Bunions
If you are unfamiliar with bunions, they are generally small abnormal protrusions at the outer edge base of your big toe. You will notice the big toe turning into your second toe when this happens. In this article we will discuss some of the causes and treatments you can take if this is a problem you’re encountering.
Bunions can be hereditary and are more common in women than men. Another leading cause for this condition is a woman’s footwear. Women wearing narrow high healed shoes can aggravate this condition to where the pain becomes to much and they must change their footwear. The pain comes from swelling where the bone can fill up with fluid, extra tissue surrounds the bone adding more pressure to this area.
Early Warning Signs
Blisters are an early warning sign for this condition. This can be the start of a bunion followed by redness and skin irritation in the lower toe area. Once the visible signs are there you should go see a doctor so they can take an x-ray for confirmation of this condition.
One of the problems you can face, if you ignore this deformity, is a mechanical malfunction in your fore foot. This will create problems in other parts of your foot in addition to your bunion. Walking and other exercises become painful if you ignore this problem, it is not one of those problems that goes away in time.
Things You Can Do To Relieve The Pain
The most obvious first step to relieve the pain is to change your shoes.
Getting a bigger sized shoes can help. You can get heel or toe stuffers to take up the added room in your shoes. Another easy way to reduce pain is to retro fit an older pair of shoes, just cut them. Yes, cut a hole in the side of your shoe where the bunion is at.
There are shoes that have flexible sides to them, you might want to try these to see how much pressure you take off your bunions. In your leisure time using ice has been known to reduce the swelling and pain, of course you cannot do this at work, but you will find medications which can have the same effect.
In the orthotic product line there are gelled toe spacers, bunion spacers and bunion cushions that can relive the pain when doing your daily duties.
Surgery
There are over 100 different types of surgeries associated with this condition. Your podiatrist will narrow down the type of surgery based on deformity, age, health and activity profile.
The surgery procedure generally involves removing the extra tissue around the bone, then removing the bunion bone and finally realigning the big toe back to a normal position. The days of using a cast after this procedure are pretty much gone, the use of screws and other material to fuse the bone are becoming more common as technology advances.
Awareness and taking action when you first discover bunions is your best preventative measures to avoid any further damage. If you do need surgery expect a recovery period of not less than 4 weeks.
