Question: Tailor's Bunion??

[SnowBall]

Have anyone had "Tailor's Bunion" before? It's like the normal bunion but on your pinky toe side. I got this bump on the side of my foot and it hurts when I was skiing last season. Then I couldn't wear work shoes (heels) then it start hurting even in sneakers after a while. Only pair that didn't bother me was flipflops!! So I decided to have it removed. I just had a surgery a couple weeks ago and I'm in my post-op boot which I need to wear for 6 weeks (!) It was just a bump that needed to be shaved off so it didn't involve cutting bones and wire/screw them or anything. But I was wondering if I can make it back to the slopes by January....I will be so depressed if I can't ski this season!! :Cry: HAs anyone had similar experience? If so how soon were you able to get back on skiing??

 

[altagirl]

I have one of those pretty bad on my left foot - though boot fitters always refer to it as "sixth toe", so I didn't know it was a Tailor's bunion, but it's the same thing. But I've never really considered surgery - I just got my ski boots blown out to accomodate it and deal with it in the rest of my shoes. The only time it really annoys me is mountain biking - I wish I could get my riding shoes blown out like my ski boots!

Anyway, sorry that's not much help!!

 

[SnowBall]

Mine is (was) on the left foot as well!! You shouldn't need a surgery unless it's affecting your daily activity (work, etc). Mine developed and escalated pretty quick, it must be the heels that I love to wear! All my friends called it my "sixth toe" too!! Too funny! But thank you Altagirl, it's nice to know that there are other skiers out there like me :-)

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Both feet, moderate. I just ignore, no one sees my feet, sacred and beyond ugly body part (mine, not everyone's). It ain't broke, I ain't fixing it. Custom insoles did a great job of accommodating. No issues in ski boots. Cheaper and less painful than surgery.

 

[pinto]

Yep. On my right foot. I have a huge punch in my ski boot for it. Certain tennis shoes irritate it, so I have to be really careful about buying shoes that aren't too hard and stiff there. All that lateral movement. Otherwise, it isn't too bad.

 

[SnowBall]

I see!! I definitely am going to have a boot fitter punch out the side of it for my right one (the one that didn't get the surgery). It hasn't bothered me yet but I don't want to risk irritating the thing.... Do you girls know how much it costs to punch it out??

 

[altagirl]

I see!! I definitely am going to have a boot fitter punch out the side of it for my right one (the one that didn't get the surgery). It hasn't bothered me yet but I don't want to risk irritating the thing.... Do you girls know how much it costs to punch it out??

$30 maybe? But maybe if you bought the boots elsewhere it would cost more. I'm not sure.

 

[Magnatude]

I was on the verge of starting a new thread about my new foot deformity until I found this. My pinky bunion (right foot) started to make a nuisance of itself this ski season, and is particularly bad/painful during/after an icy day. Swells right up, then it's gone the next day (unless I'm skiing). It was largely slushy up the mountain yesterday so it's not hurting now, but it's a bit swollen, and shiny. Ugh. I suppose I could get my boot blown out a bit, but I'd rather not have it in the first place. It's really only skiing when it hurts, as I tend not to wear heels or tight shoes. But I prefer not to have sore feet when skiing, as it makes me stop too often. Rhetorical question: Why do ski boots make your feet so darn ugly? Non-rhetorical question for those who have had the surgery: did it last? Was it worth it?

 

[litterbug]

It's weird--I just noticed a big bump on the knuckle of my right big toe. Is that what a bunion is? If so, it happened only in the past few months, because I just noticed it when I started paying attention to my cracked heels (TMI, probably). My right foot is almost half a size bigger than my left, which would explain it.

I'm certainly not getting surgery this close to ski season, so I may be getting some boot adjustment, and I'll just have to deal with changing it again if I do get my toe worked on. I really, really hate elective surgery, but it's been bugging me when I wear sneakers.

 

[Magnatude]

I'm not 100 per cent sure what a bunion is (only started to google it today), but from the sounds of it, the hard lump on the outside of my little toe, by the toe/foot knuckle is a tailor's bunion, so-called because tailors supposedly used to sit cross-legged on the floor with the full weight of their legs resting on the outside of their feet.

I've not really noticed a lump there before (other than once a year ago, when I spent a couple of hours standing around at an art gallery do in high heels) and it does seem to diminish after not skiing for a few days.

The more normal foot part to get bunions is on the knuckle of the big toe, which looks about a hundred times more painful.

I'm considering going to see a podiatrist soon.

 

[pinto]

Feet suck.

That is all.

 

[Magnatude]

Feet suck.

That is all.

Agreed. Shame they are so necessary.

