Will different shoes help relieve a bunion?

I've been developing a nice knob on the top joint of my big toe. Nothing debilitating, though it sometimes hurts to bend the toe. I wonder if different shoes (I wear Five-Ten Anasazi Velcros) would help to relieve the bunion. I just don't want to be faced with surgery down the road.

yep. first step. if it is a bunion. perhaps even if it is not. I am unclear what you mean by the 'top joint of your big toe'.

This sounds like a callous, not a bunion. A bunion is that truly wierd and creepy deformity of the joint of the big toe, caused by chronically swollen connective tissue. A google search revealed this explanatory page: http://www.footmaxx.com/footcare/bunion.html

I an not a doctor but... well, actually I *am* a doctor, but not a medical doctor. Anyhow, I know how to google.

Yes, different shoes will help. But you might want to ask yourself if you really need a shoe that pushes your foot forward into the toebox so aggressively to climb hard. I tried on a pair of the current Anasazi Velcros a couple of days ago and I was just astonished at how the elastic in front of the heel shoved my toes into the toebox; even fit so my toes were flat (which isn't how I'd fit shoes for sport climbing, normally) it was on the verge of being painful, and I *do* have a 5.10 shaped foot.

The added sensitivity and precision from painfully tight shoes clearly make _some_ difference, especially while you're learning footwork, but a lot of climbers seem to find that once they develop good technique switching to less aggressive shoes has far less impact on their climbing than they expected

I have the start of bunions on both feet... anisazis were one of the worst shoe choices for my feet. I tend to stick with a firmer midsole, all-around style of shoe... currently climbing in La Sportiva Nagos, but my all-time, bad-feet-friendly shoes were Mad Rock Frenzy EZs. They can be harder to find, but Mad Rock still has them on their website. They're ugly, but I found them to be a perfect combo of fit, stiffness, performance, and comfort for everything from long days to bouldering, and my bunions didn't get worse when I started climbing in them (they had been getting worse in the anisazis and other shoes I had previously been climbing in).

I have ordered a custom made shoes for climbing. They are orthopedics shoes and I never spend so much money on something and didn't have a second thought about it.
They are ugly too but it feel they are just an extension of my feet and it makes climbing much easier.

D - where did you order your shoes from? I was just about to break down and order another pair of my mad rocks...

Thanks!

Hi sarah,

You have to go for an Orthopedic preferably one that specializes in sport and ask for unique foot support and then you can order the shoes at shop that specializes in special shoes or just order a foot support that you can move from one shoe to another.

Sorry about your situation, I hope its better now. If its a bunion or something else it might be worth trying orthopedic shoes from http://www.drewshoe.com. Orthopedic shoes work well in most scenarios to reduce different forms of foot pain. Regardless though I think you should have your feet checked out because you don't want your situation to get any worse.