Nonsurgical Treatments for Bunions

A bunion is a bony thump at the base of your first leg toe. Bunions result from bone, tendons, and tissue misalignment at the base of your first toe, causing it to bend towards the smaller toes. Patients often ask whether their bunions Mill Creek can go away on its own. While it, unfortunately, won’t, there are remedies that can relieve the pain and prevent the bunion from getting bigger. Here is a look at nonsurgical bunion remedies to help ease the swelling, slow the progression of the bunion, and avoid worsening pain.

Wearing Wide Shoes

Most bunion symptoms result from the pressure of the shoe against the bunion. This causes pain, redness, swelling, or blistering over the bunion. Wearing a wide shoe instead of a narrow one will effectively help relieve the pressure on your bunion. Avoid tight, short, or sharply pointed shoes and high heels more than a few inches high. Instead, go for flat shoes with adequate room in the toe box.

Bunion Splints

Bunion splints help prevent the big and adjacent toes from pushing against each other. This decreases the pressure between the toes hence relieving the pain caused by a bunion. It is recommended to use bunion splints when sleeping at night. Splints are an effective short-term solution for bunion pain. There is no established evidence that bunion splints can straighten the toe.

Icing The Bunion

Another remedy to alleviate the symptoms of bunions is to ice the bunion for a couple of minutes each night. This remedy helps to prevent the swelling that happens when you have been on the feet throughout the day and exert pressure on the bunion. You can decrease the inflammation around your toe joint with regular ice therapy.

Wearing A Protective Pad

Bunion pads are designed to redistribute pressure away from the affected joint. Ensure to test the pads for a short time to ensure they decrease pressure effectively instead of constricting the toes even more and making the bunion bump more severe.

Wearing Sandals with Arch Support

Rather than wearing slippers at home, get sandals with arch support. This is because slim slippers might squeeze the large toe inward, producing extra rubbing on the bunion. Sandals with arch support can help decrease compression on the bunion.

Orthotics

A shoe orthotic is an insert that enhances arch support, alignment, and comfort. Orthotics help stop or slow bunions’ progression by improving movement patterns and foot mechanics. They also help evenly distribute weight on your foot which can decrease pressure on your big toe. A

Exercises

You can perform some exercises to increase flexibility, relieve pain and boost your muscular strength. These bunion exercises can help enhance your foot mobility and gait. However, exercises alone cannot correct the bunion bone misalignment; hence need to be combined with other treatments.

For most patients, these treatments effectively relieve inflammation and pain. They also help to stop their bunion from growing further. This is particularly true for patients with small or new bunions. However, if your bunion is more prominent or is not responding to these treatments, you should consider surgery. If you have been experiencing bunion pain for years, it’s likely the bunion has become severe, and the above-reviewed treatments will have a small impact.