# What causes bunions, and what do you do about them?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-bunions-and-what-do-you-do-about-them/122783>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 7, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-bunions-and-what-do-you-do-about-them/122783 "2002-08-07T14:45:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-bunions-and-what-do-you-do-about-them/122783/1 "2002-08-07T14:45:38Z")

</div>

I wasn’t sure whether to put this here or in MPSIMS. Okay, what causes bunions? What do they consist of? Why are they painful? How do you treat them?

My mother has very bad ones, which cannot be attributed to wearing uncomfortable shoes, because I think she’d kill anyone who tried to force her to wear heels. I’ve read that they’re partly genetic, which is very bad, because I’m starting to get one on my right foot- _at twenty-three!_ And I’ve worn nothing but hiking boots or Doc Martens for the past eight years!

So, what can I do to restore my right foot? The only less-constricting footwear I can think of is sandals, which will get a bit nippy in a Canadian winter… ☹

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-bunions-and-what-do-you-do-about-them/122783/2 "2002-08-07T16:01:12Z")

</div>

From the Mayo Clinic:

[http://www.mayoclinic.com/findinformation/diseasesandconditions/invoke.cfm?id=DS00309](http://www.mayoclinic.com/findinformation/diseasesandconditions/invoke.cfm?id=DS00309)