Alpha Orthotics Blog

Bunion splint is a relief after hiking the Grand Tetons

In one of my earlier blogs during the winter, I mentioned my moose slippers and how my bunions preferred them to my ski boots. Well now that summer is here, my bunions and I went to Wyoming to hike the Grand Teton National Park. The jagged Tetons jut up from beneath the valley floor – approaching 30,000 feet - much like my bunion bumps spring out of my big toe joints! After the day-long hike, I walked comfortably around the rustic cabin in my hinged bunion splint. 

Thanks to this flexible splint, my feet with those bunions slipped comfortably into my new summer-time moose slippers!

Acknowledge healthy feet (without bunions) to a healthy body and planet

With all the fuss about the size of our “carbon foot print” on our blue planet, I thought it appropriate to acknowledge the size of our “human foot print”. 

In aggregate, there are over 13 billion feet all over the world that move 6.5 billion people across 71.5 billion miles per year – without emitting any carbon emissions – that’s of course, assuming, the feet are bare! But you get it. Our feet are most important in keeping us mobile and healthy; therefore, it is as important to know and respect our feet as it is to respect our Earth.

Similar to our ecosystem being connected and dependent on the health of everything else, the health of our body is dependent on our having healthy feet. As the famous spiritual song and poem, Dem Dry Bones, proclaimed “with the toe bone connected to the foot bone and the foot bone connected to the ankle bone, and the ankle bone connected to the leg bone . . .” a simple bump, like a bunion, on the big toe, is not only a common cause of foot pain, but can knock out a body’s alignment all the way up through the spine.

So make sure to realign that big toe before the alignment of your whole body gets out of kilter, like our mother planet, Earth.

Are having bunions the newest fashion craze?

Not really, but the New York press has picked up the latest craze of wearing ‘bunion shoes’ as a fashion statement – following the craze of Crocs and Uggs. 

Similar to mixing beachwear with Ugg’s sheepshearer boots from Australia, now women, such as MIA, are seen wearing thick sweat socks under Worishofer sandals from Germany.

This is considered high fashion by some, but I think it is a case of compromising fashion for comfort.  So what about the Worishofer sandal? “It’s a cross between an orthopedic wedge and something out of a granny’s wardrobe,” was one of many recent comments.

We don’t have to compromise fashion for function, because the hinged splint, Bunion Aid, which just so happens to be from Germany as well, relieves bunion pain and corrects the bunion in the ‘off hours’ of wearing stylish shoes. Wearing this comfortable splint around the house while doing chores is the perfect time to straighten the toe - so we can still wear a somewhat more fashionable shoe than an orthopedic shoe for ‘Grandmothers only.’

Jennifer Aniston's Bunion in Paris (and Berlin... and Madrid...)

Eep! Check out those bunions on Jennifer Aniston at the French premiere of "The Bounty Hunter" (or as they're calling it "Le Chasseur de Primes"). Now I've got to admit that I like Jennifer in this bright pink dress. Even though the internet is all a buzz with her daring choice, I think it's so refreshing after years of little black dresses and nude/beige/tan frocks. But one look at her strappy sandals has me gasping Mon Dieu!

Her poor bunion is busting out of that shoe and her hammer toe is exaggerated by clinging onto the backless shoe.

I would think that our friend Jen would need to rest her bunion in an orthopedic shoe after Paris, but nope! She's at it again the next night in Berlin!

She and co-star Gerard Butler have been flying around the world promoting the movie, London one day, Paris, Berlin after that - ah the life - and I've got to wonder if all the high heels and red carpet looks are making that foot pain seem never ending. Do you think we'll see Jen throw up her hands and show up to the next premiere in some comfy fats?

A look back at Oscar's sore feet

With only a few days until the Academy Awards, it’s time to start organizing the office pool, ordering Oscar night snacks and refreshing your memory of the best and worst red carpet fashions!

Ah yes, the Red Carpet. A time when bunions must be hidden under floor length dresses, foot pain is ignored in favor of high heels, and even the wackiest dress is paired with a stiletto.

As someone who starts watching Red Carpet coverage in the afternoon and watches until the Best Picture is announced, I am always eager to see what trends surface at the ceremony. And under those floor length gowns there is always the promise of a great shoe and the guarantee that supportive shoes have been left at home.

Like when Cate Blanchett attended the 2008 Academy Award six months pregnant and even that did not stop her from pairing a killer heel with her gown.

…Or last year, when Tilda Swinton (who has a large bunion) stuffed her feet into pointy heels to compliment her beige and black ensemble.

 

But don’t fret my little bunionettes. Let’s applaud Diablo Cody who in 2008 won best screenplay for Juno. She also turned down the opportunity to wear $1 million Stuart Weitzman and instead took home the Oscar in a pair of sensible gold flats. Bravo!

Bunions and fashion in airports hurt.

