Bunions are a common presentation in my office.  I see at least one new bunion patient a day.  It is a common condition that can produce pain daily.  We know that many bunions are inherited and get larger with time.  They usually become painful as time goes on and the bunion spreads affecting the forefoot making activities uncomfortable. 

Bunions are a separation of the first metatarsal from the second metatarsal.  The first metatarsal begins to shift away from the other metatarsals or towards the other foot.  When this occurs the big toe then begins to deviate in a direction away from the arch or towards the second toe.  This is when things begin to change rapidly. If the first toe now slides under the second a crossover toe formation begins and the bunion changes in size rapidly.  This is when most people present to my office and need help with the pain. 

There are some conservative measures that are helpful for bunions including wider shoes and not going barefoot.  It is important to note that no conservative measures will change the size of the bunion.  I see all sorts of online appliances come into the office.  These include splints, strapping devices and other items that state they will fix a bunion.  But remember a bunion is from a bone moving out of alignment and this is impossible to correct on the outside of the foot. 

If you have bunion pain I can help, call to make an appointment with me at 425-391-8666 or fill out a form online. 

Sincerely,

Dr Brandon Nelson

American College of Foot & Ankle Surgeons

Bunions are often a painful condition especially when trying to fit certain shoes or exercise.  Let us first discuss what a bunion is then how we can relieve the pain. 

A bunion results from a combination of familial inheritance and environmental factors.  Meaning that if you do not have a genetic predisposition for a bunion, you will not create one by adding outside forces to your foot.    Where this becomes important for example is high heel shoes.  If you have a family history of bunions and you wear high heels you can accelerate the process of development of the bunion.  Or if you are an avid exerciser like a runner this can speed up the development of a bunion. 

So what is a bunion?  Well, there is a common misconception that a bunion is growth.  This is not true nothing grows with a bunion it is from a misaligned bone in the foot.  The culprit is the 1^st metatarsal.  This bone begins to shift out of place and cause a bulge on the inside of the foot and continues to get worse until the big toe has rotated.  The bunion will get bigger as time goes on and often can begin to force the other toes out of position.  Bunions at this point become painful and hard to fit in shoes.

What can be done for bunion pain?  There are a lot of different things I can provide to relieve bunion pain.  It really requires an evaluation of the bunion.  But generally, wider shoes can help and prevent going barefoot.  There are other options that provide more relief, but it really depends on the stage of the bunion.

If you are experiencing bunion pain I can help call to make an appointment with me at 425-391-8666 or fill out a contact form online. 

Sincerely,
Dr Brandon Nelson

American College of Foot & Ankle Surgeons

Bunion surgery can be a complex surgery. It depends on the nature of the bunion deformity and the overall foot structure. There are many factors that go into bunion deformity correction. Complicating factors can include overall flatfoot for high arch foot or lesser digital deformities including hammertoes. However some bunions are straightforward and are easily corrected. It is important to see a foot and ankle specialist that does or has done a large number of bunion deformities.

I also recommend trying to find a physician that has a surgery center as this is a huge cost-savings and time-savings for the patient. The majority of bunion procedures can be divided into head procedure or base procedure. The larger bunion deformities require base procedure and a smaller bunion deformity can be corrected with a head procedure. I also recommend patients make a list of questions regarding their foot in the overall correction recovery process. It is very important that patients choose a physician that they are comfortable with. I currently have been practicing for about 15 years and have fixed too many bunions count. If you have a bunion deformity and are contemplating getting it corrected nursing once available for conservative measures give us call today at 425-391-8666 or make an appointment online.

Bunion surgery provides great outcomes for patients that want relief from foot pain. Foot pain associated with a bunion can be very difficult to manage from a conservative standpoint. A lot of patients have tried getting bigger or wider shoes, which can create more room for the bunion to grow and make the situation worse. Patients will also apply pads, straps, splints or tape to the feet. This can be time consuming and cumbersome and again does nothing to fix or reverse the cause of bunions. The only way to actually fix the bunion is surgically. Bunion surgery has come a long way there are now new techniques we utilize to decrease down times and post-operative pain.

