More than half the women in America have bunions, a common deformity often blamed on wearing tight, narrow shoes. Bunions cause the base of your big toe (Metatarsophalangeal Joint) to enlarge and protrude. The skin over it may be red and tender. Wearing any type of shoe may be painful. This joint flexes with every step you take. The bigger your bunion gets, the more it hurts to walk. Bursitis may set in. Your big toe may angle toward your second toe, or even move all the way under it. The skin on the bottom of your foot may become thicker and painful.Pressure from your big toe may force your second toe out of alignment, sometimes overlapping your third toe.If your bunion gets too severe, it may be difficult to walk. Your pain may become chronic and you may develop arthritis.
Bunions are most commonly caused in women from wearing heels or poor fitting, narrow shoes. Please read our post earlier this week on fitting high heels to begin taking a preventitive measure before any problems arise.
If a bunion begins to develop consider:
1. wearing a wider shoe to accomodate the new growth.
2. wear felt or foam pads to protect the bunion
However, if you do have or develop a bunion they are treatable by a podiatrist. You should call a podiatrist if:
1. you're bunion continues to hurt even after you switch to a wider shoe.
2. prevents you from your normal activity.
3. has any signs of infection such as redness or swelling
read more about bunions: http://adam.about.com/encyclopedia/infectiousdiseases/Bunions.htm
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