Your foot size and shape can change over time due to pregnancy, weight gain, age, and abnormalities such as bunions. Your podiatrist or a shoe store employee can measure your shoe size to ensure a comfortable fit. Shoes with the APMA seal have been evaluated by podiatrists to ensure they support foot health.

When looking for new shoes, also look for the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) Seal of Acceptance. Look for shoes with wide options to better accommodate your bunion and avoid putting further pressure on your toe joints. Good shoes for bunions will have a wide toe box, good arch support, and a cushioned footbed. Shoes with narrow toe boxes, like heels, can even make a bunion worse by pushing your toes inward. Shoes that narrow near the toes cause friction on the bunion bump. (In extreme cases, the big toe can even cross over the second toe.) About 1-in-3 Americans have bunions.īunions make it difficult - even painful - to wear many types of shoes. The metatarsal bone shifts outwards and the big toe points towards the second toe. Medically known as “hallux valgus,” a bunion is a bony protuberance at the base of the big toe joint.

Maybe this is why women are 10 times more likely than men to suffer from problems caused by bunions. Women especially suffer as their “professional” and “stylish” shoes - primarily high heels - tend to be extra uncomfortable. For centuries people have been wearing shoes for comfort and protection - however, not all of them succeed at being comfortable.

Best shoes for bunions and flat feet