The £149 shoes that promise to end the agony of bunions
MY MoTHer has passed down a lot of lovely gifts — from good skin to a love of fashion. unfortunately, though, there’s one thing I’ve inherited which I’m not at all grateful for — bunions.
As a relatively short woman of 5ft 4in, I’ve always loved high heels. They make me feel feminine and finish off a fashionable outfit. But when I turned 40, 15 years ago, I noticed a tell-tale lump on my right foot at the base of my big toe.
For the first few years, the bunion didn’t bother me too much. My feet were hardly my most attractive feature, so I just avoided sandals and open-toed shoes.
But eight years ago, I noticed two things: one, that if I wore heels I felt a burning pain in my right foot. second, my right foot looked deformed and my shoes had also started to look awful because the lump on my big toe stretched the leather.
I’ve always walked a lot, but it got to the stage where my bunion was so painful — a sharp, piercing pain — that I began choosing not to walk as much. It was heels that caused me the most discomfort, so I invested in flat pumps and carried them in my handbag, changing in to my nice shoes round the corner from meetings.
More than anything, I wanted to avoid surgery. It’s not just because I’m a gp and know what’s involved.
My mum had both her feet operated on for bunions, about 20 years ago when she was 60, and I know just how long and how painful the recovery period is. she was off her feet for at least two weeks and it took a good 12 weeks for her to fully recuperate.
My bunions haven’t got any worse and my left foot is thankfully still relatively unscathed. But how do you avoid bunions and what can you do to alleviate the pain if they’ve already arrived? Here’s everything you need to know about bunions and what you can do about them . . .
FOOT TURNIPS
THe word ‘bunion’ derives from the latin word for ‘turnip’, presumably because of their lumpy shape. They’re not a modern problem: there are carvings outside the tombs of ancient egyptians in 2400 BC showing people having their feet attended to.
A bunion is a deformity, in which the big toe starts to point away from its base (the equivalent to the knuckle) and push towards the other toes. It puts pressure on the joint at the base of the big toe forcing it to get bigger and stick out.
The bony prominence is covered only by a tiny bit of soft tissue and skin, which is why it is so painful. As the big toe starts to point inwards, it also squashes the second toe, causing more pressure points and pain on the sole of the foot too.
DON’T BLAME HEELS!
BunIons are surprisingly common. There are approximately 15 million bunion sufferers in the uK, of whom 10 million are women. They tend to develop in your 30s or 40s and approximately 38 per cent of all women over 30 suffer from them — but they can start as young as in your teens. sadly, I don’t think I have any older lady patients with entirely straight feet.
Many patients have said to me: ‘It’s my own fault for wearing heels when I was younger.’ But I want to try to dispel this myth.
We don’t know exactly why they occur, we do know that there’s a strong hereditary factor. If your mother and grandmother have them, it’s likely you will, too.
However, wearing tight, pointed shoes is likely to make them worse — they are incredibly rare in tribal people who go barefoot.
BEST SHOES TO WEAR
speCIAlIsT shoes can help. sole Bliss shoes (from £149, solebliss. incorporate technology to accommodate the bony deformity. Creator lisa Kay says they took five years of research to perfect.
each pair contains a ‘bunion bed’ which is a stretch panel invisible from the outside to cushion and support bunions. They also all have a cushioning memory foam sole to boost the comfort.
The memory foam helps to keep feet in the correct position and counters pronation (the inward rolling of the foot, which can exacerbate bunions).
unlike all my ordinary shoes, the bunion hasn’t changed their shape; they’ve accommodated my foot without changing the look of the shoe — and without pain.
MEN GET THEM TOO
WoMen are more prone to bunions than men. This may have something to do with the fact that women have slacker ligaments than men, which is a result of different hormones.
This is especially true during pregnancy — before childbirth a hormone called relaxin is released, to loosen up and prepare the body for childbirth, this is when problems with bunions can start.
But men do suffer with bunions. There are known to be more than 4 million male sufferers in the uK alone and I suspect there are many more who haven’t yet reported them.
Most men are also happy to wear flat, wide- fitting shoes, meaning bunions don’t bother them as much.
BEWARE THE PAIN
soMe people don’t want to bother a doctor with something as seemingly trivial as a bunion. But being in constant pain and being unable to walk properly is not a minor concern. Bunions can have a huge impact on the quality of your daily life. The skin on the foot is thin, without much in the way of natural padding from fat, so the pain can be severe. You can take anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen and simple painkillers to ease the pain.
people are also extremely selfconscious about their feet. I’ve lost count of the number of times patients with foot problems try to hide them under their chair. I reassure them that I’ve seen feet of all shapes and sizes before!
WHAT YOU CAN DO . . .
surgery is the only corrective cure for bunions. However, there are things you can do for relief and to stop them getting worse. In the early stages you can buy splints to hold your big toe in a straighter position (£10.95, complete careshop. They are designed to be worn at night.
sticky gel pads that protect the skin over the boney prominence are also popular (scholl pressure point Foam padding, prices from £1.99). stick them over the bunion to help relieve the pain.
If bunions are severe, then surgery is the only option. To start with, we can operate on the tendons that run alongside the big toe, either to tighten it up or to lengthen it, depending on how it is pulling the toe out.
usually, you’ll also need bone surgery called an osteotomy, in which little slits are cut in the bone so the surgeon can force the toe straighter. The surgeon will insert some screws or plates to hold it in position.
In the most severe cases, they will completely fix the toe in a rigid position. This is called an arthrodesis.
sometimes, the surgeon shaves off part of the bone.
unfortunately bunions do sometimes return after surgery. The greater the deformity the higher the chance of recurrence.