3 Tips to Manage Bunion Pain At Work

 Your feet are made up of 26 bones and 30 joints and are essential for standing, bearing your body weight, and allowing you to walk, run, and almost everything you do while you’re upright. Because we spend so much time using our feet, there are several conditions that affect our comfort, stability, and limited motion affecting our everyday lives. These include plantar fasciitis, flat feet, heel spurs, metatarsalgia, Morton’s neuroma, as well as injuries, arthritis, and infections.

A bunion (hallux valgus) is a type of foot deformity, a progressive foot disorder, and the most common condition affecting the forefront of your feet. Millions of American adults struggle with this foot problem, including 35% of women over 65. If you’re regularly working while struggling with pain from bunions, there are ways to help reduce it and make life easier on your feet. Let’s explore how by examining what bunions are, what causes them, and how to minimize the pain.

If you live in the Fort Worth or Weatherford, Texas area, and you’re trying to cope with the pain from bunions or other foot problems, Drs. Gary Driver, Glen Beede, Gregory Jaryga, and their dedicated team at Trinity Foot & Ankle Specialists can help.

What are bunions?

This foot deformity in the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint forms a lump on the outside of your big toe, resulting from pressure on the joint and comes in different forms:

• Congenital: a condition where infants are born with a foot problem
• Juvenile: when the condition develops in early teens (10-15 years of age)
• Tailor’s bunion (bunionette): in some cases, this can develop on your pinky toe, on the opposite end of your forefoot

The lump that forms because of this condition causes your toe to be pulled toward your smaller toes, making the base of the big toe stick out and often become sore. It can also lead to swelling, corns, calluses, chronic pain, numbness, hammertoes (tight and painful tendons and joints in the big toe), and limited movement.

What causes them?

Pressure on your feet from your walking habits or foot shape affects bunions developing over time. The exact causes of this foot deformity are still being researched. Common factors that lead to it include foot injuries, family history, birth deformities, and being left untreated can lead to metatarsalgia, bursitis, and the previously mentioned hammertoe. There are also common contributing factors to getting this condition, like rheumatoid arthritis and wearing high heels or other types of ill-fitting shoes. Standing for long periods can worsen the pain and other symptoms, hence why they can be a burden while you’re at work.

What can you do to minimize the pain?

Here are some ways to reduce pain and make managing this condition easier:

1. Stay at a healthy weight

Being overweight can also add pressure to your feet since they support your whole body, and reaching a healthy weight can help to ease the burden your feet already have with bunions.

2. Use foot supports

A variety of foot supports can help, including using inserts to correct foot positioning, pads to protect the bunions, well-fitting footwear with space to accommodate the deformity, and a splint to ease discomfort and straighten the foot

3. Home foot maintenance

Over-the-counter medications can help to reduce the pain and inflammation bunions can cause, as well as soaking feet in warm water, using ice packs, whirlpools, and massage.

Bunions can be a painful problem to deal with, but it can be managed, and we can help. Make an appointment with Drs. Driver, Beede, Jaryga, and the team at Trinity Foot & Ankle Specialists today to ease the pain of bunions.