Bunions on both of this woman's big toes.
Mary Gallagher was used to excruciating daily foot pain. But by the beginning of the summer the Wheaton resident couldn’t take it anymore. Gallagher, 19, spends four to eight hours standing daily at her pharmacy job and knew she needed a more permanent solution to her pain.
“I was finally like, this is going to be with me for the rest of my life unless I get it fixed,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher’s pain was caused by tailor bunions, or bunionettes: a condition in which the last bone on the foot splays out, causing the little toe to bend inward and creating a painful bump on the foot, she said.
After consulting with doctors and discussing treatment options, she finally decided to have surgery on both feet. In her surgery, the bump was shaved off the bone and the bone was cut and moved to prevent splaying from happening in the future. Gallagher said she has been recovering for the past four weeks.
While bunions can be hereditary, Gallagher’s doctors told her there was another reason for her foot pain.
“They said they’re caused by ill-fitting shoes and those that are too tight in the toe box,” Gallagher said. “That really pushes bone to splay. And the fact that I was on my feet all the time.”
Gallagher’s shoe-related foot pain is hardly out of the ordinary. According to a 2009 American Podiatric Medical Association study, 87 percent of women surveyed have suffered from pain or other ailments caused by footwear. In comparison, only 68 percent of men surveyed said the same.
Melissa Hong, a Crystal Lake podiatrist, said women’s foot pain often comes from dress shoes. She added this is because dress shoes tend to have a narrower mold than loafers or athletic shoes.
“Dress shoes have a low profile and they’re not as deep,” Hong said. “So you don’t get support and you have crowding within the toe box. This leads to hammertoes and blisters.”
Hong said hammertoes, the bending of the toe at the first joint so the toe resembles an upside-down “V,” and blisters are a couple of the many problems that wearing ill-fitting shoes, particularly those with heels, can cause.
“When you switch from a 1-inch heel to a 3-inch heel, there is seven times more pressure on the ball of your foot,” she said. Hong added she’s seen cases of tendonitis, ankle sprains, hammertoes, blisters, ingrown toenails and fractures from high heel wear.
“I treated an individual who was wearing a 4-inch wedge sandal. She ended up with an ankle sprain and fractures in the arch of her foot. She had surgery and couldn’t put any weight on it for 6 weeks.”
But Hong recognizes wearing comfortable shoes every day simply isn’t an option for most women.
“Being female, I wear heels but choose ones that are appropriate given the situation,” she said. “The key is moderation. To and from work on the train, I wouldn’t be wearing them. There are always instances where unfortunate events transpire and you develop an injury and require surgery. But I don’t think heels are terrible. You just need to be smart with your choices.”
Hong said by wearing heels shorter than 2 inches, those with rounded toe boxes and varying footwear choices from day to day, women can wear heels and dress shoes without sacrificing health for fashion.
And sometimes you just need to wear a pair of athletic shoes.
“I was wearing flats every day before my surgery,” Gallagher said. “I’ve been healing for four weeks and have been wearing gym shoes since then.”
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