Bunion night splints

Hi Docs,

My 14 year old daughter has bunions on both feet, and the dr she had seen a couple years ago said the only thing that could be done was surgery. Obviously we did not opt for the surgery. Now, this was my daughters moms version of the story so I have no idea if this is completely true or not. He also told her that her bunions are hereditary (my dad had a bunion on one foot [my dad is the only one in my family to have a bunion, probably caused by his work boots] and her grandma on her moms side has bunions really bad[I've only seen her wear narrow "cute" shoes as long as I've known her]). My daughter lives with her mom most of the year and I know she has worn ill fitting shoes a lot and that is probably a big cause of her bunions, not hereditary. I always have to purchase new shoes when she's with me because the ones she has are way too small.

Anyhow, yesterday we came across bunion night splints and so we wanted to find out if they can actually help or if they are a big waste of money? I have been very actively trying to teach my daughter about shoe fit so we can hopefully keep her bunions from at least getting worse. Is there anything that we can do to try to help heal them? Thank you docs!
 
Nick, I am not a Dr but I had the beginings of a bunion on my right foot and as soon as I was diagnosed I started to use the yoga toes for about twenty mins everyday(for about two months) after work along with the VFF and what do you know? There are no traces of bunions anymore all my toes are nice and straight.
So there is something to consider.
I do not know what the Dr is talking about when he said the bunions are hereditary.
Is that darn @#!%*&@ ill fitting shoes that do all the damaged #@$$%^#* ah, I fell better now :)
 
Ok, no arguments please. I've found info online that says they are hereditary, but I don't necessarily buy into it completely. I do think you may have some genetics that would make one more prone to getting bunions, but I believe the genetics combined with ill fitting shoes causes it. I'm no dr though either, I just know what I read and that's why I ask our docs here for their opinions. If the night splint things can help then I will go and buy them, but if they won't I won't waste my money.
 
My mom got them from wearing tight-fitted, pointy toed shoes that women wore in the 50s. I don't have them, at least.
 
Umm, I can't see how bunions can be hereditary. I'm sure if I checked the aborigines up in the Northern Territory that don't wear shoes that I wouldn't find any bunions. I would suspect a doctors credentials if he said they were inherited. If they did tell me that I'd ask for the scientific evidence, show me the bunion gene please!
I had a bunion on the left outside foot (A tailors bunion I believe they call them), I got it while injured I was running with more weight on the left leg and landing on the outside of the foot as I had an injured toe. I have got rid of it now by using the Perfect Toes I think they are called. I wear them all the time when walking around. My little toes used to point inwards due to years of wearing badly designed shoes, after 6 months of wearing the P.T. my toes now have good spaces between them. You need to get some wide shoes too, I use the Terra Plana Vivo Barefoots, I love those shoes.

Neil
 
Neil, do you have a link for those perfect toes? When I try to google them all that pulls up is people with foot fetishes pictures of toes...
 
I don't know if this is a useful product, but I saw it, so I wanted to pass it along.

http://www.bunionbootie.com/?gclid=CKSBvNPQuLECFQhN4AodI2EAHg

Hi Docs,

My 14 year old daughter has bunions on both feet, and the dr she had seen a couple years ago said the only thing that could be done was surgery. Obviously we did not opt for the surgery. Now, this was my daughters moms version of the story so I have no idea if this is completely true or not. He also told her that her bunions are hereditary (my dad had a bunion on one foot [my dad is the only one in my family to have a bunion, probably caused by his work boots] and her grandma on her moms side has bunions really bad[I've only seen her wear narrow "cute" shoes as long as I've known her]). My daughter lives with her mom most of the year and I know she has worn ill fitting shoes a lot and that is probably a big cause of her bunions, not hereditary. I always have to purchase new shoes when she's with me because the ones she has are way too small.

Anyhow, yesterday we came across bunion night splints and so we wanted to find out if they can actually help or if they are a big waste of money? I have been very actively trying to teach my daughter about shoe fit so we can hopefully keep her bunions from at least getting worse. Is there anything that we can do to try to help heal them? Thank you docs!
 
