I had bunion surgery on my right foot in December and the left foot six weeks later in January. The recovery includes wearing a boot to immobilize the foot and to protect it from impact when walking. Things went nicely. I was out of both boots in February. I am able to hike again. I am still waiting on running because I do not feel like the foot is ready. Lolita San Miguel taught a workshop at Pilates on Tour in Denver. I was fortunate to attend. She took one look at my old feet prior to surgery and knew that something needed to be done. Her exercises are fantastic and I recommend anyone who is having some foot problems to take this workshop. While there, she kept helping me with the supination of my feet. Lolita also told me that sometimes surgery is necessary depending on how much the foot structure has been compromised. That was helpful and appreciated. I went to the surgeon. She took Xrays. I had bone spurs, bone cysts and arthritis. The picture was not pretty and I realized that there was no hope to fix this with just exercise. The best image I can give anyone about my bunion is that I had a marble under my first metatarsal joint and my foot was resting on a tripod that had a long leg. I could not do much other than supinate. Now I am five months out of recovery. The surgeon told me that my rehabilitation was months ahead of other patients. I believe it was my strong intension to recover that gave me the motivation to do foot Pilates exercises. I do them every night at the very least. And I have pushed myself to return to my favorite activities, including hiking, Franklin Method® Band and Ball, and Pilates. I wanted to share this experience for those Pilates teachers, students and others who may feel like they are failures if Pilates exercise does not fix the problem. I am grateful that with the skill of a good doctor and the knowledge of anatomy and determination to exercise, many things can be overcome.
Pat Guyton – New Feet – and Pilates Exercise
