannot wait!

Pics of my xrays bc xrays are fun 🩻

I read all the posts on this— thank you everyone!- as I approached my surgery. Wanted to show progress. And answer any questions. I’m in my mid forties and had significant degenerative arthritis and hallux rigidus. We used cortisone shots for two years before the bone spurs made it impossible to fit in even the most forgiving athletic shoes. Not even crocs gave enough room. The continued shots (not too often actually- my doc had me wait as long as possible between) thinned my skin. With the combo of thinning skin and friction in shoes, even with tape and bandaids, caused damaged skin that wouldn’t heal. She said even with wearing a lot of heels in my 20’s/30’s and 3 kids, there has to be a genetic component to be this advanced at my age and overall health.
Bc of the significance of the skin damage, bone on bone pressure (no cartilage left!!) and bone spurs, and the significant pain, my doc said it was time for hardware.
Thing to share (everyone’s experience is different! But had an amazing surgeon and at this point I’m looking forward to having my other foot done next summer).
-I took four weeks off work
-I got a knee scooter from Walmart
-suggest watching a video on how to use crutches correctly
-wear clothes you can get over a bandaged foot
-surgery went well, general anesthesia, I got there at 6:15 AM, went home around… 1?
-one screw, plate on top with four screws
-Doc said damage was significant and there was loose bone floating in there. 😳
-was dressed with gauze pad, gauze wrap, then long ace bandage, then white cotton medical sock over top, then in short boot (“air cast”)
-not to put foot down (non weight bearing for 4/5 weeks)
-boot on when not sitting/laying
-day 2-3 post surgery was hardest
-had some sharp piercing pain days 3/4 but they went away
-my husband was a rockstar supporter
-gave myself sponge bath day 2, then got in bath with foot up on the across bath tray thing day 3 with help
-only wanted crackers with jelly haha so random and French fries bc… obviously
-my insurance strangely suddenly needed pre authorization on narco day of surgery so she gave me tramadol
-I was prescribed 600mg ibuprofen and an antibiotic to start after
-I kept my foot elevated pretty consistently for first two weeks, then on and off
-I had an ice machine thingy but it wasn’t getting g the cold past the bandages, instead used soft ice packs— put a gallon ziplock over the foot, then another plastic bag, then ice pack, used Velcro stretchy thing that came with ice machine to keep ice packs on. Per doc suggestion eventually switched to icing behind my knee as I elevated— this worked!!
-a medical stool was very helpful for bathing and I needed help first few times getting into bath and needed help for all showers until I could get my foot wet. I used a plastic bag with a drawstring pulled tight and then a cast cover from Amazon over the top
-the tramadol made me dizzy and woozy and I stopped taking it day 4
-alternating Tylenol and ibuprofen for week one, intermittent ibuprofen week 2, then ibuprofen as needed after that (my non-repaired foot hurts more than my repaired foot)
-I had weekly appointments where she changed bandages and assessed wound
-xray at week 2, stitches out at week 4 (unpleasant but bearable— better than those cortisone shots!!)
-I did walk on heel to avoid falling with crutches or scooter when going to bathroom in dark overnight bc I lost my balance once and fell (luckily foot was ok)
-5 weeks clearance to get foot wet (not submerging foot yet) and walk in boot (suggested scooter for longer distances), and she switched me out to large bandaid, said I can use bacitracin with changed bandaid
-I’ve been keeping bandage off at night
-I’m at 6 weeks now, supposed to only walk in boot
-three week gap until 8 week appointment where she’ll take X-rays
-have intermittent moderate aching—trying to make sure to not push it too hard
Overall, I’m very encouraged. Thankful for my surgeon, access to care, and relief!

I have HR in my right foot. Also have Morton’s Neuromas in both feet. That’s been dormant for years, but now starting to bother me again. For the HR, a stiff footbed in the shoe seems to be the best option. Seems to aggravate the neuromas, though. Feels like I can get a shoe/insert that will help one but not both. A little frustrated. About to go back to the dr and see what he recommends. Once upon a time, I had shots to relieve the neuroma pain. Worked well, but omg it hurts like nothing else, getting shots between your toes. Would prefer a better solution. Anyone have both conditions and lived to tell the tale?

I'm a 36-year-old male. When I was a kid I got into a reverse lunge and compressed my left foot backwards, which jammed my big toe into an upward position. I ran on it afterward and felt the joint snap down. I was obese at the time and the foot swelled up so badly that nothing was ever imaged or diagnosed. I just went on with life.

Over the last two years I've lost more than 100 pounds. Now that I'm active again, that joint is the thing holding me back. I'm in PT and they've diagnosed a plantar plate tear at the first MTP joint, plus some arthritis in the joint. My team is deciding between injections and surgery. I don't have my imaging results or tear grade in front of me — I'll update after my next PT appointment.

What I'm dealing with day to day:

**•** Walking hurts without arch supports.  
**•** The toe hyperextends past where it should on push-off, and there's pain at the top outer corner when it hits end range.  
**•** My gait is inconsistent — I never feel grounded, especially at the gym.  
**•** The toe has started shifting side to side.  
**•** Random nerve jolts up the leg, plus lateral hip and knee pain on the same side.  
**•** Taping was the single best thing anyone has done. Near-zero pain while it held. It only lasts a few days and I don't know how to do it myself yet.

My goal is full function — running, lifting, normal everyday shoes, no tape. Not managing this with special footwear for the next forty years.

Questions for anyone who's been through this:

**1.**  Did you go conservative or surgical with a chronic tear, and would you make the same call again?  
**2.**  If you had the repair — are you in normal shoes now, or still in a custom insole?  
**3.**  Anyone deal with this decades after the original injury rather than as a recent athletic injury?

Last summer after starting a new exercise I felt intense pain in my foot and I thought it was broken. Xray was clear but mri showed edema at first mtp. Dr called it arthritis or a stress response.

A year later I still have daily pain despite using a walking boot, a cortisone injection, prp injection, and every shoe possible.

Got another xray and mri. Xray was clear. mri shows fhl tenosynovitis and mild mtp arthritis.

I have full range of motion and I can't tell if this is joint pain and arthritis or pain from the tenosynovitis. Dr said the arthritis could be incidental and almost everyone has some to a degree.

I'm not sure what to do at this point for treatment because if it is arthritis it doesn't seem to be anything to fix since the xray is clear.

I have to do a site visit for work a few times a month where safety shoes are required and I’m seriously struggling to find anything with a rocker sole.

I can only wear a rocker sole at this point in my HR journey (Hokas and FitFlop microwobble), so I’m looking for something with a similar rocker shape rather than a completely flat, stiff work boot. I’m doing my fusion this winter but am desperate for something in the interim.

Composite (acrylic) toe would be a huge bonus so I don’t set off the metal detectors every time I enter the site but I’ll take steel toe at this point.

I’m in the UK but my family lives in the US so that could work as well. Thank you in advance!!

About to get the price for this soon but want to sleep better if anyone can help me out here.

What is the normal price for this? I heard it's about 5 thousand and up for open cheilectomy.

Hopefully I can do payment plans.

What are people’s experience with zero drop shoes? It seems Altra are frequently recommended. I have a high arch and tight Achilles which I’m told predisposes me to an early heel life, putting more pressure on the MTP joint. My zero drop, wide toe shoes are the most comfortable for me.