As holiday party season is in full swing, it’s pretty common to see people dressed in fancy duds out for dinner or entertainment. While that is fun, it can also mean spending several hours on your feet in shoes that may not be comfortable or healthy for your lower limbs. Once in a while, your feet can probably handle this. Spending a night out with a bunionette, though, can change holiday shoes into torture devices by the end of the evening. Instead of letting tailor’s bunion pain ruin a fun night, try a few treatments to take care of the issue.
A tailor’s bunion, or a bunionette, is a bulge at the base of your fifth toe. It develops when the digit and its metatarsal become dislocated from their natural positions. It’s essentially a tiny bunion on the little toe instead of the big one. Just like its more common cousin, the traditional bunion, this condition is the result of faulty biomechanics and is usually aggravated by your footwear.
Taking care of tailor’s bunion pain can be quite simple if done early enough. Here are a few tips:
Ice – Hold an ice pack to the bump when it hurts. This combats inflammation and pain around the affected joint.
Pad – Protect the bulge by padding it with a moleskin or some other soft layers. This reduces the painful friction on the joint.
Change shoes – Skip those narrow, pointy, uncomfortable dress shoes and look for footwear with a wide toe box and plenty of foot support.
There are other ways to take care of this problem. Orthotic devices are one of the more common therapies. These prescription inserts can help correct the biomechanics that may have contributed to the condition. Direct injections of pain medication may help persistent pain.
If your forefoot hurts, do something about it this holiday season! Don’t wait and suffer with a bunionette. Absolute Foot Care Specialists can help alleviate the discomfort. Contact our Las Vegas offices for an appointment. Just call (702) 839-2010 or use the web request form to reach us.
