How to Relieve Those Painful Bunions
Hallux valgus, more commonly known as bunions form when the bone at the joint of the big toe moves out of place. As pressure on the joint increases over time, the big toe will be forced towards the rest of your toes, creating a large and painful lump at the joint of the toe.
Bunions can cause severe pain, and the worse they become, the more difficult it can be to wear shoes or even walk.
1. Soak Your Feet to Relieve Pain
After a long day on your feet you might be tempted to take a hot bath or to soak your feet, this can be even more beneficial if you’re dealing with bunions.
You can help to relieve bunion pain by giving your feet a warm or cool soak in your bath tub or in a foot spa if you have one. Before stepping in, add a couple tablespoons of epsom salt, then fill the tub with water up to ankle level. Allow your feet to soak for 10-15 minutes to help to relieve pain.
2. Stretch Your Big Toe
Since bunions have a major impact on your big toe, it’s extremely important that you take time to stretch the big toe to provide some pain relief. Stretching your toe, just like any other part of your body, is a great way to relieve sore joints and muscles.
Using your fingers, gently pull the big toe back into it’s normal position, hold the stretch for 10-15 seconds and repeat 2 to 3 times to provide some temporary relief.
3. Consider Purchasing a New Pair of Shoes
The shoes you wear can have a major impact on your entire body, but are especially important for your feet if you’re dealing with bunions. As bunions get worse, it’s important to consider switching to a wider shoe to accommodate for the changes in your foot that occur.
As your feet change, you shoes should change with them. These days, you’re not going to be limited to orthopedic shoes, as there are plenty of varieties available from dress to casual with a wide toe area to accommodate for bunions.
4. Maintain a Healthy Weight
Maintaining a healthy weight is important for your overall well being, but it can help to relieve pain on bunions as well. As we all know, our feet do a lot of work to support us throughout the day, so any extra weight increases the amount of stress we place on our feet while standing and walking.
Maintaining a healthy weight can help to reduce this stress and provide gradual relief over time.
5. Use a Topical Analgesic
While not always the most effective or long term form of relief, topical pain relief gels can offer temporary relief from bunion pain.
Depending on the ingredients, some gels or creams can provide a cooling relief or even temporarily block pain signals to the area they’re applied to. These can be found at just about any drug store and are relatively inexpensive.
Tired of dealing with bunion pain? let us help! Schedule an appointment with Dr. Warner today!
