Can we talk about bunions?

[JulieN]

I'm kind of depressed that my right foot has bunion-fied. There's no pain, but I'm just irrationally bummed about it.

I've seen some OTC spacer thingys.... do they help?

 

[VRBeauty]

Julie - I just recently came to the realization that that protrusion on my right foot is a bunion (so THAT's what they mean by bunions - LOL!). I've shod my foot around that thing for several years now, but it now seems more prominent and on occasion - painful. I haven't started researching options yet, but... when I mentioned it to my mother, she said she had one removed (reduced?) surgically years ago, that it hasn't returned, and that her insurance did cover the procedure.

 

[JulieN]

My grandmother has awful ones, I remember them since I was a little girl. But I guess they don't bother her, since I don't think she had surgery. I'm going to try to be more careful by wearing roomy shoes and flats and see if it doesn't get worse. Maybe you should see a podiatrist.

 

[Logan Sapphire]

I have bunions on both feet, unfortunately, and they are VERY painful. I've tried to spacer things but my podiatrist told me that they do nothing. It's not a tendon that's the issue- it's the bone. He said some people have very deformed feet but have no pain, whereas people like me can have moderate bunions and have a lot of pain. He said to ice it often. I can only really wear wide-toed shoes. Running hurts. Apparently the surgery is very painful with months of recovery, so I'm not eager to go down that route.

 

[kittybean]

I've had bunions on both feet since I was in high school, and while annoying, they aren't all that painful to me. As I've gotten older, I've tried to limit my time in heels. I used to wear heels constantly, but I've cut down to wearing them only in court or on nights out. This has pretty much eliminated any pain I had from the bunions.

Both sides of my family have issues with bunions, so it was really inevitable for me. My mom had the surgery to remove them on both feet, and it was a miserable experience and recovery. Her advice to me was to only do it if I were in unbearable pain (as she was prior to having the surgery).

 

[swingirl]

My mother had bunions all her life and finally, at the age of 70, had the worst one repaired. She was very happy she has the surgery. She was given the option of two different procedures, one with a pin used and one without. I think she went for the pin and was so thrilled with the out come that she started taking long walks around San Francisco that were pain-free. she said she wished she had done it sooner but was always afraid after hearing about people's bad experiences. So before you have anything done do a lot of research on the different procedures and their various outcomes.