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Although many people associate bunions with women who wear high-heeled shoes, men can also get bunions (hallux valgus) on their toes. Bunions are bumps that grow on the sides of your largest toes. Over time, the bumps can deform your feet. Here's how you can get bunions on your toes and what you can do to prevent them.
How Can You Get Bunions?
If you wear tight work boots, dress shoes, or sneakers, you could be at risk for bunions. Tight footwear forces your big toe to move toward your second and third toes. The excessive pressure causes the soft and hard tissues at the base of the big toe to swell and enlarge. The injured tissues eventually create a small bump on the side of your foot.
The bump on your foot can grow larger and more painful over time. Severe bunions can be painful enough to make you limp when you walk. Limping forces you to rely on your hips, knees, ankles, and back for support. The muscles and joints in your other body areas can become fatigued and tense from stress.
Your bunions can affect your quality of life. If you can't enjoy or do the things you love because of the pain, you may become depressed about your condition. You might hide your feet in fear of what other people might think about your bunions.
If you do develop bony growths on your toes, there are treatment and management options available to you.
How Do You Treat Your Bunions?
The treatments for bunions can vary, depending on the extent of the growths. If the bunions are small, you can keep them from getting larger by changing your footwear. Instead of wearing footwear with narrow toe boxes or hard soles, select boots, dress shoes, and sneakers that give your toes room to move around. You should be able to wriggle or flex your toes comfortably.
Also, wear socks with your full-covered shoes. Socks made with cotton or another all-natural material cushion your toes against the material of your shoes, especially when you jog or run. Some people can develop "jogger's toe" when they wear shoes that restrict movement. Blisters, calluses, and other foot conditions can develop on your feet and toes when you have jogger's toe. These problems can possibly make bunions worse.
You can also moisturize your toes to help keep them free of bunions. If your toes become dry, they can peel or blister. Infection can develop in the wounds over time. It's a good idea that you use products designed especially for your feet. The skin on your feet and toes is very fragile, so you want to avoid irritating it with harsh ingredients.
If nothing you try keeps your bunions from enlarging, speak to a podiatrist. A podiatrist can examine your bunions to see if they require surgery or management to treat. A foot specialist can treat small bunions with shoe inserts, topical medications, and gel pads.
Large bunions can require surgery (bunionectomy) to treat. A doctor can use a bunionectomy to remove the bunions from your toes, or a specialist can restructure the damaged tissues between your toes. A podiatrist will generally x-ray your toes to see how much damaged they sustained from the bony growths on them.
After treatment, you can keep your toes free of problems by seeing a podiatrist regularly. A foot doctor can note changes in your toes and make the best recommendations to treat them.
You can find more facts and information about your bunion treatment options by contacting a podiatrist or foot surgeon at your local podiatry office today.
Share27 October 2017
