More than one-third of women in America have bunions, a common deformity often blamed on wearing tight, narrow shoes and high heels. Bunions may occur in families, but many are from wearing tight shoes, and nine out of 10 bunions happen to women. Too-tight shoes can also cause other disabling foot problems such as corns, calluses and hammer toes. Causes
Essentially, bunions are caused by a disruption of the normal interworking of the bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons that comprise your feet, often from wearing shoes that squeeze the toes or place too much weight-bearing stress on them. However, it should be pointed out that other causes or factors in the development of bunions can include flat feet or low arches in the feet, some forms of arthritis, problems with foot mechanics, foot injuries and neuromuscular disorders such as cerebral palsy. Arthritis in the MTP joint, for example, can degrade the cartilage that protects it, and other problems may cause ligaments to become loose. Pronation, walking in a way that your foot rolls inwards, increases your risk for developing bunions.
Symptoms
The symptoms of a bunion include the following development of a firm bump on the outside edge of the foot, at the base of the big toe, redness, swelling, or pain at or near the MTP joint, corns or other irritations caused by the overlap of the first and second toes, restricted or painful motion of the big toe.
Diagnosis
Your doctor can identify a bunion by examining your foot. Watching your big toe as you move it up and down will help your doctor determine if your range of motion is limited. Your doctor will also look for redness or swelling. After the physical exam, an X-ray of your foot can help your doctor identify the cause of the bunion and rate its severity.
Non Surgical Treatment
The treatment of a bunion depends entirely on how uncomfortable it is. Realistically, there are only two ways to treat a bunion: either change the size and shape of the shoe or change the size and shape of the foot. Once a bunion gets to be irritating or painful and shoe wear is uncomfortable, surgery may be recommended.
Surgical Treatment
Surgery might be recommended if non-surgical treatments fail to provide relief, and you are having trouble walking or are in extreme pain. Surgery can be used to return the big toe to its correct anatomical position. During surgery, bones, ligaments, tendons, and nerves are put back into correct order, and the bump is removed. Many bunion correction procedures can be done on a same-day basis. The type of procedure will depend on your physical health, the extent of the foot deformity, your age, and your activity level. The recovery time will depend on which procedure or procedures are performed. Surgery may be recommended to correct a tailor?s bunion, but is unlikely to be recommended for an adolescent bunion.
Prevention
Shoes that possess tapering toe boxes should be avoided if you have a bunion, as narrow toe boxes will hasten the progression of your bunion deformity. In some cases, conservative measures, including switching to appropriate footwear, may not have the desired effect, and your podiatrist may recommend for you a surgical procedure known as a bunionectomy.