A Bunion is No Funyun

I recall the first time I heard about bunions. I was seeing an orthopedic specialist about chronic shin splints. He took one look at my feet and said, “do those bunions bother you?” I had no idea what he was talking about. Bunions? Where?

According to the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, a bunion is described as a “bump on the side of the big toe.” A bunion is an actual deformity of the bones at the base of the big toe: the big toe leans toward the second toe, rather than pointing straight ahead. This throws the bones out of alignment and produces the bump on the side of the toe. And, as many of us girls know, bunions can be extremely painful.

So what causes bunions? Genetics can play a role, but wearing tight-fitting high heeled shoes can exacerbate and even cause bunions. What's the treatment? Wear wide, flat shoes. So why do we keep wearing pointy-toed, high-heeled shoes?... Because we heart them like whoa.

With all the incredible shoes from Christian Louboutin, Valentino, Salvatore Feragamo what are we to do? We just can't help it, which is why we see girls leaving Belltown at 2am with their shoes in their hands or getting a piggy back ride from their beau.

My mission at Bench is make fabulous shoes that girls can really wear. So we can all walk home with our shoes on.