5 Easy Ways to Relieve Bunion Pain

Whether you have a bunion on the big toe or a bunionette on the little toe, both can be very painful particularly if you don’t take care of them. Here are 6 easy ways to relieve bunion pain and restore vitality back into your feet.

Wear Shoes With a Wider Toe Box

Having your toes squished tightly together in a pair of shoes can cause long-term displacement of the big toe and an imbalance of weight on the toe joints.

Although these factors cannot be attribute to be the causes of a bunion (no one knows what is), they certainly do not help to relieve bunion pain – quite the opposite actually.

Therefore, if you have a bunion, it’s absolutely vital to wear footwear that have wide toe boxes to prevent your feet being squished together.

Walk With Correct Foot Positioning

It’s hard to walk with the correct foot positioning if you’re wearing footwear with a narrow toe box. Assuming that someone has the perfect pair of shoes, they may still be walking with poor foot positioning.

You can notice this with the amount of people that walk with a side-to-side motion where much of the body’s weight is placed on the tip of the big toe.

With every step, the joint of the bunion is pushed into the ground which can result in swelling, wider displacement of the joint and even more pain.

The normal way to walk is with a front-to-back motion where weight is transferred from the heel to the front of the foot in a straight line. There should be no wavering to either side.

Wear Bunion Splints

A bunion day/night splint is designed to stabilise the joint and slow down its progression by applying pressure onto the bunion.

Though it may be painful at first due to the unnatural feel and pressure applied, the pain can gradually ease as your bones and muscles get used to its different positioning, providing an increased range of flexibility.

Wear Bunion Protectors and/or Correctors

In some cases, the slightest of touch on a bunion can be painful which can typically be due to swelling.

Wearing bunion protectors made from gel or soft fabric helps to cushion the bunion and reduce irritation when you’re wearing socks and shoes.

If the pain is caused by a displacement of the joints around the bunion area, then wearing a bunion corrector can help to stabilise the big toe and reduce movement when you’re active.

Strengthen Your Feet

It’s entirely possible to alter the positioning of the bones within the feet and increasing your feet’s strength through proper foot correction and strengthening exercises.

By doing these exercises, you’ll increase the stability and flexibility of the bones and muscles within your feet. That means that your feet will be able to cope with a wider range of motions without injury or pain.

However, to have such achievements, you need to be dedicated and consistent in performing the correct bunion exercises.

A good tip is to gradually increase the number of exercise days until the point of significant improvement, whereby you can then gradually decrease the days.