What Actually Happens to Your Gait When You Have a Bunion? A New Study Breaks It Down
Most people think a bunion is “just a bump.” Something annoying. Something cosmetic. Something you can live with until it gets “bad enough” to need surgery.
But it also could be impacting the way the rest of your foot and lower limb move.
A recent systematic review (see below for cited study) looked at how people with hallux valgus (the clinical term for bunions) actually walk, and what it discovered is important for:
Pain
Mobility
Balance
Walking efficiency
Long-term foot health
This study asked a question: how does a bunion actually change the way your foot functions during walking?
They looked at things like:
How fast people walk
How the joints move
What forces are used during walking
How pressure is distributed under the foot
This matters because the big toe is one of the major stabilizers of your entire gait. So when the toe doesn’t function correctly, something else has to compensate.
The results were very clear. People with bunions tend to:
Walk slower
Have less movement in the foot during push-off
Generate less power through the big toe
Load the foot differently
These changes make walking less efficient and increase the amount of muscular work needed to do normal daily activities.
Let’s break this down more simply.
People with bunions walk slower.
This was consistent across the research. Slower walking usually means the body is trying to protect something or avoid loading the big toe. It also means walking becomes less efficient and takes more energy. Most people don’t notice they’re doing this, but the data shows the difference clearly.
People with bunions also move differently at the heel and ankle. This surprises a lot of people, because the bunion is in the forefoot, not the back of the foot. But when the big toe can’t do its job, the hindfoot has to compensate. The body is constantly trying to keep you upright and balanced, so if one part isn’t working, another part picks up the slack.
Another major finding was that the big toe simply pushes off less. When the toe deviates inward, it’s no longer aligned to act as a lever. So instead of rolling through the toe, people with bunions roll off the inside of the foot, or push off the lesser toes, or avoid the big toe entirely. This leads to more stress on the second toe, painful calluses, hammertoes, arch fatigue, and chronic forefoot pain.
There were also interesting changes in pressure under the heel and the big toe. People with bunions had less pressure under the hallux and less pressure under the rearfoot, which means the entire foot is reorganizing itself around the bunion. Your body is basically choosing paths of least resistance. That may avoid pain in the moment, but long-term, it creates more compensation patterns that can lead to additional problems.
Even though a bunion is located in the forefoot, this study reinforces that bunions affect much more than just the toe. When mechanics change at the big toe, forces throughout the foot and all the way up the chain change as well. This helps explain why so many people with bunions also experience plantar fasciitis, arch strain, ankle instability, knee discomfort, hip tightness, or balance issues. The big toe is like the steering wheel of the foot. When it’s turned, the rest of the body slowly starts to drift.
What does this mean if you have a bunion? The takeaway here isn’t fear—it’s understanding. A bunion is not just a cosmetic issue. It’s a movement issue. And movement issues respond well to strengthening, mobility work, foot posture training, and gait retraining.
This is also why I never treat bunions as only a toe problem. I always look at 1st ray stability, tibial rotation, foot tripod mechanics, balance strategies, ankle alignment, hip control, and of course gait. If you don’t address how someone loads the foot, the bunion continues to progress even if temporary pain goes away. This research reinforces that bunion symptoms are coming from altered mechanics, not just altered bones.
The biggest takeaway from this review is simple: a bunion changes the way your foot works every time you take a step. The longer you wait to address mechanics, the more the body is forced to compensate. Over time, those compensations can create pain, stiffness, imbalance, decreased walking efficiency, and extra work for your joints.
Now, does this mean you need surgery? Absolutely not. In fact, it suggests the opposite, because if bunions are a functional movement problem, improving movement and strength can absolutely improve symptoms. Mobility, toe mechanics, foot posture, and strengthening change the way your foot functions—and that’s often where people see pain relief, more stability, and even visual improvements.
From a clinician’s perspective, this kind of research is exciting because it validates what many people already feel in their bodies but haven’t had the language to explain. Yes, your bunion really is affecting how you walk. Yes, it’s affecting other parts of your body. And yes, it’s something you can actively change.
If you’re dealing with bunions, start with big toe mobility, big toe extension, and 1st ray stability. Then build arch strength, tripod control, ankle strength, and balance. Eventually, integrate gait retraining and proper push-off mechanics. This is the foundation of improving bunion symptoms without surgery.
Studies like this make one thing very clear: your bunion isn’t just a bump. It’s a functional movement condition. And when you address the function, the pain becomes far more manageable. And often, people feel the difference quickly.
If bunions are slowing you down, affecting your walking, or keeping you from doing activities you love, Bunion Bootcamp was designed for exactly this—to help you restore mechanics, reduce pain, and improve alignment in a way that actually changes how your big toe works. Appearance changes can happen too, but the real transformation comes from addressing what caused the bunion in the first place.
If you want that support, just message me and I’ll send you the info.
xoxo
Lindz
*DOI: 10.1177/10711007231166667