How do you know if you have a foot bunion?
Take a look at your forefoot and if you see a prominent lumps on the inner side of the big toe, this could be a bunion. They can cause an increased splaying in the forefoot and require you to buy a wider shoe. They can get sore and inflamed and red over the bunion joint if there is increased pressure on them in a shoe.
If you are looking for a Brisbane podiatrist to treat your bunion, Inspire Podiatrists are trained experts in treating bunions whether it be a child foot bunion or an advanced arthritic bunion from chronic arthritis in the foot. We can relieve the pain and prevent bunions from getting worse. It’s so important to treat bunion deformities as the effects that having a dysfunctional big toe to propel off during walking or running can cause pain and problems in the feet and knees over the long term. An arthritic big toe joint often causes a transfer of load and pressure in other areas of the foot leading to forefoot pain.
Bunions in Children
Inspire podiatrists are trained to identify early bunion formation. Did you know your child can get a bunion from as young as 7 years of age. Bunions can start at any stage in life. Bunions can be effectively treated 24 hours a day in children as their growth plates in the foot bones are still open.
How we Treat Bunion Pain
Inspire Podiatrists are committed to offering the best recovery management plan to address your forefoot pain. We want to correct the muscle imbalances that, may be contributing to your bunion.
We offer a range of hands on treatment methods, above and beyond just orthotics. Whilst we will provide 3D laser scanning to make soft prescription orthotics where needed, we utilise many other hands on treatment modalities. Bunion night splints are very effective devices which can help alleviate pain caused by a bunion. They can even correct a deformity if diagnosed early. It’s important that your foot is measured and that you have a specialist fitting for your bunion splints to ensure the best treatment outcome. Other treatment modalities include:
- Western medicine acupuncture (dry needling)
- Muscle energy techniques
- Foot mobilisation
- Electrotherapy
- Gait retraining and running technique assessments
- Balance and strengthening exercises.
What causes a bunion?
Bunions in the foot do not always cause a painful big toe joint. Bunions will not go away by themselves. There are different stages and severities of foot bunions. Bunions are caused by two different things:
1. Environmental factors which cause bunions.
Wearing of shoes that are higher than an inch (high heels) or shoes that are too narrow and have a pointy toe.
2. An Inherited foot type. You don’t acquire the “bunion” gene but you do inherit a flexible hypermobile forefoot with a flexible flat foot or fallen arch which can sometime go on to cause forefoot pain.
Bunions can cause people to feel shameful about the appearance of their feet and if left untreated it can become very difficult to find comfortable footwear in later life. Bunions are a form of arthritis in the foot.
The truth about bunions, is the most painful stage of the deformity is often the early stages. Located in Albany Creek, we are the Brisbane Northside sports podiatrist of choice. This can contribute to developing other conditions like: metatarsalgia, capsulitis, hammer toes, claw toes, sesamoiditis and stress fractures of the metatarsals. So book an appointment today!