Treat Your Tootsies!

Are you badgered by bunions? It could be the shoes you’re wearing. If you’re into fashion footwear and buy shoes for style instead of support, you can literally change the ways your foot bones grow. If you can feel a knobby bump at the base of your big toe, that’s a bunion. And that means your shoes are forcing your bones to grow in some pretty unnatural ways.

Short of surgery, there’s no way to get rid of bunions once they form. And surgery is a reasonable choice when they hurt so much that you can’t get around very well or when the pain doesn’t go away even when you slip out of those sleek-looking pumps. But before you consider foot surgery—and the risk of complications that comes with it—you’ll want to explore some gentler ways to reduce the pain and keep the bunions from getting worse. Here’s a few that may help:

·        Place a donut-shaped pad between the bunion and your shoe to reduce the pressure.

·        Wear snug socks. The more tightly your socks cling to your feet, the less likely they are to rub your bunions the wrong way.

·        Stretch ‘em out with rubber bands. Sit with your feet together and loop a thick rubber band around both big toes. Move your feet as far apart as they’ll go, hold the stretch for 5 seconds, then relax. Repeat the exercise 10 times at least once a day.

·        Buy some new shoes that are wide enough for your feet to slip into comfortably, preferably with a low or flat heel.

A comfrey footbath can quickly soothe painful bunions. Comfrey contains chemical compounds that reduce skin discomfort and help sore areas heal. To make a footbath, steep an ounce of dried comfrey leaves (available at health food stores) in a few cups of simmering water for 10 minutes. Add enough cool water to make the temperature comfortable, pour the water into a basin, and soak your feet for 20 minutes or so. If you can’t find comfrey, it’s okay to substitute Epsom salts.

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