Study Finds Bunion Bootie Effective in Reducing Bunion Pain

A study conducted by a team of podiatrists from the University of Western Australia concluded that Bunion Bootie has helped resolve bunion pain in most of its users, and preliminary data from the study indicated “Bunion Bootie is effective in reducing the pain and HAA (hallux abductus angle) in participants with flexible HAV (hallux abducto valgus).” (The hallux abductus angle is an angular measurement of the foot used to monitor the progression of a bunion.)  The entire study can be read here.

The study included 32 female participants with symptomatic bunions, most of whom (66 percent) had never attempted to treat their bunions before and usually wore close toed shoes (88 percent). All participants were photographed to document their foot and manual measurements of the abductus angle, with and without a Bunion Bootie. Participants were then required to wear the bootie for a week and complete a feedback survey post-treatment.

Specifically, the study aimed to:

1. Evaluate the immediate effects of Bunion Bootie on a participant’s bunion
2. Assess pain experienced from the bunion before – and after – wearing Bunion Bootie for a week
3. Investigate the relationship between the change in the hallux abductus angle and a participant’s age, duration of pain and onset of the bunion.

Participants used a 10-point scale to measure the pain caused by their bunions before and after the weeklong Bunion Bootie treatment, as well as their likelihood of wearing Bunion Bootie again in the future. A survey of participants’ experience with the bootie concluded the following:

• 88 percent found the bootie comfortable
• 63 percent said that it reduced their bunion pain
• 88 percent said the bootie was easy to fit in shoes
• 91 percent said the bootie did not affect normal activities
• 53 percent said the bootie gave them more confidence
• 52 percent said it gave them extra support
• 57 percent said the bootie made the treated foot less painful than the other foot

Participants reported a median 4/10 pain level at the end of the study, “illustrating that most participants noticed an improvement in their HAV pain.” On top of that, participants reported a median 8/10 likelihood that the would continue wearing Bunion Bootie in the future.

The study’s report states that the doctors chose to test Bunion Bootie because HAV has high prevalence and can significantly reduce people’s quality of life. Thus, “there is a strong need for an effective conservative HAV treatment,” because most HAV sufferers would otherwise “resort to costly surgery to correct the HAV deformity.” Surgery comes with the possibility of postoperative complications, and the possibility of experiencing such complications is as high as 50 percent, according to the report.

“Considering the significant financial cost of surgical options, the absence of sound evidence in favor of conservative treatments, and the impact of HAV on participant quality of life, further studies are clearly required to investigate other treatment options,” the report states. “Bunion Bootie has not previously been investigated for its effectiveness in HAV treatment and is thus the subject of this study.”

The report points to other studies of conservative bunion treatments, including night splints, mobilization techniques, insoles and toe separators. The studies’ results varied widely, according to the report: “Hence it is clear that there has been mixed results in the literature and our finding on pain in HAV participants significantly contributes to the lack of evidence available for conservative treatments of HAV.:

The doctors hypothesized that Bunion Bootie would reduce the hallux abductus angle and pain level among participants, and that there would be no association between the change in angle and a participant’s age, duration of pain or onset of the bunion. They preliminarily concluded that the data from this study supported their hypothesis.