I'm guessing that some bunions may be hereditary and some may be encouraged by ill-fitting shoes. A long time ago, I was reading in a forum where the topic came up and a podiatrist posted a photo of about 20 unshod boys from a tribe sitting in a circle. He pointed out the variations in their feet and circled three that were narrow and appeared to be trending towards bunions. My own personal experience with bunions comes from a pair of ill-fitting shoes, ignorance, and lack of funding to get better-fitting shoes at the time.

I have used the FootSmart Bunion Regulator, one on each foot, at night. It helped for a while, but started becoming uncomfortable, as my arch started developing more from barefoot running. I now use YogaToes.

When I can't use the YogaToes, I use some gel toe spacers from Walgreens.

More importantly, at least for me, is that I now wear some wide shoes from Vivobarefoot.

I'm eager to hear some of the Docs opinions on this matter!
 
Hi Docs,

My 14 year old daughter has bunions on both feet, and the dr she had seen a couple years ago said the only thing that could be done was surgery. Obviously we did not opt for the surgery. Now, this was my daughters moms version of the story so I have no idea if this is completely true or not. He also told her that her bunions are hereditary (my dad had a bunion on one foot [my dad is the only one in my family to have a bunion, probably caused by his work boots] and her grandma on her moms side has bunions really bad[I've only seen her wear narrow "cute" shoes as long as I've known her]). My daughter lives with her mom most of the year and I know she has worn ill fitting shoes a lot and that is probably a big cause of her bunions, not hereditary. I always have to purchase new shoes when she's with me because the ones she has are way too small.

Anyhow, yesterday we came across bunion night splints and so we wanted to find out if they can actually help or if they are a big waste of money? I have been very actively trying to teach my daughter about shoe fit so we can hopefully keep her bunions from at least getting worse. Is there anything that we can do to try to help heal them? Thank you docs!

BUNIONS ARE NOT HEREDITY. Come on now, that's just plain silly. What's happening today in so many aspects of health is that so many people have so many of the same symptoms from high blood pressure to knee pain to foot problems is that they're being touted as heredity. No, it's just that everybody has the same health problems from what they eat, how they live, and what they put on their feet.
Here's some more info on kids shoes.
http://www.drgangemi.com/kids/healthy-active-barefoot-kids/
http://www.drgangemi.com/kids/childs-shoe/
and of course a whole lot more on the Sock-Doc site.

I like Dr. Ray's Correct Toes which can definitely help: https://nwfootankle.com/correct-toes
If the bunions have progressed to the point where they may not help then the splints might be worth a shot. I'd say your daughter at age 14 has a much better chance of correcting this "non-genetic" problem now rather than when she is much older and the foot is no longer developing/growing.
 
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Thank's Doc! I appreciate the info. Dr Ray is here in town and I've been toying with the idea of taking her to him. Problem is he doesn't accept insurance. I've also looked at getting the correct toes for her and if those might help I will gladly purchase them.
 
Thank's Doc! I appreciate the info. Dr Ray is here in town and I've been toying with the idea of taking her to him. Problem is he doesn't accept insurance. I've also looked at getting the correct toes for her and if those might help I will gladly purchase them.
I strongly suggest you find the $$ to bring her to him. There's a reason Dr. Ray (and others such as myself) don't take insurance - we don't want to work by their rules and it weeds out patients who are typically less compliant.
 
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the problem with that Doc, is those of us on a students budget don't have the extra money, that's why we have insurance... :D I understand your reasonings, it just screws us poor folks.
 
I hear ya, but you could ask them to work something out with you. Insurance is necessary for emergency care, but typically it sucks for health care, but that's a story for another day.
 
Like I said, I understand your reasoning about insurance, but for us poor folks it kind of sucks when people like you and Dr Ray don't accept it. Hell, when I first got this dang bout of pf that I can't seem to get rid of no matter what I do, I would have gone and seen Dr Ray. I still can't afford to go see Dr Ray myself 8-9 months later so I still am just trying to deal with this on my own. I have kick ass insurance, but it does me no good in this instance.
 
Complain to your insurance company, not us docs. Though we don't "accept" insurance we still give you the proper claim forms and codes to file on your own (at least I do and I'm assuming Ray does too).
 
I believe he does too, but I still have the problem of paying and then waiting until the insurance decides to pay me back or decline to pay me back. Like I said, I get it it just sucks for us poor folks. Not knocking you or Dr Ray, the system just sucks.
 

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