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Can exercises help bunions?

Bunions are an enlargement of the great toe joint on the feet that is in most cases associated with the deviation in the position of the great toe or hallux. They are very widespread. It may or may not be painful and it hardly ever looks good and generally presents a challenge for the fitting of shoes. They do tend to be inherited and can be brought on by wearing footwear which can be too tight. Bunions are more prevalent in women which could possibly be due to the type of footwear. They might be painful inside the joint resulting from arthritis like symptoms and they also are usually painful due to pressure from the shoe on the bunion.

Can exercises help bunions? They might be capable of, however they are not likely to make the bony enlargement disappear but they may help improve the angle of the big toe or hallux somewhat. The only way to make the bunion go away is with surgery. No amount of exercising is going to make that go down. The amount of force creating the bunion and resulting in the big toe or hallux to deviate way is higher than what any exercise is going to undo. However, in spite of this, the exercises which you generally see advised are still probably worth carrying out as they may help keep the joint mobile as well as flexible which is a positive thing. That increase in the range of motion of the joint should go a long way to helping pain that often occurs within the joint. The type of bunion exercises which can be most useful are those which stretch and move the joints through its full range of movement in all directions. Sometimes exercises to help strengthen the arch muscles of the feet can also be useful. Even when surgery is used, the exercises both before and after the surgery will benefit the recovery.