UKH

Have been having pain in my toes these last two weeks, had a look and now there are huge bumps where my big toe meets my foot - a quick google suggest it's bunions.

Great.

Haven't changed my shoes, done anything other than my usual stuff, so how come they have suddenly started to appear - and what can I do about it (google isn't being helpful)

Sounds like bunions. Welcome to the club.

I think surgery is possible if they are extreme / giving you lots of pain.

I developed bunions and some associated problems, probably through wearing too tight shoes especially those for climbing. Much bigger on right foot which became more appreciably bigger than left and I should really have had different boot sizes on each foot. Eventually an operation on right foot to "file" down bunion,"saw" though bone in big toe and bend it back straight, and cut tendon to 2nd toe and fuse bones. Took about six weeks before I could start getting back to normal (largely due to  metal pin down length of 2nd toe and protruding at front until removed). Great improvement, both feet near enough same size, some numbness along side of foot but quite acceptable. Bunions can apparently return so am avoiding too small climbing shoes (not a problem at the grades I climb).

I'm worried I may have the start of a bunion and I'm a bit scared after reading your post. 

Can I ask was it NHS or did you have it done privately? If NHS how bad does it have to be before they do anything? Can you walk for the 6 weeks? 

Thanks

Sorry, my post was overly scary. The bunion on the one foot was quite advanced and I'd functioned fine with it for several years until it became limiting. It was well worth having the treatment in my case and I'm very happy with the result.

I was able to walk after the op with a special sandal on one foot, avoiding complete weight bearing on the one foot at first, but had to be careful with the metal pin protruding from my second toe (this procedure is not part of treating the bunion itself and I imagine is often not necessary). Without the pin I'd have been back to normal quicker. In fact I was back to normal very quickly once the pin was removed.

It was the NHS. The surgeon was very sympathetic when I explained that I enjoyed walking and climbing etc but this was becoming affected by the condition. He had to get me to do a questionnaire so he could justify the op and my answers were "yes" to the majority of questions.