People watching. I love to watch people - how they walk, what they are wearing, intentions in their faces. What better place than in an airport. So I was amused when I saw images of celebrities walking through the airport in the PeopleStyleWatch magazine and web site.

The printed page featured "Glam" photos along the top showing celebrities dressed to the nines in high heels, dresses, and designer bags. And in fact some of these celebs suffer from bunion pain! Each had their heads tilted in a somewhat downward position focused on walking and with a forced smile. Cramming a bunion into sleek high-heels and having to look fashionable at an airport really hurts!

The second row of images, "Classic," featured celebrities in more relaxed attire, more casual shoes, but some rather high. They walked with more confidence and their heads held high.

The happiest group appeared in the third row which featured celebrities in their "Casual" attire of hoodies, sweats, and flat shoes, sandals, or sneakers. Some carried their loved ones, and others were able to walk, text message, and listen to their MP3 player - all at once. I bet it was the shoes, don't you?

No bunion shoes seen at NY Fashion Week

It's New York Fashion Week so bundle up, grab your front row seat, and look down -- at the shoes of course!

 Let's start with the attendees. Leave your bunion shoes at home because this week is all about fashion over function! You wouldn't be caught dead (or photographed at least) in comfy shoes. As the sleet and snow fell during freezing temperatures in NYC, the fashionistas strapped on their platforms and prayed they would make it in one piece.

But, my friends, I know what you really came here for. You want to know what's coming in season. You want to know if you'll be able to hide your orthotic in the season's hippest footware. And based on this Christian Siriano shoe he designed for Payless (now all of us can afford foot pain!) the answer is no:

 

Bunionette? 3 year old Suri Cruise in high heels!

The newest gossip mag obsession is isn’t a valley girl on the hills or even a guido from Jersey Shore.  It’s little Suri Cruise—three years old, mind you— in high heels. With the paparazzi in overdrive taking photos of Suri and her feet everywhere from Boston to Barcelona, the Cruises finally addressed the issue (sort of) and commented that their daughter is like every other little girl who loves to dress up.
 
"They are actually ballroom dancing shoes for kids," Katie Holmes told Access Hollywood. "I found them for her and she loves them."
 
But on a rainy day in Boston Suri stumbled in these heels adding fuel to the fire and proving that even a three-year old has as much trouble walking in heels as I do.
 
Now, podiatrists who have never met the family are being interviewed left and right warning against bunions, chronic foot pain and hammer toe.  You would think that with celebrities around the world finally admitting their love of high heels is destroying their feet and sending them in for bunion surgery, the Cruises would hear the outcry and prevent their daughter from aching feet for a few more years. But Suri is still clicking around town in those kitten heels!

Posh Spice to Get Bunion Surgery?

Victoria Beckham’s bunions have reportedly gotten so bad that she’s getting ready for a bunionectomy. Now, take this with a grain of salt because every time Posh Spice exposes her bunions the gossip magazines start quoting their sources but they’re saying that she’s staying home, icing her feet, and doing foot exercises in a desperate bid to avoid bunion surgery.

 In 2003 there were reports that Vicky was hiding an awful secret in her stilettos (dun dun dun!) and in 2007 the story flared up again. She commented, “I hate my feet, they are the most disgusting thing about me. Part of the reason I wear such amazing shoes is to take the eye away from my horrid feet and on to the stunning shoes.” But now the tabloids are saying she’s just putting up with the pain of bunions in order to avoid surgery.

After years of wearing her trademark 6-inch stilettos, Posh now has to tend full time to her aching feet. She notoriously hates ballet slippers and flats (I wouldn’t dare ask her opinion on orthopedic shoes!) but would be ordered to stay off the high heels for a few months if she went through surgery. But Posh Spice just wouldn’t be posh on flats!

Grammy's Shoe Watch 2010: Gaga, Fergie and Hallux Valgus

Now, I want you to look very closely at Gaga's shoe and tell me what is missing.....

Girlfriend is walking the red carpet with no heel on her shoes! And I use that term losely: she couldn’t even walk! She had to be escorted from photographer to interviewer by a handler—and who could blame her? Could you walk in such shoes?

And that was only the beginning of what I can only imagine was a night full of foot pain.

Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas danced on stage in backless shoes similar to Gaga’s, P!nk did acrobatics in stilettos, and everyone strutted the red carpet in sky-high heels sans foot support. Well, except for this young lady in flats who I don't recognize but the internet tells me is Olivia Fox.

As I ooh’d and ahh’d the dresses and accessories during the red carpet pre-show, I couldn’t help but wince watching pop music’s top starlets teetering down the carpet. In previous years stars have been known to take their shoes off mid-carpet and announce to the world that they have aching feet. But last night all the ladies balanced on their shoes, stuck out a hip, and smiled like they were wearing custom made orthotics.