Brachymetatarsia

[cruiserfish]

I am a 57 year old female with brachymetatarsia on my right foot. Within the last 5 to 6 years it is causing a significant amount of pain when I walk. I am off balance a lot, and my ankle, knee, calif, and hip are now suffering. I have recently lost almost 50 pounds thru diet and exercise. However, it is becoming more difficult each day to walk briskly, and now using the treadmill is out of the question. My big toe is trying to compensate and has become painful and stiff, so now I am walking without bending my toes on my right foot. That in and of itself is a problem. Can anyone tell me if the surgery will lengthen the toe enough so that it will actually reach the floor and assume it's responsibility, or if it is done for cosmetic purposes only? Thank you very much.
Cruiserfish

[EmmaB92]

I am a 17 year old female and i also have brachymetatarsia and it really upsets me i am very self concious of it and i never wear sandles or have bare feet, I used to think i was the only person that had it but earlyier this year i found out i wasnt and i went to the doctors about it and he referred me to see a sergeon but he said they could do the operation i wanted to lengthen my fourth toe because it had risks or i could have got an infection. It does cause me some pain which means i cant wear certain shoes like hight heels because of the pressure points, it is really getting me alot so if anyone wants to talk to me that understands what i am going through i would like that.

[loveitorhateit]

I am a 31 yr-old female and I have bilateral brachymetatarsia. My feet look different. On my right foot, my third toe is short and my fourth "sticks" and is short. On my left foot, my fourth toe is the only short one that sticks up. Both my pinky toes were crooked and hid behind my 4th toe. This was very painful. So I had surgery on my pinky toes thinking this would make my 4th toes lie flat. The podiatrist that performed the surgery had no idea why toes looked the way they did, so he shorten my pinky toes by removing a bone from each toe. Now my pinky toe is soft and flexible. My 4th toes still sticks up, but it doesn't hurt as much as it used to because it's not being pushed up by my pinky toe. I am considering having surgery and flying to Arizona to see Dr. Lee because I get tired easily, my balance sucks, and my back is starting to hurt when I stand for too long.

It is nice to know I'm not the only one. I have been teased about my toes ever since I can remember. My aunt used to tease me when I was little and called me "little toes". I felt ashamed for being "deformed" and not pretty like her. My sister also called me "little toes" and my cousin used to call me "deformed toes" infront of strangers. My friends used to tease me and say things like, " I bet you stare at my toes and wish yours could look like mine!"

Now I wear flipflops and open toe shoes sometimes. However, I still feel self-conscious about my toes when I go out. For halloween I went to look for a custom, and this little girl kept staring at my toes. She would not blink, she just stared. I felt like she was looking at a dinasour. Something so weird and gross she didn't want to look away in case she never got to see it again.

I thank everyone for sharing your stories because for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm not the only one that's different. Because I didn't know anyone with this condition, I always thought that I was the only one and that something was wrong with me. Thank you for your stories. I hope my story helps someone feel good too :)

[snnorris]

I am a 30 year old female who also has/had brachymetarsia of the 4th metarsal on both feet. This past February I had surgery on my right foot (time on crutches was about 3 months) and this past Oct I had my left foot done (about 6 weeks ago). I chose to do the external fixator b/c traveling out of state to have the procedure that Dr. Lee does was out of the question for me. While it is a pain to have something sitting on top of your foot and you do have to be extremely careful (cleaning the area, keeping it dry) it was well worth it! My right foot does have scarring on the top of the foot and the toe is a bit stiff but it looks normal and I am no longer emabarrased for people to see my toes. I still have the external fixator on the left foot and have about another 1 1/2 months on crutches, but I don't regret anything! If you have a good doctor you should be ok and my doctor has been great-Dr. Tessler in Charleston, SC. It is very important to have family and friends around to help you since you are on crutches for so long but again well worth it! The only thing I regret is waiting so long to have the procedure done and around the new year I should be off cructhes and the embarrassment I had for 30 years will be behind my.