What are bunions?

A bunion is a painful bump on a toe. Many people have them. If someone in your family has bunions, you're more likely to get them. Here, Louis G. Pack, DPM, Author of The Arthritis Revolution explains why bunions occur and how to best treat them.

Transcript

00:00

We say sometimes that they're inherited. You don't really inherit the bunion. You inherit the abnormal structure that caused the bunion.

00:07

[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:13

Many people suffer from a condition called bunions. Bunions are a bump that occurs at the big toe joint,

00:20

but a bunion really isn't a bump as much as it is a dislocation of the joint. And that dislocation is caused by pronation or rolling

00:28

in of the foot. So a bunion is a symptom. And it's important that you understand this because that same force that's dislocating the big toe joint

00:37

and making the bump is tearing up cartilage in your knees, your hips, and your back from the way you're standing and walking.

00:44

It's also important that if you have bunion surgery done that you don't go to someone that just knocks the bump off,

00:51

but someone that straightens the joint, because the straighter the joint, the less bone has to be removed, and the more

00:58

you're fixing the real problem. So bunions, we say sometimes that they're inherited. You don't really inherit the bunion.

01:05

You inherit the abnormal structure that caused the bunion. So if Mom has bunions, she also has a tendency for the foot to pronate or roll in

01:13

or other factors that are causing the bunion. And treating those underlying problems will prevent bunions.

01:19

If you have surgery done, it will many times help prevent you from having further problems and the need for additional surgery.

01:26

[HEART PULSING] [CHIMING]