Bunion Aid Splint

Price:

$48.78

SKU:

FCP106001

Shipping:

$3.89 (Fixed shipping cost)

Product Description

Innovative, hinged BUNION splint for day or night:

One size fits most; wear on left or right foot
Comfortable in wide-fitting shoes for walking or working
High quality PEEK® hinge and straps, long-lasting and washable

Bunion Aid is a comfortable, hinged splint developed by scientists and orthopedists to prevent and treat painful bunions (hallux valgus). Easy to use, this dynamic day-and-night splint helps correct toe and joint malpositioning, while supporting the mid-foot and offering pain relief while walking or resting. The splint is adjustable to most adult foot sizes and can be worn left or right, day or night.

Unlike traditional rigid hallux valgus night splints, this innovative hinged splint can be worn during the day while you walk, climb stairs and go about your daily activities. Lightweight and thin, it is comfortable barefoot or in wide-fitting walking shoes.

By gently repositioning the big toe, Bunion Aid helps restore the foot’s natural range of motion. Much like the hinged knee braces athletes wear, Bunion Aid heals through encouraging proper alignment and movement. Enjoy bunion protection and correction anytime, anywhere with Bunion Aid!

Bunion Aid helps restore the foot to its natural shape. This easy-to-use hinged splint slips comfortably onto your foot to gently reshape the soft tissue at the base joint of the big toe and help correct the malpositioning over time.

Bunion Aid helps heal bunions with every wear. An adjustable strap wraps around the big toe to elongate the tightened soft tissue (capsule) of the base joint and help correct progressive malpositioning. The hinged splint, along with the metatarsal and toe straps, helps to stabilize the foot. With the aid of Bunion Aid, a foot with mild to moderate bunions can perform its natural flexing action with less or no pain.

What’s more, Bunion Aid’s adjustable metatarsal pad encourages the foot to maintain its natural arch. Splayfoot, or flat feet, often accompanies bunions and can be effectively supported and corrected with Bunion Aid.

Bunion Aid is also the only therapeutic splint that helps heal bunions both while you sleep at night, and while you’re on your feet throughout your busy, active day.

How Is Bunion Aid Used?

Bunion Aid can be used preventively for mild to medium bunions, or postoperatively, after bunion surgery (also known as a bunionectomy, or a hallux valgus operation).

Preventive Use of Bunion Aid:

Considered merely unsightly at first, bunions can cause increasing amounts of pain over time. With mild to moderate bunions, wearing the Bunion Aid orthopedic splint regularly during the day and/or night can help ease pain and counteract further big toe malpositioning. Studies confirm that Bunion Aid is effective in correcting mild to moderate hallux valgus malalignment.

Postoperative Use of Bunion Aid:

Following a Hallux valgus operation, an orthosis (a corrective device for the foot, such as a splint) is generally recommended to stabilize the surgical fixation of the toe. Worn postoperatively, the Bunion Aid splint gently helps to stabilize the corrected alignment and protect the foot while bearing weight or walking.

Bunion Aid can help you get back on your feet again sooner, and, in many cases, without the use of bulky, orthopedic support. Bunion Aid can also shorten the post-surgery rehabilitation phase by enabling early mobility while healing.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How many Bunion Aid splints are in the box?
Do they come in different sizes?
There is one splint per box which fits most sizes, and the same splint can be used for either right or left foot.
The toe strap is sometimes too long for smaller feet. If so, we recommend you trim excess hook and loop material.

2. How does the Bunion Aid differ from a rigid splint?
The most important difference is that Bunion Aid is a hinged splint. The brace is placed along the inside of the foot and the straps are used to align the toe. This hinged splint allows for normal motion of the big toe while walking.
Another feature of Bunion Aid is that the splint comes with a metatarsal pad. It is worn on the bottom of the foot and helps establish better mechanics of the front of the foot. (Refer to Question 10 for further information about the metatarsal pad).
Wearing Bunion Aid while walking corrects the mal-alignment of the big toe through the available range of motion. It is good to have correct alignment of the big toe when the foot is flat; it is even better to have correct alignment of the big toe as you raise your heel to walk. The latter is function, and the function of the big toe affects the movement of the knee, hip and pelvis.

