There may be a few cold spells left this winter, but the warm weather days are within our reach. Once the sun comes out to stay and the days warm up, it will be time to break out the sandals and open-toed shoes. Are you ready for this, or are those bunions on your feet making you want to hide them away forever?

Here’s what you need to know about bunions to help ease your mind:

A bunion is what happens when your big toe begins to move towards the rest of your smaller toes, commonly accompanied by a bump on the inside edge of the big toe. A bunion can often be recognized by red and calloused skin along the bump and swelling of the big toe joint, with stiffness and decreased range of motion. Bunions often cause pain during walking or while wearing tightly fitting shoes.

Bunions can be aggravated by anything from tight-fitting or high-heeled shoes to genetics to the way your foot falls when you walk or run (pronation). So if you have bunions, what can you do about them?

At Raleigh Foot & Ankle Center, we start with a diagnosis: once we have confirmed you have bunions, there are a number of different treatment options, depending on what we (the podiatrists) feel is the best option for your bunion. Depending on the severity of the bunion and the level of pain or discomfort it causes, your options could range from changing shoes or adding orthotic shoe inserts, to using corrective braces and other comfort devices. Sometimes surgery is an option as well, if nothing else has worked and the pain is continuing to cause problems, affecting quality of life. Each method of treatment has proven successful, depending on the individual patient.

Here at Raleigh Foot & Ankle Center, we are focused on making sure you, our patient, is the priority: we don’t want you to fear baring your feet in the summer sun simply because of a bunion problem. If you are worried about your bunion, stop worrying and come visit the foot doctors at Raleigh Foot & Ankle Center. We’ll make sure your bunions are treated and taken care of!