It is one of the most common diseases affecting the feet, specially in women. It is chracterized by a painful bump at the toe joint, with an external deviation, which determines the deviation of the rest of the fingers and a progressive deformity (hammer toes), resulting in a wrong sole support which would lead to metatarsalgia (pain in the footpad) and the appearance of calluses.
Conservative treatment is based on the use of wide shoes to avoid pressure on the bunion, insoles to reduce the pain of the foot pads, and tabs that can be used day or night, more useful for children.
The definitive treatment is surgical correction of the deformity, which is currently performed by open surgery (modern techniques) or by MIS techniques (minimal incision surgery), as the case requires. The first has the disadvantage of larger scars and the advantage of a more accurate and controlled correction of the deformity, being more effective in larger deformities. MIS surgery has the advantage of smaller incisions and the disadvantage of being less accurate, besides it can not correct completely major deformities.
With today's techniques and means, we are able to say that surgery for bunions has left behind the bad reputation of "very painful surgery”, being much more bearable for the patient. Nowadays, more and more people are opting for surgery. Recovery time depends on the number of surgical procedures performed (the more surgery, the more time it recovery takes) and can vary between one and three months.
