OK, I'm 16 years old and I have bunions... they're not really really severe but I'm miserable having them as they are so painful and look dredful and I get so insecure about them and can hardly ever find shoes that are comfortable and look ok.

I really hate them and I want to do something about them.

I want to have surgery but I do not know if I would be able to at my age and I'm also scared about the cost.

I've researched on the internet but it's not that informative.

If anyone has any information or is in a simular situation please contact me. i'm scared im the only one to have them at my age.

Thanks.

if they are that painful where it affects walking and other activities, then dee a doctor. if you dont like the way they look i would not have surgery. make a dr appt and see what the cost will be and make sure to find a foot specialist!!

I agree with the previous post. If they're not painful leave them alone. You're probably the only one that notices what they look like. Who cares. My podiatrist doesn't like to do surgery on anything that's not causing pain.

Since you're only 16 you'll need your parents to consent for surgery anyway. If they have insurance it will be covered if it causes pain. May not be covered if it's for cosmetic purposes.

I agree with swank & debbie.. Surgery is not something you should go through unless you're in constant pain. I had surgery 2 months ago and am still recovering, it can be a long process.

If your bunions are painful and you know that you will have surgery at some point in your life, i would say it's definitely better to do it when you're younger because it will be easier to recover.

Go see a podiatrist or orthapedic surgeon & good luck!

hI My Dd is 7 yrs old and 6 days post op..(bunionectomy and osteotomies done on both feet) Her gran ahs very bad bunions and we see the pain she goes through as she has never had any kind of serury done.My DD was in contant pain and even now says,that the pain she feels is better than before.The hard part is getting around.We use a wheel chair and she is light enough for us to carry around,take to loo etc.You msut rememebr u need a good support system if u decide to operate.Write down yr pros and cons and take it from there.Good luck and keep us posted see.

I was 16 when I had my first bunion surgery.. my foot was painful every day and surgery was my only option. If you have more pain than not, get the surgery! I healed much better at 16 then I did in my last surgery at 27! But if it's only occassional pain, then you really have to weigh the pros and cons. I had my first surgery done over summer break (I had one foot done at a time), so I got to sit around the house and veg out.. my second surgery was my Senior year and I had to hobble around school on crutches.. which wasn't fun!! Good luck with your decision.

thanks everyone for your comments =]

I'm still deciding but they are helpful... please keep them coming in =]

Thanks

xxxx

Hi I live in Rochester Kent! What did you decide to do about your bunions?

heya

well, i havn't done anything about them yet to be honest.

i do want to get surgery, but i don't know when i will... and need to know the cost and also i'll need time to heal and am currently about to start studying my A-Levels... so won't be getting surgery quite yet unfortunately =/

Hi, my ex-girlf used to have bunions and was really embarressed by them and would never wear sandalls but as she was only 20 she still wanted to wear heels all the time but they KILLED her, and made her bunions become inflammed! I dont think i saw her barefooted till after about month or so as when she didnt have shoes on she would wear socks! Is this the same as what you do with your feet?
I wouldnt recommend getting surgery if you dont need it, but i dont think you should cripple yourself like my ex did!
Hope to chat soon

hey i totally understand what you are going through. because I'm 18 and I had bunions like my whole life. lol. I wouldn't even go to the beach or swim or wear sandals b/c they were hunormous. (of course I was embarass) hahaha. I have bunions on both feet and I recently had my right foot done less than 4 weeks ago. They were uncomfortable to walk with but they were tolerable. I played volleyball and my bunions would get inflamed and really red. How are your bunions? Mines were really deformed, my big toe tilts to the others. On my right foot I had a bone fusion with two screws inserted. I still can't walk on my foot yet b/c doctor said non weight bearing for 4-6 weeks. MAN! hahah but yeh its summer vacation for me right now and I'm going to be going to college in september so I had a longer vacation than for high school students. Just ask me any questions. I'll try to help

i have to say that i feel a tad silly
b/c
well, my bunions arent really too bad, well i know that others have worse ones than me... basically my left foot isnt too bad at all... but my right foot is worse... and yeah they hurt and sometimes throb... and when i wear certain shoes they hurt and go red
but yeah... i feel as though im making a big deal out of nothing... then i look at them [mostly 'it' - the one on my right foot] and i think its just awful =/

