Hallux Valgus, commonly known as bunions, is a condition in which the big toe starts to turn towards the other toes. This causes the foot to deform and the bone right above the toe to hurt.
In extreme cases, the pain becomes chronic and the only solution left is surgery, where the bone is cut and the toe reattached in the right orientation.
There are a lot of people who believe that bunions are hereditary, but there is a lot of research that suggests otherwise.
Bunions in a lot of cases is lifestyle acquired health problem and there are ways to identify if you are on your path to painful bunions.
Identify if you are walking towards bunions:
1. Check for calluses under your big toe - If you see calluses forming under your big toe frequently, your toe is probably on its way to deformation.
In a natural setting, all toes would be splayed wide and the bottom of the toe would push off the ground when you walk, however due to modern shoes that compress our toes together, the toe turns inwards and adapts to the wrong motion, leaving calluses on the sides of our large toe.
2. See if you are developing a low arch - Due to the turning of the toe, a lot of people end up developing a low arch and their gait cycle changes. This can cause more issues upwards in the kinetic chain as well, like in the knees, hips and lower back.
3.Check the bone connecting with your big toe - If you see the bone above your big toe moving outwards or away from the foot, and is not in a straight line from the ankle to your toe, correction is needed.
How to manage bunions:
The idea of treating bunions is simple.
All of us were born with perfect V shaped feet. Toes spread wide apart for a perfect tripod to support our body.
Over the years we end up cramming our feet into shoes with narrow toe boxes that deform our feet and make us very unstable.
1. Get rid of narrow toe box shoes. Stay barefoot wherever you can and in places you cannot, wear open footwear or wear barefoot shoes that have a wide toe box so you can use your feet naturally.
2. Invest in toe spacers- toe spacers are nothing but silicon molds that fit in between your toes to spread them apart and bring them back to their natural splay. These are not a complete solution, but they help your brain adapt to the idea of wide stable feet and allow you to use your big toe in its natural place.
3. Exercise your big toe to make it stronger - Only toe spacers will not do the job. They will keep your toe in place passively, but if you do not build strength, it will go back to its learned position again and again. Train your toes by doing toe yoga and isolation exercises. We are creating a complete program for training your feet and building strength bottom up. If that is something you’d like, drop in your email in the contact form here, and we will share the program with you in your mail.
Our feet are the foundation of the body and it is very important we take their strength seriously.
In all cases do consult a doctor or physician if you are battling bunions, but know that surgery is not the only option. Go barefoot and see the magic happen.