Shaquille O’Neal unleashed his gnarled-up basketball foot on TV and this has the internet wondering just what’s wrong with it. He actually has a very common problem - a bunion on his big toe.
A bunion is an enlarged boney knuckle at the base of the big toe on the inside of the foot. The big toe can also become crooked and shift towards the other toes - causing a disfigurement of the foot. Women typically develop bunions after years of jamming their feet into high heel shoes. Shaq probably can’t blame high heels on his bunion, but rather from years of intense basketball wear and tear on his big toe joint causing the bones to shift out of place.
A post shared by Dr Blitz -Bunion King NYC & LA (@bunionplasty) on May 24, 2017 at 7:58am PDT
While Shaq’s foot is not pretty, hopefully it doesn’t hurt. Bunions can be quite painful with everyday walking. Nonetheless, there is treatment for bunion sufferers. Simple treatments can involve pads and toe spacers, but that’s mainly managing the symptoms.
People generally undergo bunion surgery when the foot is painful and/or interferes with wearing shoes comfortably. Bunion surgery involves realigning the bones to straighten the big toe. For those who care about the cosmetic aspect, Bunionplasty® (aka plastic surgery for bunions) can be done to hide and minimize scarring. Recovery involves wearing a stiff sole surgical shoe for approximately 6 weeks until the bone to mend.
With a shoe size of 23, it’s impossible to make his foot cute, but it appears he probably doesn’t care about how his feet look, and neither should you. As a reconstructive foot and ankle surgeon in New York & Beverly Hills, my advice to Shaq is… if the shoe fits, wear it.
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Dr. Neal Blitz, creator of the Bunionplasty®, is a reconstructive foot and ankle surgeon in New York and Beverly Hills. He has been dubbed ‘”The Bunion King” by MDNews and been featured on ABC, Good Morning America Health, National Geographic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and many more. Patients routinely travel from all over the world for foot surgery with Dr. Blitz. To learn more visit www.bunionsurgeryny.com