Let's talk about bunions

It's a commonly held belief that bunions are caused by wearing shoes with narrow toe boxes that squish the toes together. Tight shoes alone, however, do not explain why we often see a bunion develop on one foot and not the other, or why the bunion on one foot is more pronounced than the other.

As a Posture Alignment Specialist I consider the whole body, and bunions are a tell-tale symptom of one or two hips that have lost their ability to extend. When the hip does not allow the leg to extend behind the body sufficiently, the foot cannot push off all 5 toes when walking. Instead, the foot will start to roll and push off the side of the big toe. Do this long enough, and the shape of your foot will adjust to this altered gait.

If you have developed bunions, there are toe spacers you can wear to help you align your toes. Surgeries are also often suggested as a way to correct bunions. However, making changes locally to the toes alone will usually not be sufficient, or sustainable, because they do not address the cause of the misalignment. A solution would need to include restoring the mobility of the hips. And if the hips are not moving as they should, we can look at what this means for the other load-bearing joints - the ankles, knees and shoulders - as well.

No part of the body exists in isolation of the other parts. When we encounter a biomechanical issue in one part - whether it's a bunion, a frozen shoulder, a rounded back, or so many others - we need to be able to step back and ask: how does this tie in with the rest of the body? When we take a full-body approach in aligning our posture, we can restore the functional integrity of each part.

This is precisely what Posture Alignment Training is all about. You can learn more about this method, or book a session via my website at https://maitezamoramoreno.com.