Bunion treatment.

Effective bunion treatment. When worn day after day, shoes with a narrow toe box (like most high heels, for example) can inflame the joint of the big toe, causing a red, swollen, painful knob of bone on the outer side of the foot just below the toe.

If the bone continues to thicken, which is common for someone with a bunion, it can be very pushy. It can shove your big toe to the side so that it lies like a fallen tree across your second toe. It can ruin the alignment of the bones next to your big toe so that the bottom of your foot hurts all the time. It can make your life so miserable that surgery to remove the bunion, called a bunionectomy, seems like the only way out (about 140,000 Americans choose that option each year). Tight shoes aren't the only "risk factor" for a bunion. In fact, a genetic tendency to form a bunion, signaled by a low arch that causes the movement of the foot to be slightly off kilter, is the hereditary fault that allows tight shoes to do their damage.

Roomier shoes and custom shoe inserts (orthotics) are the best ways to treat a bunion, but there are a number of alternative home remedies that are very effective for relieving the pain a bunion can cause.

STRETCHING: To Beat the Band
Stretching your big toes is one of the best ways to reduce or eliminate bunion pain, says Stephanie Tourles, a licensed esthetician, reflexologist, and herbalist in West Hyannisport, Massachusetts. Obviously, stretching a toe isn't the same as stretching a muscle. You need a little help-from a rubber band, says Tourles. Sit with your legs outstretched on the floor with your heels side by side and touching. Loop a thick,-fairly stiff rubber band (about 3 inches or less and ¼  inch thick, such as a heavy-duty office rubber band) around both big toes. Keeping your heels together, move the tops of your feet apart so they form a V. Hold the stretch for 5 to 10 seconds, then relax. Repeat 10 to 20 times. If the exercise hurts, if you have arthritis, or if your bunions are very advanced, do only as many repetitions as you can. Your toes will gradually increase in strength so that you'll be able to do 10 to 20.

ICE: For Fast Relief
Put some ice cubes inside a plastic sandwich bag, wrap the bag in a thin towel, and apply it to the bunion in three lO-minute cycles: 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off, and 10 minutes on. Do this two or three times a day whenever bunion pain flares up, says Gregory Spencer, D.P.M., a podiatrist in Renton, Washington. "Ice is the best and cheapest first-aid for bunion pain," he says.

ASPIRIN: Soak, Don't Swallow
Crush three or four aspirin tablets into a basin of warm water and soak your feet for 10 to 15 minutes or as long as needed, suggests Dr. Spencer. This can be a very effective way to relieve the pain of an inflamed bunion. If any skin irritation results, discontinue the treatment.

CASTOR OIL: There's the Rub
Castor oil can help reduce bunion inflammation, says Dr. Spencer. Rub the oil on your bunion after your foot soak, then cover the bunion with a soft bandage so the oil stays in place.

MASSAGE: For Long- Term Relief
Traditional Chinese Medicine says that healing energy, or chi, runs in tracks called meridians up and down your body, from head to toe-including your big toe. Opening or unblocking areas of stagnant chi in the meridian that runs into your big toe (the liver meridian) can help relieve bunion pain, says Dr. Spencer. The best way to unblock the flow of chi is to massage the ankle and calf, he says. Here's how to do it.
Put a few drops of massage oil on your hands and spread it evenly on the ankle and calf of the leg with the bunion. Form a circle around your leg with both hands, with your thumbs overlapping on the inner part of your leg and your fingers on the outer part. Put one thumb on top of the other so that you can press down with both thumbs. Starting at the ankle, press with your thumbs on the in side of the ankle and leg.

Massage the area starting just above the ankle and work up the inside of the leg, probing for tender spots, which are signs of blocked chi in a meridian. If you find a tender spot, press firmly or massage the area in small circles on and around the painful area for 30 to 60 seconds, first clockwise, then counter clockwise.

If going in one direction is clearly more effective for the pain, use that direction exclusively for pain relief. (Press hard enough to feel a bit of discomfort, but not so hard that the pain is unbearable.)
Next, move your hands up the leg, massaging with your overlapped thumbs as you go and concentrating on tender spots when you find them. Continue until you're just below the knee.
Repeat the massage on the other leg so your chi is balanced. Do this massage once a day until the pain is reduced or eliminated, says Dr. Spencer.

"This massage does not work on everyone, but it can banish bunion pain so that it doesn't come back for a long time-sometimes years," he says. Some people may need to perform this technique on the outside and the back of the leg as well. Stretching the calf muscle is also helpful.