Causes, Prevention and Surgery For Treating Bunions

Submitted on March 27, 2012

What causes bunions

It is believed that tight shoes that do not fit well and cause discomfort can lead to bunions. Those high-heeled shoes might look amazing with your well-fitting dresses, but they can be damaging to the feet. A narrow toe box and sloping foot piece can cause the feet to get squeezed into the shoe. Bunions can form depending upon various factors like how long you wear shoes that constrain your feet, the skeletal maturity of your feet and the way the shoes mould your feet. When the toes adapt to the new position, they can form bunions.

Prevention

In order to prevent bunions, try a simple technique. Get your favourite pair of shoes and set the pairs on the floor. Keep your feet next to the shoes to check. Check to see if the shoe is bigger or the feet. In several cases, the shoes that women buy are narrower and smaller than their feet. If yours are too, then we suggest you opt for comfortable shoes that complement the shape of your feet.

Apart from the size and shape of the footwear, bunions can be caused due to hereditary reasons. Bunions can look ugly and cause a lot of pain.

Treatment

You can treat bunions by wearing appropriate bunions. You can even prevent bunions by doing the same. We are not saying that you wear big, fat shoes that you don’t like the look of, but just shoes that feel more comfortable and compliment the shape of your feet.

Surgery

In this surgery, the surgeon makes an incision in the side or top of the big toe joint, and realigns or removes the soft tissue as well as the bone to restore some normalcy in the joint and relieve pain. In case the joint is deformed severely, the surgeon will use plates, screws, stitches, and tiny wires to restore the shape. However, the surgery does not come with the guarantee that it will help alleviate all your pain.

This surgery is carried out by giving a regional anaesthetic that would numb the foot. You might also be given a sedative. Generally, this surgery is carried out on an outpatient basis. There are several types of surgeries for bunions. Some of the common types include bunionectomy, in which the part of the foot that bulges out is removed; realigning the soft tissues as well as ligaments around the toe; removing a small piece of bone.

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