When it comes to bunions, many tend to blame hereditary factors, however the root causes
of a bunion are by large estimates, narrow shoes and shoes with an elevated heel, like
most traditional running shoes, which are narrow in the front and typically have a stacked,
cushioned heel.
In that regard, it’s no surprise the traditional running shoe has a very unimpressive record
for preventing bunions or halting the enlargement of a bunion, since most traditional running
shoes are constructed with a very narrow toe-box which is the type of architectural framework
of a shoe that attracts bunion development and accelerates the enlargement of a current
bunion.
This should be obvious to everyone, that a narrow toe-box of a running shoe is a standard
barrier for toe splay and forefoot expansion whereby the complete lack of forefoot expansion
and toe spread at each step in narrow shoes, makes these shoes an unqualified therapeutic
intervention for bunion treatment.
However, it’s not just a narrow toe-box that negatively reconfigures the front of
the foot, making your forefoot progressively narrow and highly vulnerable to bunion development;
another un-ergonomical structural component of most traditional running shoes known to
perpetuate a more narrow, weaker forefoot is the stacked heel, or a large heel-to-toe
differential.
Most traditional running shoes have a substantially high elevated heel, or a large heel-to-toe
offset, very similar to a high heeled womens shoe --the heel is always propped up high
off the ground relative to the toes and forefoot.
Its this positional arrangement of the foot that may plant the seeds for bunion development
and may feed bunion growth.
According to reports in a 2011 article published in Harvard Women's Health Watch, wearing a
shoe with a large heel-to-toe offset places a huge burden on the front of the foot in
ways that may drive bunion growth.
The researchers revealed that wearing a shoe with a large heel-to-toe offset tips the body
forward which was found to have pronounced effects on increasing plantar pressure on
the big toe which may overload the big toe, or the MTP joint.
The dangers of this --the MTP joint baring the cost of this kind of pressurized overload--
is the end result of pressure-driven bunion growth because the added weight exerted on
the forefoot and the toes physically jammes and forces the front of the foot farther into
the front of the shoe and if you’re wearing a shoe with a narrow toe-box that’s inflexible
and stiff, it won’t be able to accommodate the strenuous abnormal protrusion of the forefoot
when most of your body-weight is intensively and heavily concentrated over the base of
the big toe or the MTP joint, like it is when you wear a narrow shoe with a large heel-to-toe
differential.
Therefore, the feet will be repeatedly squeezed into a more narrow framework at each step;
this negative interaction will consolidate into misshapen joints in the forefoot, leading
to pressure-induced bunion growth, and in addition to the inception of a bunion, your
forefoot will also anatomically mold into the same architectural shape as the front
of the shoe, which is narrow and pointy.
What would be the consequences of this during running?
For one, failure to make efficient use of toe splaying during running could lead to
reductions in balance control which is an open slot for injury.
Secondly, a narrow arrangement of the front of the foot may lack the spatial capacity
to adequately absorb impact and could lead to cumulative impact loads on the forefoot
which could overheat the small bones that line the top of the foot and may cause a metatarsal
head to crack under the high pressure that may occur from this.
Ultimately, the bunion is another shining example of how the traditional running shoe
may eat away at your foot health by radically reshaping your foot and may cause long-term
damage to the foot.
This type of change to the foots anatomy could lead to a number of difficult problems during
running, such as further defections in foot function which could lead to excessive over
or under-pronation and reductions in landing stability which could deter you from running
safely and efficiently.
The take home message is that a narrow toe-box coupled with an elevated heel of a running
shoe may be the underlying vulnerabilities for bunion growth by creating a supply chain
of physical stressors and pressurized forces that mis-shape the front of the foot and of
course, when the foot is physically compromised in this way, the corrosive nature that these
shoes impose on the foot, can lead to failures in balance control and inadequate impact deflection
during running, thus injuries may follow you everywhere you go with this type of structural
damage on the foot.
Another serious point to make is that it could make your foot/ankle complex more resistant
to efforts to improve balance control, which again, does very little in helping you avoid
injury during running.
However, when it comes to impeding bunion growth, the first order of business is to
remove the architectural mobility restrictions on the forefoot and the toes whereby walking
and running barefoot may payoff in reducing the size of your bunion and may be a promising
path forward in leading to significant improvements in bunion symptoms and again, could make it
possible to optimize reductions in bunion growth, which in turn, could help prevent
the negative mechanical outcomes associated with a narrow, bunionated forefoot.
First and foremost, running and walking barefoot can really give the pursuit to a wider forefoot
and possibly, a smaller bunion because there’s greater architectural mobility of the toes
and the forefoot which could have enormously profound corrective effects on your bunion,
since one of the great outcomes of increased barefoot activity is induced forefoot expansion,
toe flexion and toe-splay at each step.
When you’re barefoot, the forefoot and toes can flex more fully, they can expand more
fully, your toes have the freedom to spread out more fully because nothing is restricting
or preventing toe splay, which collectively, may be both necessary and sufficient enough
to help prevent bunion enlargement.
The big improvements in toe splay and flexion as well as the overall increased concentrated
engagement of the forefoot and toes during barefoot running and walking may translate
into improvements in toe alignment as well as improvements in muscle, tendon and ligament
alignment that surrounds the bunion which may help reduce the size of the bunion.
This more than suggests that walking and running barefoot may be the most potent of all in
being helpful in bringing real results in scaling back bunion growth.
This is how running barefoot and walking barefoot can be a powerful way to transform your foot
health, especially since under barefoot conditions, your toes and forefoot are essentially, in
the prime position where they are more robustly engaged, more repeatedly engaged, which are
the underlying dynamics of building a stronger, wider, more capable foot.
And, a lot seems to get better when your feet are healthy, viable and strong.
You will also be more balanced because increased toe-splay increases your access to better
landing stability and balance control, in which this strength and steadiness coming
from the feet, may help narrow down your chances of getting a running-related injury.
Because of this, I’ve always viewed barefooting as a sufficient starting place in helping
dismantle bunion growth.
When you go barefoot, there’s no reason for your bunion to get worse as compared to
constantly stuffing your foot into the traditional running shoe which have tough to avoid risk
factors, like a narrow toe box, an elevated heel, causing the toes to be squished tightly
together, and in this restricted capacity, the toes will never be able to engage effectively
in balance control.
In this regarding, traditional running shoes may not do anything to offer protective substance.
Running shoes can’t do everything.
Bunions seem to be a signature problem associated with modern footwear.
This is why bunion enlargement trends are commonly seen in those who wear footwear with
a narrow toe-box and with an elevated heel.
So, I hope that knowing this, further validates that barefooting is what you can do to avoid
bunion enlargement, and so hopefully, understanding this would be a motivating factor to increase
your barefoot activity because high levels of toe splay, forefoot expansion and toe flexion
via barefoot running and barefoot walking are more likely to be involved in halting
bunion growth whereas long-term use of narrow, high-heeled running shoes may be the single
biggest contributor to bunion development.
I posted a blog post version of this video along with a link to the study that I briefly
touched on in this video, down below in the description box.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this video.
Thank you so much for listening and watching.
Have fun out there on the roads and trails.
Bye for now.