I’m 33. I wear good shoes. I haven’t worn toe pinching high heels since I was 20. I know that I need to take care of my feets.
My right big toe has suddenly moved to the right, so its squishing my other toes. And the bottom of my foot hurts if I sit too long. The side of my foot has a big lump. And it hurts.
I’ll call my doctor on Monday. But does anyone know what’s happening? I’d like to be informed before seeing the doctor. This really did happen almost over night. Last week all of my toes were pointing forward and now I could can’t wear flops.
And idiot cat has started leaving toys right where my feet hit the floor. Stepping on kitty toys hurts. Kicking them out of the way makes me lose my balance.
I’ll leave the google image search to you, but google image searches of foot problems usually show the most extreme cases and often times require not only a strong stomach but the ability to keep in mind that you might still have it even if it doesn’t look like that (yet).
Bunions suck. They can be fixed, but its surgical, and not guaranteed. If you have the means, find a podiatrist and have him make you some custom orthotics. Orthotics don’t cure bunions, but they stabilize your foot, redistribute pressure, and support your arch. They can keep the bunion from getting worse and help alleviate the pain.
Do not use store bought, do not go through a chiropractor (bless their hearts). The podiatrist should use a non-weight bearing, plaster cast method to make a mold of your feet. The step-in-foam- method is inaccurate. I don’t know how I would live without mine. Mr. Surrounded had a problem similar to yours, so I dragged him in for a pair. He has never had a problem since.
And no catnip for anyone who leaves toys in the middle of the floor.
heh drag yourself into the 21st century. My podiatrist has one step onto and walk onto a sensor pad and a computer designs the orthotics that deal with both resting and moving foot parts. Finished prosthetics run 300-400 $$US for my feets, your feet may vary.
When you use your body weight to step on the pad or foam or whatever, you get and image of your foot in its weakest, deformed state. Non weight bearing allows the foot to retain as much of its natural position as possible. Standing, I have flat feet. I need an arch that is appropriate for my foot. Like the one that is found when I am non-weight bearing. They are, unfortunately, expensive, but I am a real baby when it comes to pain.
A few years ago I developed something called pedal edema where fluid was building up in one leg below the knee. It got so bad I only had one pair of shoes I could fit into tightly. In the early stages you might not immediately notice such a problem. It went away quickly on its own in about a week. I never knew the cause.
I had bunion surgery a few years ago, and thankfully it “took”, meaning another bunion hasn’t appeared in the same place. I couldn’t afford custom-made orthotics, so I made do with the drugstore kind until I could barely walk. I later learned I could have put off the surgery if I had worn the right type of shoes (broad across the instep, broad square/round toe, low heel).
I now have one blooming on my other foot, but I have other issues with that foot which are more pressing – like two cracked metatarsal bones
I have flexible flat feet, and a bunion on my right foot. I’ve had orthotics done all three ways. The plaster, non-weight bearing works the best for me…probably for all the reasons given above.
Before I had the orthotics…or when they start to wear out…my right big toe hurt(s) on every step, both wearingn shoes or barefoot. With the orthotics to maintain the shape of the arch, I’m pain free. I ran a 5k on Thursday. And I can walk around barefoot, too.
One podiatrist did want to do surgery, both for the flat feet and the bunion. The orthotics he gave me weren’t working very well, and I was still in pain. He used the “walk across this computerized pad” method. I went back to the podiatrist who used the non-weight bearing method, to exhaust all my non-surgical options before going under the knife.
For the OP - are you 100% this happened over night? My understanding of bunions is they form over time. You can get a similar look if you have an acute injury. Seeing your podiatrist is the right answer.
It would be *very *strange for a bunion to form overnight, especially if you don’t wear toe-pinching high heels.
Unfortunately, that means you need to go have it checked out. Might be a fluid filled cyst pushing things out of alignment, might be nerve damage, might be a muscle spasm, might be a lot of things. What it isn’t, sadly, is diagnosable over the internet.
For what it’s worth, they taught us some techniques in my massage school for dealing with bunions - basically, working the small muscles of the foot and ankle to make everything relax so the tarsals are no longer pulled out of alignment. Had a couple of clients who I taught the method to so they could do it on themselves for 15 minutes twice a day, and their docs told them they no longer needed surgery.
Thank you all for your replies. I know that I need to see a doctor, I was just wondering if other people had the same experience and what to expect. Well, honestly, I was hoping that everyone would say something like “don’t worry about it, it will go away on its own”. You didn’t, so its off to the doctor for me.
The change in physical appearance did happen pretty quickly. I had been noticing the pain in the ball of my foot for a while, but it only happened when I had been sitting too long, so I was blaming that on bad circulation because I had been sitting too long. I’m very big on denial :smack:
If I find out that I’ve got something interesting going on, I’ll let you all know. I’m sure its just a boring ol’ bunion, tho.
Sounds like a bunion to me. I’ll be interested in your follow ups.
See, January of a year ago I had to have the bunion under my big left toe surgically corrected. It looked like I had a walnut growing in my foot when I saw the x-rays, and a big lump stuck out from the right side of the foot beneath the big toe.
