What causes a Bunion ? Are they Hereditary ?
By Graham Alexander | March 4th, 2020 | Foot care
The answer is we don’t really know. Over the years there have been many research projects and schools of thought as to the exact causation of Bunions.
The image above shows the left foot of a mum of 32 years and the left foot of her 5 year old daughter.
What is clear is that both mum and daughter both have a left bunion deformity. If you look more closely you can see that both big toes lay underneath the second toe, the second toe lays over the third toe, the fourth toe lays underneath the third toe, and the fifth toe lays underneath the fourth toe. Both feet are broad at the front and all the lesser toes are retracted.
It is our opinion that the daughter has inherited her mothers’ foot type, meaning that certain foot types or shapes can predispose to certain mechanical dysfunctions e.g toe deformities and bunions.
It is widely documented that tight, narrow and high heeled shoes can cause bunions. I’m quite sure that this little 5 year old has not yet taken to wearing 6 inch stiletto heels, therefore one would assume that footwear will aggravate a pre-existing bunion deformity and may well contribute to the formation of one.
Footwear is therefore an aggravating factor to the predisposition of a bunion deformity not a cause.
What is clear from researchers is that certain foot types eg high arch feet, flat feet, hypermobile feet can all form bunions; therefore we can interpret that a bunion is a symptom caused by numerous complexities in foot types each having their own dysfunctional properties which can lead to the causation of a bunion.
Other contributory factors may include :
• Foetal inter-uterine position
• Injury
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Sporting activities
• Surfaces we walk on
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