Good morning -
I did wonder about my big toe as well, but my surgeon said the X-ray didn’t indicate the need. What I did notice was a “behavioral” issue with my big toe. Because my other 4 toes were curling, I found that I was always walking with trying to keep my big toe up, like trying to bend it up to point to the sky and lift it off the floor. I know the reason I adopted this behavior was hoped to keep my curled toes off the floor so that they wouldn’t drag under and cause me to trip or fall.

Bring barefoot or I should say stocking feet was when the need to lift my big toe was greatest, but it just became the way I walked, even with shoes on. So now that the surgery has been done in the 4 smaller toes, I have to give my big toe time to relax now and work with my brain to see that I don’t need to raise it anymore. My surgeon says it may take awhile for the big toe to trust and adapt.

Ask your surgeon to help explain your situation? There must be a good reason as we certainly want to get them all corrected at the same time if needed. When I go back next month, I’m going to make sure he looks at my step to see if my big toe learning is on track. It is strange how aging alone works hard on our toes (and everything else). I’m glad you’re doing what you can now to help reduce your fall risk.

The Genetics group in my medical system used Invitae for some general and cardiac marker testing they did. For Neuropathy, they used a company called Variantyx because they could test some DNA for Ataxia things. The other company could have tested for CMT, which my insurance would have covered. But I agreed to using the other company and paying for the Ataxia test not covered. Good luck with finding any answers there!