Are Bunions Causing You Knee Pain?
The feet are an important link to running pain free. While running or jumping, the feet need to maintain an adequate balance of both stability and mobility in order to provide a solid lever for propulsion and to absorb ground reaction forces associated with locomotion. With such large responsibilities it is not surprising that problems in the feet may actually result in issues further up the leg. In a recent study by Kaya et al. (2009), it was determined that having a bunion with an angle greater than 15° was associated with having patello-femoral pain syndrome in the knee. The exact mechanism by which this occurs has yet to be determined; however, the presence of bunions may lead to abnormal foot pronation (flattening of the arch) which in and of itself has been cited as a factor in patellofemoral pain syndrome.
Both the addition of exercises that focus on reinforcing the intrinsic foot musculature and arches and the hip stabilizing musculature may also be of value when dealing with knee and foot pain of this nature.
Kaya, D., Atay, OA., Callaghan, MJ. et al. Hallux valgus in patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome. Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy, the official journal of the ESSKA. 2009; 17(11)
Read More