when im with my friends im always self concious about it and say they take their shoes off but i never will... i remember one time i was messing around and my friends were goning to take my shoe off as a joke and then il have to chase them and get it.. i basically screamed and begged for them not to... none of them know because whenever people say 'oh i hate my feet' they're all like 'why? are they all deformed and stuff?' and inside im like 'well...yeah'
but i just cant say it...
i did tell my previous bestfriend about it and her reaction was 'oh' and her face was kind of disgusted and awkward and she just stared at my feet [i had slippers on at the time] i felt so stupid
another time i was on the bus with another friend of mine and i saw a woman wearing sandals and she had quite bad bunions [worse than mine] and i went 'oh my god' and my friend was begging me to tell her why i said it... so i waited 'til we got off the bus and i told her and her reaction, well i was so shocked. she was making fake vomiting noises and everything... i was debating about telling her and then she did all that i felt so stupid and decided against it.
i just hate the way bunoins are seen as such disgusting things, because yeah they aren't very nice to look at but its mostly a genetic deformity and they can be very painful and upsetting but people just make fun and say nasty things. it annoys me how narrowminded people can be.

on my left foot i only have a small 'lump' that comes out the side of my foot by my big toe... and the big toe leans in towards the others only very slightly. but my right foot is worse and is usually the foot i have problems with shoes and pain with as the 'lump' is bigger and the toe leans in further.

although they are painful at times for me i suppose its mostly vanity and i do get very insecure about them and the vanity reason would be the main reason for me to get them removed and then pain would come after. but because im like that i feel a bit selfish for some reason... as if its silly to worry about what they look like.

and with the whole boyfriend thing.. i try and avoid any foot seeing or contact because i dont want them to know or see them. i just have to hide them... this is mostly because of the negative views everyone has of them and if someone found out about them.. it changes they're perspective of you... which i think is extremely shallow... but still affects me...

wow i've written a lot... but just had to let that out

tell me what you think about all the things i've just said because you're replies are nice to hear... knowing that there are understading people out there =] hehe

thanks.

=]

No problem I understand how you feel b/c im a teenager female too & was insecure and still am insecure about my feet. My right foot that I got surgery on was bigger than my left too. I don’t know if I’m getting my left one done any time soon because I’m going to see how this one turns out. The foot that I had surgery on, the incison is like 3 inches (wow) and its still healing. The only thing I’m scared about is that I’m not sure if I can feel the screw on the top of my food (screws are located like in middle of my foot) and I just hope its not going to be irritating me. Like the bunion was irritating, and they fixed it but now another problem might be formed. With the friend situation, nobody but my family knows about my bunions & I told my best friend. She was really encouraging and since she does pedicures/manicures she said that her clients that had bunion surgery wished they had it when they were younger. Don’t you wish everybody had bunions! Hahaah so now nobody would care how our feet look! But, yeh I do feel bad that I had to have surgery to be more comfortable with myself. It’s true my bunions had to be fixed but I was more concerned about it cosmetically. I guess we have to learn how to be more comfortable with ourselves and try to hang with people that wouldn’t diss you b/c of a little problem. Yupp, but this is funny we are all talking about our personal lives up in here.

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Hello again!
My ex-girlfriend sounds excatally the same as you! She never ever let anyone see her feet yet she always gave herself a pedicure? Crazy!
Her bunions sound worse than yours but like yours she had a one bigger bunion, but her's was on on her left foot.
She would never remove her shoes so that meant no beach on holiday and swimming was out of the question, also she wouldn't go bowling or ice skating as she thought her foot might not fit the shoe/boot because when she said, when she was younger went horse riding for a friends birthday party and couldn't her boots off afterwards because her bunions had swelled inside, so the instructer had to help to pull it off which was really painfull and embarrising for her and everyone saw her feet afterwrds as they all crowded round and thats why she said she hated people looking at her feet.
When she finally fessed up to this up to me, she then is started going barefooted around me, her bunions where farily large and she said her left 2nd toe would overlap her big toe in heels, which i asked why does she still wear them, but she would get stroppy and say that shes a young girl still!
Her feet hurt her quite a lot when she had shoes on but when she didn't they was ok but she would say that sometimes they would ache at night! And she would pester me for foot rubs!
Anyway hope this helps, seeing your not the only one in Kent! Lol! Hope to hear from you soon!
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