A New Year bunion experiment

[RollingPea]

Gosh, I have already done a few months of enjoyable consolidation running after graduation. Did my 8th Parkrun today (under 30 minutes these days - wow!), learned to use the Runkeeper app, which was recommended by someone on this forum, and I've joined a friendly trail running group at work. What fun it has been, I'm loving running! I'm also learning to pay extra attention to the feet I run on. Mine have bunions, which isn't exactly a blessing for a runner. They become sore after about 7 km. I would like to aim for a 10 km event next year, so I am going to try wearing a bunion corrector. It seems to be a stretchy bandage that pulls the big toe into line. Has anyone tried one with success?

[nowster Graduate]

I would suggest also getting shoes with wider toe boxes. The problem stems from your shoes forcing the big toe inwards, out of its natural straight direction.

[RollingPea Graduate in reply to nowster]

Hi nowster, my running shoes fit me well thanks. There is plenty of room in the toebox. And before you are tempted to ask, I have never in my life worn high-heeled or pointy shoes. According to the NHS website, bunions are still something of a mystery (see pic).

In my case, I think there is a hereditary factor. My mother was the same. So, to come back to my original question, has anyone tried wearing a bunion corrector?

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[nowster Graduate in reply to RollingPea]

What I have noticed is that since wearing barefoot shoes full time, my toes have straightened out a lot. It's taken several years. I never wore what I thought were shoes with a pointed toebox (winkle-pickers are possibly the only male fashion shoe that would have that), but my toes had been affected by the shoes I was wearing.

If the front ends of your shoes are symmetrical (as most are), they will be affecting your toes, as your foot doesn't naturally match that shape.

[RollingPea Graduate]

That is very interesting to hear of your success with barefoot shoes. Thank you for sharing this. I have a couple of follow up questions. Did you have bunions, or another kind of foot issue? Does wearing toeshoes full-time mean you even wear them for running? Toeshoes are a newish concept for me, but I see that they might help me as they did for you. I am just a bit worried that they might not be so well-cushioned against impact?