Bunions & Bunionectomy

Bunions & Bunionectomy
A bunion, also called a Hallux Valgus, is a bony protuberance on the side of the foot at the base of the big toe.
This joint, also called the metatarsalphalangeal joint, thickens and enlarges causing the tendons to tighten and the big toe to angle in and over the second toe. This in turn causes the base of the big toe to angle out causing a painful, bony deformity called a bunion.

Causes of bunions:
- unsuitable footwear (sigh..ouch Jimmy Choo),
- medical conditions (inflammatory or degenerative arthritis, cerebral palsy),
- gender (bunions are much more common in women than men),
- genetics (if any of your family members have/ had bunions you're at higher risk of developing bunions.)

What can help, besides surgery?
- Appropriate footwear - you may want to toss your Louboutin's and wear properly fitted shoes, also shoe inserts, padding etc
- Medications - Tylenol for pain or NSAIDS to reduce the inflammation. Your doctor may also recommend steroid injections to treat the bunion.
- Physical therapy - such as therapeutic ultrasound therapy or whirlpool therapy for pain and inflammation relief.

Bunionectomy:
if conservative measures fail to treat the bunion pain, is time to remove the bunion.
Your surgeon will remove the inflamed tissue around the toe joint.
A part of the bone in the big toe may be removed in order to straighten the toe - this is called osteotomy.
Ligaments may need adjusting to point toes in the proper direction.
The bones of the big toe may be fused together and stabilized with screws, pins or wire to keep the bone in proper position.
The incision is closed with sutures and covered with a sterile dressing then wrapped with compression bandages.

References:
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00140
http://www.surgerybunion.com/

Watch live surgery:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt_4R7QWGxQ

Video source for the animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8gYHS-TpOI

#bunions   #surgery   #medicine   #foothealth