I got it from my dad, who got it from his mom. Both my father and my sister both had theirs corrected as well, but mine wasn’t a problem, although unsightly, until the last couple of years before I had it lopped off. But it started to ache all the time, and even good shoes weren’t helping. I’ve never worn heels, and always wore wide shoes too.
My foot has been fine ever since. It was a hassle to get done, and wearing that darn boot for weeks was a royal pain, but I’ve been almost completely pain free ever since.
So, even in the worst case scenario things will turn out fine!
This is what drives me crazy. I worked for a podiatrist for 5 years. Insurance companies didn’t blink at paying for expensive, risky surgery, but they hated paying for the relatively much cheaper orthotics.
They are not covered by Medicare at all. Older feet have lost much of their spring and need the support. Staying mobile is crucial to avoiding the downward spiral into debilitating chronic disease, but it can’t be done if your feet hurt.
If the $400 dollar cost is just to steep, the doctor I worked for felt that the brand, “Superfeet” was the best possible OTC option.
As for the pain in the bottom of your foot; you have nerves that run right along the metatarsal bones in your foot. When the bones are out of alignment, such as yours seem to be, the nerve gets pinched in between the bones and becomes inflammed. More reason to see to the bunion sooner rather than later. In the meantime, ice on the sore spot when it hurts and Aleve are what I have found to work fairly well. Be sure to limit the icing time to 20 minutes and wait an hour before using ice again.
:nodding: It never made any sense to me either. Foot issues are right up there with back issues in my line of work. If you can’t walk…I don’t even want to go there. My current insurance pays NOTHING for podiatry, which I’m pretty sure is now standard – well, at least from everybody I know who has insurance, not just my coworkers.
This, x 1000. I’ve graduated from a boot to what I call a truss (it’s actually a lace-up ankle brace) to give my poor foot more support while I’m working. I’ve been on vacation this past week – I’ve been walking around, running with my dogs, etc., all without the truss. I’ve experienced no pain whatsoever. It’s going to be interesting returning to work. My feet will no doubt scream in protest.
I think this happened to me along with the cracked metatarsal bones. I ended up having a cortisone shot because the swelling never went down, even though I faithfully iced my foot like you described (my orthopedist basically told me the same exact thing, btw). The pain before the shot was almost as bad as the pain I had right after my bunion surgery :eek: :eek: :eek:
Due to the fact that I live in a retirement community (so the Podiatrist was very busy), and work issues, I finally got to the Podiatrist today.
Yes, its a bunion. Or bunions on both of my feet. I didn’t notice anything wrong with my left foot, but the x-rays showed stuff happening there as well. He wants to do surgery on my right foot and thinks that orthotics might save my left foot.
So now, my questions are how long is the recovery? How painful is it? I can’t take pain meds because they mess up my Tapazol (hyper thryoid meds)
Podiatrist was very calming and said its all routine surgery…and I trust him about that, but I do want to know from people who have had the surgery.
And…I only wore toe squiching high heels for about 3 years back when I was in my 20’s. Now I wear comfy tennies and work boots. From what my doctor told me, its just a flaw in my feets, not how I abused them. He said he’s suprised that someone my age has this problem. He also said that anyone who wears toe pinching high heels or flipflops on a regular basis might want to reconsider.
Never had bunions or surgery on my feet, but having my own little hell of a foot issue, I can categorically state that feet are painful when they have issues, all the complex little joints and nerve endings
Asking mrAru [he does short term disability case management for the Snoopy company] the recovery differs on the variant that you have. If it is a minor wedge repair there is about 2 and a half weeks until full weight bearing, the process is very painful. If it is chevron osteotomy is about 1 month to partial weight bearing in boot, if external fixation is required, about a month and a half, to about 6 to 8 weeks to full weight bearing, and again very painful.
Grumbles. This bites. Thank you for asking MrAru. This is so not what I wanted to hear, but it is in line what what my google fo has found.
I’m sorry for your foot issues, I do know that feet take a pounding every day, that’s why I tried to take care of mine. I will need them for another 60 years, so much for good shoes. le sigh
I had bunion surgery maybe 15 years ago? It’s a deformity with me, too – I hardly ever wore heels back in the day.
It’s painful. There’s nothing around that.
I was laid up for the better part of two months. Wasn’t allowed to drive or to put “unnecessary stress” on it, which meant I also had to miss a semester at culinary school as well as work. I have no idea about nowadays, but when I had it, they used a hook-like contraption that held my big toe bones together (they basically had to scrape off the bunion, then break my big toe to realign it). The end of the hook stuck out of my instep and I could feel it rotating every single time I moved my foot :eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek:
Now the one on my right foot is giving me trouble. It’s not painful enough to warrant surgery, but it’s getting there
Just thinking about the hook thingy made my both my feet hurt and my hands hurt and I think that now I’m going to go hide under my bed until the rapture. Or until the stars are right and I get eaten. Or until the litter boxes need cleaned.
NP, the trick is to follow the docs orders exactly. See if there is a pain killer work around.
When my feet get cold [Connecticut this past winter was purgatorial] I use the instant heat wraps on my feet with heavy socks [yes i know you are not supposed to but I dont do it when i am asleep.] and it makes a great difference in pain control. You might find icing works, and they make ice wraps that you can pop in the freezer that might be helpful.
