PODIATRIST DISCUSSES FUNCTIONAL ORTHOTICS AND BUNIONS

“Anyone who's worried about whether or not they have a bunion should be examined by a podiatrist,” says Alan Bass, DPM, a board-certified podiatrist and spokesperson for the American Podiatric Medical Association. “If it's early on, using custom functional foot orthotics can help control the biomechanics of the feet and prevent bunions from occurring.”

 

Dr. Alan Bass

 

Once bunions are bad enough, the main option is surgery. These surgeries can range from the surgeon realigning the big toe joint to replacing the damaged joint altogether. There are also some circumstances where the surgeon is able to remove the bunion without a realignment. “After a bunion is corrected surgically, patients need to remember that the biomechanics and the way they walk has not changed,” Dr. Bass says. “Using functional foot orthotics will help counterbalance the biomechanical forces that first created the bunion.”

 

Source: Brittany Loggins, Real Simple [12/12/19]

Courtesy of Barry Block, editor of PM News.