My poorly feet

Ouch - I feel for you. Have you tried Voltarol gel? It's Diclofenac in gel form and works really well. I'm using it on one of my knuckles at the moment which is swollen and painful too. Immediate improvement when using Voltarol.

You do need to see the doc though and let them assess it to make sure you get the right diagnosis and then you can hopefully get either some medication and/or options for what to do.

I have bunions too - urk! Though, same as you, there isn't much too see, just quite swollen/sore metatarsals!

Unfortunately the only way to remove bunions is quite major surgery (ie you'd be off your feet for six weeks). My aunt went to see about hers and decided to just live with them! That's unless there is some new pioneering method I don't know about.

Thanks for the recommendation Pammy. Will go to the shops and get some now I think as I can barely walk on my right foot today (hence the post).

I was hoping some magic surgeon had come up with a less brutal way to solve it. Or some magic foot splints you can buy from eBay ;-). I'll speak to a doctor about it but I don't know whether I can deal with the surgery... I have bad joints in general and have a bad knee which was operated on a few years ago and will need more done to it as well so I don't know how much surgery I want to put myself through at one time, especially wen both will mean I'm less mobile.

Just realised I sound so moany... As much as it does really hurt I do appreciate a lot of people are in a worse position than me.

Nah, surgery sucks. I never danced or wore heels much but I have massively high arches and I over-pronate so badly (ie, pigeon-toed) that the balls of my feet get really sore when I do actually walk on them. When I used to run I used those pad things and they still felt like they were on fire! My posture is terrible from years of using crutches too. I keep reminding myself to stand up straight...hasn't become a habit yet!

I have one on my left foot. It developed in my teens after wearing trainers!

I found initially it was painful but now it barely bothers me unless I squeeze into a pair of shoes.

Are your flats supportive? I wear flats most of the time anyway but find cheapy ballet pumps with thin soles can make it ache.

My mum had bunions, she investigated getting them operated on a couple of years ago. At that point they were available on the NHS, not sure if they will be now or in your area. There are a few different types of operations but they are quite invasive. They do one foot at a time and you will be off your feet for 6 weeks with each foot. My cousin is a podiatrist, she says flip flops and ballet pumps are quite bad for your feet

I wear loafers at work at the moment, before this pair I had ballet shoes but they had a little block heel, I can't think what I had before that.

I suspect some of the flat shoes I wear aren't great to be honest but it is difficult to find decent shoes that I'd still want to wear. I think one of my problems is that I've always had bent big toes but they got worse with the block ballet so now I ideally need wide shoes to fit the width of my toes in, except the rest of my foot is relatively slim so wide fitting shoes fall off my feet or just don't really for properly.

Might as well get the ball rolling so to speak on whatever I might do about it, won't do any harm to speak to the doctor and just see what they say, then take it from there.

Thanks everyone!

Both my aunt and cousin had operations to remove bunions. My cousin was only about 25 when she had her operation but I think it was only the one foot. Her feet look fine now and she's glad she had it done. Not much help for you, but it's not simply little old ladies that have them!

I have what I refer to as my 'pump bumps'. they are on the back of my heel & where I i frequently have blisters - i constantly wear ill fitting shoes because I can't get shoes to fit.

That's actually quite good to hear. I feel like an old last or a total frump not being able to wear nice shoes at my age.

Hi there - I have had both feet "done" two years apart and yes it is a big operation and the recovery is 6-8 weeks or so the end result is fantastic. Forget about what they look like, if you are in pain then they need doing. Mine did not look too bad but boy I was in agony even in flats all the time, My aunt has the worst looking bunions you ever did see has no pain whatsoever!! crazy eh!! I was in my 40's so not "old lady" One thing my surgeon did tell me is under no circumstances get a podiatrist to do the operation. They do not have the training or experience to do this type of operation, also there are different types of bunions that require different types of surgery so it is not one size fits all. I had two different ops for my feet as they need a slightly different correction. Research your surgeon thoroughly and go to someone who specialises in orthopedics foot and ankle surgery. Trying to post photos but computer wont let me. PM me if you want to see my before and after pictures!