A bunion, commonly known as a “big toe,” is a condition in which the biomechanics of the bunion are altered, with the bunion deviating from the midline of the body and tilting excessively toward the lateral side of the foot. This is a common foot disease, mostly in women, and is also a “by-product” of high heels and pointed shoes.
The disease is more common in women than in men, with a male to female ratio of about 1:10. There are two reasons for this.
1, the big foot has a certain genetic tendency, the mother has bunions, the probability of children suffering from bunions significantly increased. Since the ligaments in women’s feet are weaker than in men, they are more likely to develop bunions under the same genetic conditions. Moreover, the flexibility of the ligaments weakens with age, which is the reason why m bunions are mostly seen in middle-aged and older women.
2, women often wear high-heeled shoes, pointed leather shoes, making the forefoot tightly wrapped, toes in an abnormal state. In the long run, bunions will gradually form in the shape of saki.
Bunions can make the quality of life will be greatly affected. From the aesthetic point of view, in the summer, women often like to wear beautiful sandals and slippers to show off their feet, while bunions give them a deep headache and their deformed feet make them ashamed to show off in front of people. On the other hand, from the health point of view, patients with bunions have symptoms such as pain and shoe wear disorder, and patients with long duration of the disease may also develop lesions of the knee and lumbar spine, which seriously affect their health.
How to treat bunions?
1.Orthopedic braces
2.Ice compress
It is used to reduce the inflammation and relieve the pain.
3.CPI correction training
Tools needed: elastic cord, golf ball, towel
(1) Plantar fascia relaxation
30-40 seconds 3 sets
(2) Toe grip towel
Strengthening bunion flexors 12-15 times 3 sets
(3) Thumb adductor strengthening
12-15 times 3 sets
(4) Improvement of interphalangeal joint mobility
Program development
(1)-(4) Performed once a day each, while reducing the need to wear shoes that are too narrow and too high.
Surgical treatment
There are numerous surgical treatments for bunions, and according to statistics, there are about one hundred surgical procedures available. The surgical procedure needs to be determined according to the patient’s condition and the doctor’s habits, and there is no such thing as which one is best. Although there are more surgical modalities, they are summarized into three broad categories.
1. soft tissue surgery.
2. bony surgery.
3. combined bone and soft tissue surgery.
Currently, osteotomy orthopedic combined with soft tissue release is the main treatment aim, which is to correct the bunion, remove the bone of the first metatarsal head and correct the metatarsal inversion, this approach can effectively correct the deformity and remove the pain.