[huntermiles3353]

I think I notice that I have bunions on both of my feet. I have had moderate pain in the big toe joints throughout the past 6 months or so of training but I felt I was doing okay managing it with rest and not overdoing it. I never noticed them before but it seems they are hereditary and can only be worsened not caused by hiking and climbing. My climbing shoes are much too tight which I am certain has aggravated it. It’s disappointing to not have realized this earlier and that I could have prevented it from worsening. It’s a learning lesson though that I hope won’t set me back too much in my training. However if it requires surgery, which it does to completely go away, then it might.

I don’t really have many questions, I just kind of wanted to share it. But if anyone else has had experience with this I would love to hear. It helps to have some sort of community to talk to as I don’t have any friends that train. I’m only 19 so it gives me some anxiety to have had something like this happen. I guess it’s better to learn early though that injury is important to prevent and manage if I want to be happy.

Anyway, I’m going to work on conservative methods to reduce the pain. From what I’ve read it seems you should avoid surgery unless it is causing too much pain. I’m hoping that giving it some good rest and recovery might allow me to keep climbing and hiking without surgery.

Has anyone else had experience with bunions.

Topic

[Pete Dickinson MS,PT]

Pete Dickinson MS,PT on June 1, 2021 at 1:57 pm #54529

Hunter,
You can use a boot punch to provide for more room across from your bunions. Many of my patients manage this through different footwear modifications, and orthotics. Surgery can yield good results, but this is reserved for when the pain can’t be managed.
Best of luck!!
Pete

[bonbap2021]

bonbap2021 on June 10, 2021 at 3:27 am #54731

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[Thomas Summer, MD]

Thomas Summer, MD on June 10, 2021 at 6:58 am #54740

Hi!

strengthening the foot muscels is also a good idea. If the angle of bones isn’t too big, that can work well. You could see that on a x-ray.
As Pete wrote, surgery should be for patients, where pain can’t be managed. And as you are still only 19, I wouldn’t think about surgery unless it’s very severe. There are a lot of different methods for surgery. Which is usually not the best sign;-)

lg!
Thomas

[jessicamaly]

jessicamaly on June 22, 2021 at 2:31 pm #55032

I have bunions and one thing that I didn’t know is that bunions can move your bones out of alignment which puts you more at risk for sesamoid issues (effectively the knee cap of your big toe). I spent most of last year in pain in the ball of my foot and assumed it was just my bunions and arthritis. It turns out that I had sesamoiditis which then led to one of my sesamoids breaking. These bones are tricky to heal given their limited blood supply. It definitely didn’t help that I delayed getting treatment. Four months after the sesamoid breaking, it still hasn’t healed. So take care of your feet and realize that bunions can create other issues in your feet. If you do need surgery, I always recommend meeting with at least 3 doctors. As someone else mentioned, there isn’t one standard surgery and I am always amazed at the variety of answers I get when I see multiple doctors for the same issue. This comes from someone who has had both great and devastating surgeries.