My feet are killing me.
Today was torture.
My eldest daughter is getting to the age where the design and look of her clothes are becoming more and more important to her. Her best friend’s birthday party is next week and today we spent over four hours in the local mall looking for just the right outfit.
To begin with I was quite proud about the fact that she’s growing up but that pride quickly turned to a different emotion. A painful emotion. The pain in my left bunion became so bad that my daughter could see it written all over my face. I even got to the point where I bought a cheap pair of athletic shoes that were size too big for me just to give me room formy feet.
What was supposed to be a nice day out turned into a complete nightmare.
Aromatherapy looked like quite an attractive proposition later that evening…
Aromatherapy
God bless mother-in-law’s.
My mother-in-law is usually full of helpful suggestions and she does help an awful lot when it comes to the kids and things that I am unsure about because believe me she has usually been there and done that.
But today we reached a new milestone in our relationship. I talked about the trouble I am having my bunions and that I was looking at using bunion splints to provide some kind of bunion pain relief that I can get and she suggested that I try aromatherapy. Now, I do like nature and I do like nice smelling things but Lord knows why she would think that aromatherapy is going to help with the alignment and shape of the bones of my feet.
I love her, but sometimes…
Neoprene bunion brace’s don’t work
A couple of days ago, I managed to get my hands on what I can only describe as a neoprene sleeve for my bunions.
It was available in the local drugstore and cost me about $15. They look like the same material they use for making a divers wetsuit and have lots of little holes in them. I think the idea of these things is to apply some kind of pulling force on the big toe itself and trying to prevent it from moving closer to second toe.
I can’t find a picture of what these look like on the Internet so it is tough to imagine. The main piece wraps around the ball of your foot and an extension that you pull on over the big toe.
Imagine having a glove you pull all for your foot saw that it ends in the middle of your arch and you cut off all be “fingers” except for the big toe.
Well, that was probably the most wasteful $15 I have ever spent in my life. All these things seem to do is firstly, wrinkle up inside my shoes causing my feet to become uncomfortable and secondly, make my feet sweat like they haven’t done since I was last in the gym. It constantly amazes me how people put these things on the market because it seems like nobody has ever tested them before. Any half brained scientist or researcher could have realised that there was no point in creating this product just by putting them into their athletic shoes and walking around all day. I can guarantee you they would have gone straight back to their bosses and said “these are rubbish”.
The problem is there is a constant demand for solutions to people’s aches and pains and a lot of these manufacturers realise that people will pay if there is the appearance of a solution to a problem.
It constantly amazes me how such a small problem in the grand scheme of things such as a bunion can’t be aided or helped but we can send a 65-year-old man into space.
The search continues…
Bunion is fine…Due to flu….
Haha…
I’m in bed on the laptop and my feet feel fine. That’s pretty much down to the fact that I have stayed in bed for the last two days with a bug that I think one of the kids got from soccer training.
Just wanted to say Hi! I can only take so much of daytime TV. 
Bunions and Orthotics: The Truth…
Orthotics and insoles are sometimes thrown up as a solution to having bunions. Well they’re not.
I have a very good friend that is a leading expert in the field of orthotics and he told me the truth.
Orthotics don’t cure bunions. They don’t fix bunions. The don’t straighten bunions.
Orthotics have 2 goals when used on a patient with bunions.
- They help SLOW DOWN the rate at which bunions progress…but they still progress
- They will help with SOME pain reduction but this is due to helping stabilizing the foot during push off when we walk. I’m not sure how this works but he assures me this is the case.
What he says is if you want to spend up to $400 for a bit of pain relief and have to wear cluncky shoes…go right ahead.
Just don’t let yourself be ’sold’ orthotics on the promise that they will ‘cure’ your bunions. Too many women fall for that…I was lucky…I had good inside information.
Bunion Surgery is as painful as it sounds
I’ve been asked many time why I don’t just go and have bunion surgery…and get those ugly ‘bumps’ taken off. Trust me…if it was that simple I would…in a heart beat. Alsa, it is never that easy when it comes to surgery and it’s the same with bunion surgery.
The surgery is just the beginning.
I’ve been to an Orthopedic surgeon and a podiatric surgeon and both were very professional and explained all the pro’s and all the con’s to me.
It boils down to the simple fact that I will need at least 3 months of my life to be back on my feet without crutches and walking pain free…PER FOOT.
For obvious reasons they don’t do both feet at the same time.
I just don’t have the time. My work schedule and family life just won’t allow it. I could be selfish and just do it but that just isn’t me.
The succes rate seems high to me but the surgeons all said that there is a decent risk that the bunions will return after the surgery. At least they’ve been up front and honest.
So, no, I can’t just get them ‘taken off’. You can always tell that the person asking has never been in this situation. Painful bunions and nowhere to go…just grin and bear it…like alot of things in life.
Bunion | The pain of my life
For as long as I can remember I have had an ugly bunion on each foot. I used to hate my feet with a passion. There was nothing worse that living with my horrible toes.
I couldn’t wear those lovely shoes that you see on Sex and the City. I wanted to wear heels, slingbacks and the latest fashions. Not with my feet.
They were ugly, ugly, ugly.
Then something happened. My ugly feet didn’t bother me anymore…nope…I didn’t care about the horrendous shape or the wonky toes or the horrible collection of shoes I was reduced to wearing. No. Something else became my obession.
Pain.
Oh my Lord…the pain.
No longer did my bunions stare at me like a bad Picasso painting. I was no longer obsessed by shape, form and fit. The pain took my mind off aesthetics all together.
The simplest of trips to the mall or to the store just tore into my feet. Even at night the pain and the throbbing distracted my sleep.
Bunion surgery was not the answer. The rehabilitation from surgery is time I can’t afford.
This is my search for comfort and a little pain relief. I’ll go through some of the bunion braces and bunion splints I’ve tried and whether they have helped or not.
I’m going to walk the walk….hopefully.