New techniques offer shorter recoveries and quicker returns to activity. Pain control can be challenging for both patients and physicians that are not as familiar as we are with modern techniques and medications. We use a long acting anesthetic to make the foot numb and prescribe different medications based on each individual patient and procedure performed. We have taken years to perfect our pain control regime and find the majority of our patient’s rate their pain as being well controlled. If you are contemplating bunion surgery come see us. With our pain control regime, onsite surgical center and years of experience this will create the best possible experience for you.

If you have bunion pain, give us a call today at 425-391-8666 or make an appointment online.

Treating bunions without surgery can be fairly challenging for patients that currently have pain or difficulty fitting shoe gear. Bunions or bone deformity can be inherited from your mom or dad. It is not uncommon for bunions to begin early in adolescence and continuing to develop into adulthood. Patients are often interested in conservative measures that are available to help with bunion pain. It is important to note that there are no conservative measures that are going to fix your bunion deformity.

Quite a few patients come in with all sorts of strapping devices and splinting devices from the Internet. None of these tools fixture bunion or change the shape of your bunion as this deformity is a malalignment of a joint and bone. However, it should be noted that we have many options for people that are having bunion pain and do not want to have surgery performed. The most important issues to address are the mechanical instability and the joint pain. Often times stabilize the foot structure can significantly helped slow the deformity and reduce the pain. There are many options for the arthritic joint that can provide long-term relief. In office evaluation and x-ray are central to recognizing what type of bunion is developing how to best rectify the pain. At Issaquah Foot and Ankle Specialists we have seen thousands of bunions and have many different options available to save the patient’s lifestyle. Please give us a call at 425-391-8666 or make an appointment online if you have bunion pain. 

Bunion surgery in the past was only performed in a hospital setting and patients often stayed the night at the hospital. Things have really changed and now patients do not stay the night in a hospital and most bunions are performed in a surgery center. The average bunion surgery takes less than 2 hours and patients will only require IV sedation as opposed to general sedation. This type of sedation makes for a much quicker recovery from anesthesia and often less side effects. I like to provide all my patients with a nerve block so they will get a good night's sleep the evening of surgery.  The majority of patients will be pain free the first night. 

The next day most patients will have pain that is well controlled with pain medication. Often patients will just take prescription pain medication for the first 24-48 hours and then switch to over the counter pain control.  We utilize advanced techniques that allow all our bunion patients to walk after surgery thereby minimizing down time and speeding recovery.  We have protocols to help get your ankle and toes moving right after surgery to decrease stiffness and swelling. Additionally, we will provide patients with exercise guidelines to help them stay fit and active during the recovery phase. One of the best aspects of our practice is we perform bunion surgery every single Monday and have fixed 1000’s of bunions.  Another enormous advantage of our clinic is an onsite surgery suite that will save patients thousands of dollars on the surgery as we have special discounted pricing compared to other doctors that must take you to a hospital or surgery center. Do not let your bunion keep your from wearing a normal shoe or enjoying the activities you love give us a call at 425-391-8666 or make an appointment online so we can help.

Minimally invasive bunion surgery does provide a few advantages compared to traditional bunion surgery. It often can leave smaller scars, have a faster recovery speed and have less pain. The term minimally invasive is rather vague and can be misleading. The most important part of bunion surgery is proper procedure selection. Procedure selection is based on the clinical evaluation and x-rays.

Minimally invasive techniques do have limitations and are not useful in large bunion deformities. The best way to determine whether or not you are a candidate is to schedule an appointment with us. We have an onsite surgical suite and can provide you with all the details to make a decision. We are even able to offer conservative measures for bunion pain. Don’t delay we are here to help at Issaquah Foot & Ankle Specialists. Give us a call at 425-391-8666 today.