3. Does the splint fit into a shoe?
There are two design features of a shoe that allow the splint to fit into it. A design which opens the shoe wider, such as laced shoes, helps the splint slip into the shoe. Once the foot with the splint is in the shoe, the second feature – the toe box of the shoe - needs to be large enough to accommodate the splint. Suggested styles are: Brooks “Ariel” D or wide, Asics “3010” D or wide, New Balance “875” Trail shoe D or Wide, Saucony “Omni” D or wide and Merrell “Simple”.
We recommend bringing the splint to the store for fitting.

4. Do I wear this with an orthotic?
It should work well with an orthotic, but you may not need to use the metatarsal pad when wearing it with shoes.

HOW TO WEAR BUNION AID

5. How long do I need to wear Bunion Aid before I see results?
Once alignment is accomplished, is there still a need to wear the splint?
It depends on a lot of variables - severity of the angle and tightness of the surrounding tissues. In general, you should see changes within 6-8 weeks. (Avoid wearing pointed or restricted shoes.)
After correction is achieved, for maintenance, we recommend wearing the splint 2-3 times per week, at night and/or a couple of hours during your daily activities.

6. What if the splint slips or swivels/rotates to the top of the foot?
Tighten the mid-foot strap so it is tightly cinched. This is what keeps the splint from rotating.
Another factor is the tension on the toe strap. If you try to achieve full correction of the toe alignment by pulling the toe strap tightly, it can pull the brace over to the top of the foot.
If the splint ontinues to slip, the angle of your bunion might be too severe to wear Bunion Aid. (Refer to question 9).

7. What if I have pain after using the splint?
It is acceptable to have post-wear soreness that lasts 20 minutes. If you have more than 20 minutes of soreness and/or you have a change in function (unable to walk as far because of pain), then you should reduce the amount of time you wear the splint per session.
Rather than trying to achieve perfect alignment within the first few sessions, it is better to loosen the toe strap and wear the splint for longer periods of time and gradually work up to tightening the toe strap. It takes time for the soft tissue around the joint to stretch (elongate and remodel). Always adjust the tension on the toe strap for comfort.

8. If I have little or no bunion pain, should I use the splint?
Yes, wear the splint even if you have little or no pain. The bunion can worsen if not treated. The bunion changes the mechanics of the foot, and thus, changes the mechanics of the knee, hip and pelvis, putting more stress on these joints.
You will be more successful in developing better mechanics for motion with a correction to the bunion. But you may need help from a physical therapist or other health care professional in identifying the problem patterns and correcting them.
Remember that bunions are an issue of hyper-mobility (too much mobility in the joint). While you want to provide good alignment and support with shoes and inserts, you want to strengthen the muscles as well.

9. Does Bunion Aid work for severe bunions?
It depends on the contour of the inside of your foot. If the toe forms a severe angle, the brace may not lie flat and may twist around to the top of the foot. In this case, we do not recommend wearing Bunion Aid.
Resilience to the toe position is another factor. If you can grasp your toe and bring it back into a more corrected position with minimum force, the mal-positioning of the big toe is more likely to respond to Bunion Aid.
If your bunion is too severe, we recommend your wearing the Medial Mid-foot Brace by Alpha Orthotics to help relieve bunion pain and take pressure away from the bunion while walking.

10. Can the splint help with a hammertoe?
The metatarsal pad included with the Bunion Aid splint is worn on the bottom of the foot (see video) to help establish better mechanics and positioning for the hammertoe. Since the metatarsal pad is sometimes difficult to adjust for comfort, follow these steps:
Start with just standing on it for 1 minute (as much as 3 times per day).
Build up slowly, to 3-5 minutes (as much as 3 times per day) over a period of 2 weeks.
You may have some post-wear soreness, but this should last for 20 minutes only and your function should not change (that is you should still be able to walk as well for the same time period as before you started using the pad). In the meantime, you can wear the splint without the metatarsal pad for big toe alignment.

11. Can I use the bunion Aid for a bunionette or little toe bunion?
We have had clients use it successfully for a bunionette. It works best on larger feet. Because of the toe length difference between the big toe and little toe, you will have to adjust (and possibly trim) the toe strap to get it to hold the toe. The metatarsal pad included with the splint will help re-store normal forefoot mechanics which can take pressure off the little toe. The intended use of Bunion Aid is for treating big toe mal-alignment and not for bunionettes.

12. What else can I do for my bunions?
Avoid shoes that do not provide proper support, like flip-flops. Also avoid high-heeled, pointed toe shoes.