Blame Your Genes Not Your Shoes

If you’ve ever been told you will get bunions by wearing high-heeled shoes with pointed toes, you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise because this is merely an assumption. The results of a study commissioned by the American College of Rheumatology, first published in 2013, showed a significant level of heritability of hallux valgus (bunions). In other words, as reported in dailymail.co.uk, these unsightly bulges around the base of your crooked, big toes are indeed hereditary and not necessarily caused by wearing fashionable, but unsuitable, footwear.

However, anyone who crams their feet into pointed toe shoes on a regular basis is asking for trouble. Even without a predisposition to bunions, your feet will likely suffer from a range of conditions including: corns, callus, ingrown toenails, hammer toes and other lesser toe deformities. If you are unfortunate enough to have bunions in your genes, slip-on shoes that lack support and squeeze the toes will definitely increase your chances of getting one of these conditions.

Famous former Spice Girl, Victoria Beckham, will vouch for that. According to an article by Emma Kelly in dailystar.co.uk, Victoria is known to despise wearing ballet flats. In order to avoid bunion surgery, which will prevent her from wearing her beloved heels, she does exercises to strengthen her foot structure and wears orthotics (custom-made insoles) in some of her shoes. The accompanying photo even showed her wearing flat, black and white brogues.

As Victoria demonstrated, at least there are choices if you have bunions. However, pain is usually the deciding factor in your choice. If you are still experiencing pain despite wearing sensible shoes, it may be time to seek professional advice from an expert like your local Toronto Podiatrist, Sheldon H. Nadal, D.P.M. If your pain cannot be resolved with exercises and orthotics, he may recommend minimally invasive bunion surgery.

If you or a loved one suffer from foot pain, please call 416-624-3338 today to arrange a private consultation.

References:

High heritability of hallux valgus and lesser toe deformities in Adult Men and Women – Arthritis Care and Research, American College of Rheumatology
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acr.22040/abstract

Bunions Beckham: Years of Killer Heels have left Victoria in Agony – and in need of an urgent op
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1231270/Bunions-Beckham-Years-killer-heels-left-Victoria-agony--need-urgent-op.html

Blame Your Parents for these Bunions, NOT High Heels
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2328681/Blame-parents-bunions-NOT-high-heels-How-foot-deformities-actually-highly-hereditary.html