Bunions and ligaments

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum, having joined out of some amount of frustration. I’m 50-something years old female, have had bunions since my 30s, but they (mostly my right one) only started giving me mild to moderate problems in the last 4-6 years and in the last year I decided to see the podiatrist for some advice. It is mostly my right one that is giving me problems lately – I have a neuroma underneath the 2nd toe. I do not take any medications for my bunion(s) because the pain is mostly manageable. More than anything, the situation is uncomfortable and weird-feeling. The lateral drift of my right big toe has increased a lot recently. The podiatrist I saw said it is ligament attenuation. The ligaments are becoming loose (I guess). I am still considering orthotics

At my job, I stand and walk a lot, and have found taping my right foot almost as a splint to provide a good deal of comfort. However, I’m not sure if that is good or bad for me in the long run.

The last podiatrist told me that I am losing functionality of the right big toe and possibly developing a hammer toe in the 2nd toe. The loss of functionality is actually something that I can feel, and it makes me feel uncomfortable. The reason for my posting is that I am a little upset that at no time during one of about 9 podiatrist appts through my life did any of them tell me what my goal should be. And hearing that my ligaments are loose and hypermobile (my word), it would seem that prevention of that would be a goal. Why did no one ever say to me: you need to make sure that doesn’t happen? My second question is given that I probably have lost functionality, is there any point to orthotics or even surgery.

I live in the mid-Atlantic of the US.

Thank you for any replies.