How To Treat Bunions

Bunion... sounds friendly, right?  Mildly uncivilized, perhaps, but nonetheless benign - that was the consensus of the survey I conducted among seven of my friends, none of whom had bunions or knew the definition of "bunion."  If there isn't a bunion in your life, you might suppose the term refers to something non-threatening or even comical.  And if you thought "bunion" sounded friendly, you might laugh out loud at the word "bunionette."  But you shouldn't.

Bunions are neither uncivilized nor benign - they affect people regardless of manners or upbringing, causing significant foot pain and easily leading to arthritis and reduced mobility.  Besides, they alter the appearance of an otherwise elegant foot.  Here's what you need to know to bring bunion relief to a burdened foot.

1. "Bunion" defined (hint: there's no blue ox in the story I'm about to tell).  "Bunion" refers to a bulbous swell along the outer edge of your big toe's biggest joint (otherwise known as the metatarsophalangeal joint).  "Bunionette" is the similarly swollen bottom joint of a pinky toe.  The swell feels like just an ordinary part of your bone, but does not fit within the natural bone structure of your foot.  In fact, it alters the trajectory of your big toe, causing unnatural rotation or movement inward toward the rest of your toes.

2. The true nature of bunions.  Bunions aren't a cause of death, but they can cause significant pain.  The deformity of your big toe joint makes the joint sensitive even to slight pressure.  Walking and athletic activity become increasingly uncomfortable and painful.  The skin over a bunion can become inflamed and unsightly.  Bunions often lead to arthritis of the big toe joint. 

   Bunions affect more than just your big toe.  When one part of our natural walking movement causes pain, we adjust our natural gait (unconsciously even) to avoid the pain as best we can.  Unfortunately, these adjustments tend to create joint and tendon inflammation elsewhere in the toes, foot and ankle. 

3. The importance of good footwear.  Here's one more reason bunions can't be called uncivilized: those pointy little shoes you just bought for a hundred dollars, over time, can cause a bunion to form due to the constant pressure they exert on your toes, pushing them all together.  Pointed women's shoes like these are the most obvious culprit of outside forces causing a bunion to form (and one of the reasons why women suffer from bunions more often than men do), but any shoe that restrains the natural width of your foot around the toes can ultimately lead to a bunion. 
4. Foot problems that develop regardless of footwear.  If your occupation requires you to be on your feet a lot of the time, you bear a heightened risk of developing a bunion.  But bunions develop not only because of bad footwear.  Over time, a bunion can form due to a number of physical characteristics (like inadequate arch and atypical bone structure, for example) that disrupt the ideal mechanics of foot movement.
5. Non-surgical treatments.  The majority of bunions are not severe enough to warrant surgery.  But, as mentioned before, simply adjusting your gait will only lead to other foot problems.  Thankfully, there are many ways to actively reduce discomfort and swelling of a bunion.  The first step in treatment is to schedule an appointment with a podiatrist.
   • Wear more comfortable shoes.  If you're like most of us, you've already spent too much time sacrificing comfort for aesthetics.  Choose a pair of shoes that give your toes plenty of room to occupy their natural space.

   • Rest and ice.  At the end of a long day, put your foot up and apply an ice pack to the painful bunion to reduce swelling and inflammation.
   • Cushions and spacers.  You can buy cushioning bunion pads that ease the pain of any pressure exerted on the bunion.  Toe spacers are also available to encourage your toes to maintain their proper positions.
   • Orthotics and inserts.  Orthotics and over-the-counter inserts can correct the underlying physical issues that caused your bunion in the first place.  The doctor will tell you whether your mechanics can be corrected by a simple over-the-counter insert or will require prescription orthotics.
   • Pain-relieving medication.  In conjunction with these treatments, your doctor may suggest that you take over-the-counter pain relievers like Tylenol or Advil in order to reduce discomfort.
6. Surgery.  In severe cases, bunions can be treated using surgery.  Doctors rely on many different operations in order to most efficiently correct the various potential causes of a bunion.  Though these different procedures vary in the amount of bone and joint realignment, bone removal or cartilage manipulation involved, they generally all involve what is called a bunionectomy.  During a bunionectomy, doctors eliminate the tissue mass from the bunion, and then remove some bone in order to straighten the big toe.  Obviously this is the most invasive bunion treatment and, like all surgical procedures, there is risk involved.  Even after surgery, you could still develop a new bunion on that metatarsophalangeal joint.  Therefore, the proper footwear and foot care are still important even after a successful bunionectomy.

A bunion isn't the end of the world, but can sometimes feel like it.  The non-invasive treatment options can greatly reduce inflammation and symptoms of your bunion.  Schedule an appointment with a podiatrist to discuss your options and plot the best course of treatment for your feet.  They're worth it!