 

[litterbug]

I've always loved my feet; up until this bunion (if that's what it is), they may have hurt sometimes, but at least they looked nice. Now all I can see is that bump!

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Feet suck.

That is all.

Tailor's bunion is much easier to "accommodate" than the regulation type, where ski boots are concerned. I had "6th toe blow-out" done to my boots early last season. Fixed/done. Boot fitter said this was a better option than a wider last for my feet. Tendency to all this is mostly genetic and a function - for many - of <ahem> age, but many measures can be taken pro-actively to prevent them from getting worse. Numero uno is avoiding tight, tapering toe boxes in regular shoes. Also, orthotics, in all shoes, all the time.

For what it's worth, the surgery isn't fun, I know several who have had it, and they were "off their feet" for...well, longer than I'd want to be.

 

[pinto]

Agreed. Shame they are so necessary.

True. I guess the only thing worse than having bad feet would be having no feet....

 

[Jenny]

True. I guess the only thing worse than having bad feet would be having no feet....

Even worse - no feet and yet having the phantom pain that amputees get . . .

There was an extremely interesting article I read about this within the last year or so and how this particular doctor could make the pain go away by having the patient put a mirror perpendicular to their face, touching their nose, thus making it look like both arms (for example) were there and then the person could make the itch/pain go away because their brain was fooled into thinking there were two limbs and scratching the itch on the remaining arm took care of the phantom itch.

 

[Mary Tee]

There was an extremely interesting article I read about this within the last year or so and how this particular doctor could make the pain go away by having the patient put a mirror perpendicular to their face, touching their nose, thus making it look like both arms (for example) were there and then the person could make the itch/pain go away because their brain was fooled into thinking there were two limbs and scratching the itch on the remaining arm took care of the phantom itch.

I learn the most amazing things on this site !!!!

 

[Pequenita]

It's weird--I just noticed a big bump on the knuckle of my right big toe. Is that what a bunion is? If so, it happened only in the past few months, because I just noticed it when I started paying attention to my cracked heels (TMI, probably). My right foot is almost half a size bigger than my left, which would explain it.

Hm. Normal bunions usually are more on the size of the toe, rather than on it, and cause the big toe to deviate inward.

I've an enlarged joint on my right big toe, but no deviation of the toe. I'm kind of thinking that I have the beginnings of arthritis, but I'm in denial so I haven't had it checked out. Like you, my right foot is 1/2 a size larger than my left. And my right leg is almost 1/4" shorter than the left. Sigh.

 

[pinto]

Hm. Normal bunions usually are more on the size of the toe, rather than on it, and cause the big toe to deviate inward.

I've an enlarged joint on my right big toe, but no deviation of the toe. I'm kind of thinking that I have the beginnings of arthritis, but I'm in denial so I haven't had it checked out. Like you, my right foot is 1/2 a size larger than my left. And my right leg is almost 1/4" shorter than the left. Sigh.

If this https://www.ourhealthnetwork.com/conditions/FootandAnkle/HalluxRigidusandHalluxLimitus.asp sounds familiar, both of you, don't ignore it. I did, and it was a mistake. I now have a titanium joint in my toe, and it doesn't work all that well. I usually can't run more than 100 yd at a time without severe pain.

Seriously, there are things you can do to help before it gets bad. I did go to a doctor about 5 years before I had to have surgery, and he xrayed the foot and said, "Yeah, you have some arthritis in there, take ibuprofen." And that was it. So that's what I did. Big mistake. There is more you can do. (not sure why this guy was such a genius, but it was before I realized how much you have to take things into your own hands with some medical professionals...)

Anyway, mine is my right foot, too, which is a bit larger than my left (but not quite half size), and my right leg is shorter, as well. SO ... must have something to do with stressing that forefoot a little more. Good luck, go get it checked out. Ask around and find the best foot doctor in the area, then go to him/her and two or three others.

 

[litterbug]

Hm. Normal bunions usually are more on the size of the toe, rather than on it, and cause the big toe to deviate inward.

My big toe isn't deviant! No, I mean it doesn't bend inwards. The bump is on the left side of the top of my big toe and is right next to the joint, not projecting from it, so far as I can tell.

The thing is that not painful at all unless I wear shoes that press on it all day, which is pretty rare. We'll see how I do in ski boots, though.

My left toe, on the other hand, is normal except that it catches and grinds when I bend it because the joint is shot from an accident 25 years ago. It hurts any time I walk for more than an hour or so, but it doesn't interfere with my activities. I imagine the only solution would be fusing the bones, which sounds awful, so I'm going to put off doing anything as long as I can.

BTW, I just found out that a bunion on the outside of the foot is also called a "bunionette", which I thought was very cute.