A bunion is a painful bony area behind the big toe and a bunionette is a painful bony area behind the 5th toe. It can happen for women, men and children. Some bunions are genetic, some are from ligament laxity, some from poor foot alignment in the ankle and arches and others are caused from footwear that is too tight.

 

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Three Main Types of Bunions

Type 1 – Small boney growth from tight shoes

 When shoes are too tight it causes pressure in the forefoot to the area behind the big toe and behind the fifth toe. This occurs in men and women.  To check if you have this type of bunion and bunionette, look at the big toenail and toe when standing. It should be level and straight. Look at your shoes when wearing them. Ballerina pumps, slip on shoes and high heels are the main culprit. Are the boney areas exactly where the edge of the forefoot where the shoe cuts across the top and side of the foot?  The pressure from tight footwear makes the bone react and grow larger. It may also start to grow a swelling called a buses to protect the bone which makes the lumps look larger than they actually are.

 

Treatment

1. Better fitting shoes. 
2. Make the foot slimmer and smaller. This can be reduced by using forefoot tapes by  for women or   tapes for men with a  or  insole. This insole lifts the forefoot bones back up together. The tapes minimize the width of the forefoot making the foot size smaller and slimmer by half shoe size to one shoe size smaller making it fit into shoes again. 

To prevent it coming back use beauty and the bunion tapes when wearing high heels or tight shoes such as dress work shoes for men and ballerina pumps or high heels for women. They keep the foot small and tight so that it does not press against the shoe causing bony growth’s.

 

 

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Type 2 – Forefoot splay and widening

This type is exclusively found in women’s feet particularly with hormone changes or after having children or age related.

Normal female hormones make the ligaments softer and more chewing gum like. They hold the forefoot bones together tightly. But with hormones affecting these ligaments the forefoot gets wider over time. The big toe also starts to deviate and move towards the second toe and the toenail plate on the big toe also turns. To see if you have Type II bunion stand on your feet and look at your big toe. If the big toe moves across towards the second toe then you have Type II bunion. It should be noted that there is a good medial arch and straight ankle and there is no involvement from the medial arch collapsing. 

Treatment

1. 1. Use the  system for women and system for men. 
   2. 2. All three components require addressing. These include muscles,bones and ligaments.  The 3 insoles in the system  are divided into three stages to lift the metatarsal bones in the forefoot back up again. The forefoot binding tapes squeeze the metatarsals together again making the forefoot slimmer again by pulling the bunion and bunionette together. The electro muscle stimulator in the systems works by strengthening the muscles that also help to keep the metatarsals together. This is important as the insoles and binding tapes can make the muscles week during the 6-12 week process. This must be counterbalanced by engaging these specific muscles. 

FOR WOMEN

 

FOR MEN

  

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Type 3 – Bunion and bunionette with medial ankle collapse, medial arch collapse, forefoot splaying.  

This is the most complex of all the bunions. This can be found in children men and women. It starts with the medial ankle leaning in and collapsing the medial arch. The forefoot then splays, collapses and widens making the first and fifth metatarsal push outwards. The big toe will appear to be moving towards the second toe and the toenail will be leaning away from its centre position. The longer the problem goes on, the fifth toe will also start to lean towards the 4th toe and the nail will turn down towards the ground also. 

 

Treatment

1. Firstly, ankle must be straightened using The  that tilts the foot which in turn straightens the ankle. It should be worn for 3 month. In children this orthotic is called . After completing  three months the for men or the  system for women and children should be used for 6-12 weeks. A silicone toe aligner my also be used which is custom made to help if the big toe has deviated an extreme amount.