Bunion
(Hallux Valgus)
A
bunion is an enlargement of the inside border of the foot at the base
of the big toe. Bunions are often painful, mostly due to shoe
pressure against the prominent area.
A bunion is usually associated with a tendency for the big toe to deviate toward the second toe.
The
abnormal position of the bones has a tendency to worsen with age.
In more severe cases, the big toe and second toe can overlap.
Bunions
occur more frequently in women. This is partially because
women's shoes tend to have narrow toes and elevated heels, which
combine to force the big toe into the deformed position. There
also can be an inherited tendency to form bunions, sometimes even
appearing during the childhood years.
TREATMENT
The
simplest treatment for a bunion is to modify the footwear (wider toebox
and lower heels) to avoid pressure. In mild bunions, this is
often the only treatment that is necessary.
If a bunion remains painful or if the deformity is severe enough to be a problem with footwear, surgery can be done.
There
are several surgical procedures that can be done for the correction of
bunions, and the choice among these is made by your surgeon based on
the severity and type of deformity. The goal of the surgery
is to reduce the bony prominence on the side of the foot, and to
straighten the deviated big toe.
Bunion surgery usually is done
as an outpatient. The foot must be protected from weight-bearing
while the bone heals during the first several weeks after surgery, but
a cast is seldom necessary.