People who have bunions look for any answer to their problem that does not include the word “surgery”. A popular non surgical treatment for bunions is orthotics, but do they work? The answer is both a yes and a No. But here are a couple of cold hard facts:
An orthotic will not make your bunion smaller, nor will it make it go away
This is because the bunion is in that position, and orthotics have never been shown to reverese the course. The only treatment that can make a bunion go away or smaller is surgery. Believe me everything else has been studied.
But the question goes can an orthotic slow the progress of the bunion, or halt it? This question has never been fully answered. A common cause of bunion formation is faulty biomechanics sometimes referred to by the word “Pronation”. And orthotic can help correct faulty biomechanics. Orthotics work like glasses. Glasses do not correct your vision they just help focus the vision you have. Orthotics do the same thing with biomechanics. Now, this must be said. It has never been proven that orthotics can help bunions. This is all theoretical, and while the theory is sound, there is little evidence to support it.
So would I use orthotics to treat a bunion? Yes, I would in kids and young adults, because their bunions may still be developing and the most likely cause of their bunions is faulty biomechanics. In an older adult I would refrain from the use of orthotics for bunions, as they have aged out and the bunion is most likely static. Now what kind of orthotic would I recommend? Well, I have written an article on that exact subject here: