What Happens When Bunions Are Left Untreated - Specialty Surgical Center (2024)

FAQs

What Happens When Bunions Are Left Untreated - Specialty Surgical Center? ›

If left untreated, a bunion can cause arthritis, especially if the joint in the big toe has sustained extensive, long-term damage. Bunions may cause the cartilage in the joint to deteriorate. While bunions can be remedied through surgery, arthritis and the possibility of chronic pain are not curable.

There's no cut-and-dry rule regarding an age limit for bunion surgery. Seniors can visit a podiatrist serving the Sugar Land area to find out if the procedure might be right for them.

Sustained, extensive damage from an untreated bunion may cause the cartilage of the joint in your big toe to deteriorate and become inflamed causing osteoarthritis. It can also cause inflammation and swelling of the fluid-filled sac called bursae. These sacs act as cushions between the bones.

You may need bunion surgery if you have severe foot pain that happens even when walking or wearing flat, comfortable shoes. Surgery may also be needed when chronic big toe inflammation and swelling isn't relieved with rest or medicines.

Bunion surgery costs depend on the type of surgery you have, where you have the procedure, your health insurance or Medicare coverage, and more. Generally, if your bunion pain is leading to physical limitations, and surgery is deemed medically necessary by your podiatrist, insurance will cover the procedure.

Unfortunately, the surgery can leave you worse off than before you had the surgery, which can mean more pain, swelling, and disability. Infection is another serious risk associated with bunion surgery. Infections can be severe and can lead to serious complications, such as amputation of the affected toe.

At UT Southwestern and many other U.S. hospitals, bunions can be corrected through a method called the modified Lapidus procedure, in which surgeons straighten and fuse the misaligned bones making up the first tarsometatarsal joint. However, in about 10% of these surgeries, the bones don't permanently fuse.

Surgery may be right for you if your toe is too painful, if your bunion is very big, or if you can't easily do your daily activities. It's not clear how well bunion surgery works or which kind of surgery is best.

As a bunion becomes more advanced, the bursa, fluid-filled sacs cushioning the joints, become inflamed and painful. This can become a chronic condition, leading to debilitating pain and inflammation. Left untreated, the bursa can rupture or become infected.

The main symptom is usually pain and redness at the bump itself, but patients may also feel pain at the ball of the foot, and stiffness in the big toe joint. Symptoms often progress as the bunion becomes more severe with a more prominent bump and big toe deviation under or over the smaller toes.

What is the new procedure for bunions? ›

Lapiplasty® is a new procedure using patented technology to correct not only the bunion, but its root cause. It straightens three dimensions of alignment of the metatarsal bone. First, it corrects the sideways lean of your metatarsal bone.

The signs and symptoms of a bunion include: A bulging bump on the outside of the base of your big toe. Swelling, redness or soreness around your big toe joint. Corns or calluses — these often develop where the first and second toes rub against each other.

The possible risks and complications of bunion surgery include: Infection. Nerve injury. Failure to relieve pain.

Although bunions can also be addressed by an orthopedic doctor, your best course of action is to see a podiatrist, who specializes in the treatment of conditions or injuries involving the foot or ankle.

In general, it takes about six weeks after bunion surgery for the bone to fully mend. But that doesn't mean you'll be laid up in bed for a month and a half. With a bunionectomy procedure like Bunionplasty®, created by Dr. Blitz, patients can walk the same day as their surgery.

Bunion correction surgery — also known as bunionectomy — usually costs about $6,000 or more per foot. Factors such as the complexity of the procedure and your insurance status will affect what you pay. If you have health insurance, your plan may cover some or all of the costs of the surgery.

Putting Off Bunion Surgery

For starters, a bunion is considered a progressive condition, meaning that without intervention, it's only going to get worse. Bunions also get harder to treat as the problem progresses, so you shouldn't put off treatment.

In severe bunions, the big toe may angle all the way under or over the second toe. Pressure from the big toe may force the second toe out of alignment, causing it to come in contact with the third toe. This can result in hammer toe deformities of the smaller toes.

Bunions develop gradually over time. Without the right care, like changing your footwear or using orthotics, bunions can get worse over time. As a person gets older and ages or gains weight, our feet spread and that worsens the problems already in place or triggers the development of bunions.