How to Relieve and Control Pain After Bunion Surgery
Of course, everyone knows there will be pain with a surgical procedure, but hope it will be as little as possible. Control of post-operative pain is of utmost importance, and you will be provided with post-operative narcotics and possibly strong anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce and control pain.
In addition to sedation administered by your anesthesiologist during your procedure, local anesthetic will be administered while you are sleeping into your foot by Dr. Steinke. This medication acts like the Novocaine at your dentist’s office and will last for about 8 hours. This medication is administered once the anesthesiologist has sedated you, so you don’t feel the pain associated with an injection. Before the effects of this medication wear off which is different for each patient, you are recommended to start taking your pain medication as soon as you arrive home and are in a comfortable spot. This way, when the injectable anesthesia wears off, you already have some pain meds on board to prevent pain. Patients that wait or refuse to take their prescribed oral medication until they feel pain, tend to have to try to “catch up,” and o through unneeded pain.
If you do not tolerate pain medications well, sometimes a special procedure called a pain block can be administered by the anesthesia provider. This is an additional procedure performed before you enter the operating suite, that helps maintain numbness in the surgical site for 24 hours or up to three days depending on the block type chosen. Generally this technique is used for larger surgical reconstructions, but due to patient allergies to oral pain medication, severe intolerance, or history of opioid addiction, this can be discussed as an option for you.
In my practice I utilize a combination of medications to reduce need for post-operative narcotic medication. This is called multimodal pain therapy, and provides the patient with a narcotic prescription, but also prescription anti-inflammatory nerve pain medication, greatly reducing post-operative pain for the majority of patients.
With the proper use of medication, rest, ice and elevation most patients report pain at a level of 3 on a 10 point scale when at rest the first three days after surgery, that rises up to 6 or 7 if the foot is overworked or allowed to hang down, letting it swell. Make those bathroom breaks quick. Most patients who follow protocol, stop taking the narcotic medication at about post-operative day 3-5, and most only take it if activity makes pain worsen or at night to help sleep.
If you are experience pain that is not controlled with the narcotic medication you can also take NSAIDS like Ibuprofen and naproxen as long as they are not contraindicated by other medical conditions that you may have. Before taking any prescription or over the counter medications make sure to discuss with Dr. Steinke.
NSAIDS would be taken as scheduled on the bottle and between doses of the narcotic medication you were prescribed.
The long and the short of it is that of course there will be pain, but for the vast majority of patients (those that follow post-operative instructions) pain is easily controlled and tolerable. Remember a few days of pain will eventually result in a lifelong improvement in your foot pain with the bunion correction.
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