I don’t talk about bunions much as I don’t have a massage therapy technique that directly addresses them. However, as a structural therapist, I take great satisfaction in helping people improve their structural balance for reduced pain, improved balance, and better facility in doing whatever we want to do; even if it doesn’t directly benefit me. So I thought I’d share a little something I’ve found along the way for bunion pain.
It helps to start with a wee bit of anatomy. The foot is a complex structure, with a couple dozen each of bones and joints. Ideally, this structure has two or three arches (depending who you ask), which act to cushion and spring-load the skeleton in walking. The base of the big toe supports the medial longitudinal arch, which is the one most people know about; as well as the transverse arch that runs from the base of the big toe to the base of the little toe. Most people know that it’s good to have support for the big arch, while most shoes don’t support the transverse arch at all. When either or both of these arches collapse, the joint at the base (also known as the first metatarsal-phalangeal joint, for you anatomy wonks), becomes deformed and painful. That’s what we call a bunion.
Even Birkenstocks, famous for being supposedly good for the feet, have zero support for the transverse arch. Custom orthotic insoles probably have it, but over-the-counter insoles are hit or miss. Some have transverse support, others don’t.
For myself, after the foot changes that came from having two babies and living over 40 years, I began noticing occasional pain in the joint of my big toe. It was worst with whatever shoes were my favorite at a given time. I couldn’t bring myself to throw out my shoes every 6-12 months. Upon examination, I found that the most painful shoes always had some heavy wear right under the ball of my big toe, so that that part of my foot was lower than the rest. So I decided to elevate it, at least to level it out with the balls of the other toes.
It was months after Valentine’s Day, but face it, sometimes things get left around the house for a while. In this case, there was a box of adhesive foam valentine decorations. They turned out to be a perfect size and thickness to fix my shoes. I stuck them in several shoes, right where they had worn the lowest, and I found that the best sticker was the one shaped like a cupcake. There were some larger hearts that worked well, too. There were also little squares that I could place in clusters underneath the cupcake for added height.
In other shoes, I placed a heart under the balls of the middle toes. When I was unsure where exactly I needed to place them, I started with one or two little squares, then added around them until they felt right. Then I covered the cluster with a big heart. I got lots of pain relief from the cupcake method, and I was able to keep some of my favorite shoes much longer.
I suppose, if you’re not romantically inclined, you could simply start with a sheet of foam, and cut it to the shape and size you want. Just remember, while there are countless people who offer surgical or mechanical methods to alleviate bunion pain, sometimes it’s enough to keep it simple and inexpensive with good arch support, and a cupcake in your shoe.
Rachel Creager Ireland, LMT 