Causes of hallux valgus
There are two forms of hallux valgus:
- congenital (acquired with growth, and formed during adolescence),
- degenerative (deformation that worsens over your life).
Among the causes of hallux valgus or “bunions” are:
1 – Female Predisposition
Out of 100 hallux valgus, 5 concern the man, 95 the woman (because of flexibility or joint laxity).
2 – Hereditary predisposition
Hallux valgus is not a hereditary disease. However, we often find (33% of cases, or even 50% in some series) a family tendency to this deformation. In this case, it frequently occurs at the end of growth. Thus we distinguish a congenital and a degenerative (“acquired”) form
3 – Length of first toe
Depending on the length of the first toe compared to the second, we distinguish the «Greek forefoot» (big toe shorter than the 2nd (10% of the population), the «square forefeet» (same lenght between 1st and 2nd toe, 20%) and especially the Egyptian feet (big toe longer than the 2nd (70%)). The longer the big toe, the more it is folded towards the other toes by a shoe with a pointed toe or a high heel.
4 – The pointed, narrow-toed female shoe with a high heel that overloads and compresses the toes. The tight or high heel shoe does not create the bunion, at best, it maintains it, as it increases by the stresses created…
Other aggravating factors include:
- flat feet;
- ligament hyperlaxity;
- overweight;
- menopause (decrease in female hormones resulting in decreased ligament tone and muscle relaxation).