Tall, beautiful shoes used to be a passion of Lee’s, 45, during her younger days. “I’m only 158 centimeters [5 feet 2 inches] tall and in my 20s, I wouldn’t go out without my heels,” she said. A few years ago, she considered surgery to correct her bunion, a bone deformity between the foot and the big toe. Although her condition wasn’t deemed severe enough for surgery, Lee says that she now rarely wears heels. “Whenever I wear shoes with even slightly high heels, the skin around my toe gets red and irritated and my back hurts,” she said. Around 87 percent of Koreans who suffer from hallux valgus, the medical term for a bunion, were found to be women, according to data released yesterday by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment. Furthermore, from 2004 to 2008, the number of patients with this deformity and the total medical costs spent to treat it have been rising yearly at an average of 19.1 percent and 37.7 percent, respectively. In 2004, 17,544 Koreans were found to have hallux valgus but by 2008 the number had jumped to 34,910. Also in 2008, the amount spent to treat this deformity rose to 13.7 billion won ($11.9 million), up from 9.6 million won the previous year. The deformity is most common for those aged 40 to 50. This group comprised 63.8 percent of all bunion surgery cases from 2004 to 2008, according to HIRA. A key symptom of hallux valgus is when a bump appears on the side of joint of the big toe due to the bone shifting towards the second toe. In serious cases, the big toe folds onto the second toe. The deformity can be caused by genetic abnormality or by wearing shoes which are small in the forefoot area or have high heels. “The deformity is more common among Westerners but patient numbers are increasing in the east now as well, due to the popularization of high heels among women,” wrote the HIRA team who produced the report. If a pain in the big toe is felt doing normal activities like shopping or walking, it might be an indication that one has hallux valgus, according to Lee Sang-jun, a head doctor at the foot clinic at Cheil Orthopedics Hospital. “To prevent a bunion, it’s best to avoid shoes which are too small around the forefoot area or are too high. However, if one wants to wear high heels, it is best to rotate wearing high heels and flats approximately every day,” said Lee.
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