Thread: I'm coming unscrewed!!!

I had a screw put in my second toe seven weeks ago to straighten a really painful hammertoe! After fighting a bad infection for three weeks, it finally feels better and I can get a shoe on again! Yesterday, however, I noticed that the top of the screw is sticking out of the top of my toe! I called the doc, but I guess he started his weekend early! Does anybody here know what they do for this? I'm ready to get the saw out!!

Seems ..... not right. Find the nearest urgent care clinic; enter front door; ask for the first available mechanic.

Sorry, that's all I got. Except that's not the top of your toe (Top=tip??).

Is that a phillips head? Mayybe size 2? Turn counter clockwise.

Wear flip flops this weekend

I assume you're seeing you surgeon first thing Monday. If you had an infection post-op, it may have sped loosening of the screw (vs. it having loosened on its own if the infection was superficial), but regardless the screw is now going to need to come out - needless to say, it is no longer sterile. The good news is that after being there for seven weeks, it may have already done its job. Keep us posted.

Thanks Orthoski for your reply! I'm going to be seen 1st thing Tuesday. The infection was pretty bad, so possibly it did contribute to the screw loosening. Because the toe was so bent, I had developed a callus over the tip of the toe that was almost 1/2 inch thick. Seemed like that might have been why it healed like it did. Once that callus fell off now that the toe was straightened there was not enough skin on the top of the toe to cover the screw, and I now have "Bling" on my toe.
That sucks that they'll have to take it out! I just paid over $1,000 with co-pay and deductibles for this!!! Plus, they've pinned this toe before and after about 6 mos. it curled down again, that's why they tried the screw! Sucks for me!
Oh well! Thanks again for your answer!
Thanks PB, Splat and Treebark for the chuckle!

Well Orthoski, you were right! The screw had to come out! They removed it right in the office today! Can't say that I enjoyed that experience!!! The toe looks pretty straight, but they are having a hard time convincing me that it will stay that way. They pinned it in the past and once the pin was removed, the toe bent back down. I'll just keep my fingers crossed. I'm on one more round of antibiotics just to be careful!

I kept the screw, just for the hell of it, and because I just paid $1,000 for it!


Thanks again for the help!

Hey, I have wicked hammer toes, too. I know about that callous. Sometimes I get blisters on the first knuckle of my toe in ski boots; same toe as yours. Interested in how it works out,ie, does it bend, do you feel any balance loss as a result of the surgery?

The toe feels pretty good right now Splat! I do feel that my balance is a little off, but I can bend the toe down somewhat. I'm pretty familiar with the blisters you speak of on the knuckle. Every time I get a new pair of shoes, I have to go through a break in period. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this stays straight! The toe next to it was screwed a couple of years ago and it was instant relief! The doc doing his fellowship with my surgeon even told me when the infection set in, that he doesn't like putting screws into the second toe, just because there's not enough skin. I told my surgeon, that I feel that things would have gone better had they removed the callous surgically. I had a bunch of stitches anyway, so what's a couple of more at that point! I don't think that he was crazy about me giving him my two cents, but I do believe that it would have allowed the infection to seep out (Gross) and the skin to heal.

I'll post in a month or two for an update on how the toe's holding up!